Rating: 
Summary: Even a dufus can learn/use linux
Review: LOVED IT! Not too low-brow where I felt like I was a preschooler being talked to by an adult, yet I wasn't lost in techno babble either. EXCELLENT.
Rating:
Summary: I wish I'd had a book like this when leaving the Dark Side.
Review: Simply awesome. Easy to follow, good instructions, just the right depth.It's not a book for the numice, but assuming you know what a mouse is and have some computer saavy, you should be able to learn Linux from this reasonably easily.
Rating: 
Summary: x86 install only, but very useful nonetheless
Review: The only thing wrong with this book is its assumption that Linux = Intel/X86. I bought it without expectation of getting Alpha-usable software on CD but hoped that the book treatment would be more general. The installation sections are definitely x86 only. Fortunately there is more than enough post-install information to make the book worth it to a Linux starter like me once I located the Alpha-specific instructions on the web. And the CD may save an x86 peecee from windows someday. One wish: ALL Linux books should state on the cover or back if the information is limited to one processor type... Debian and Linux are multiplatform.
Rating:
Summary: A great book for all users
Review: There are way too many computer book authors who simply do not know how to write. Bill McCarty is not one of these. He has written an erxcellet book that eplains debian on a very basic level. This is a good book because it delivers exactly what it promises to deliver. It is an introduction to linux and it encourages new users to "have fun" and "be patient." It is outdated, though. For Linux, a good book needs to be more recent that 2000 to be relevant. This book is older than that. The effective birthday of Debian was in 1993. Highly recommended book!
Rating: 
Summary: Seasoned Unix user
Review: This book is aimed for the very novice Linux user, who comes for
the first time to the world of Unix. From that perspective this book
could deserve one start more, but not more. The starting chapers covers
the installation process with screen prints from the debian installer and
they can't get clearer than that. But, In my opinion they do not add
any value to the book, because the Debian installation dialogs are
almost self explanatory and you don't need a book to show the
pictures. The part of the installation could have better server on concentrating
on setting up multi-boot system with various Win32 (Win9x,NT,2000)
combinations. THAT would have certaily deserved a star. Setting up the X server is not "piece of cake", and the book
should definitely have devoted much more pages on it. You can almost
bet that you can't get X server working properly from Debian
installation with all those varoous video/3D cards and different
monitors (just count how many combinations are there). This chaper
is ESSENTIAL for any new Linux user that wants to see Graphical GUI.
Well, therte is not much information what to do if X fails to start.
(Btw, GNOME window manager is presented, not KDE) Other Chapters in the book are average, medicode tratment of the
topics wich are by no means specific to Debian system: Use
administration, system services, learnign to use the basic shell
commands. The Networking part may be appropriate in the US market, where
Modem (PPP) connections are in majority, but for European users,
the ISDN, LAN, WAN, Cable Modem are more for hte present. The book
only coves PPP and LAN. Authors should have covered ISDN as well,
because that's much harder than modem PPP. In short, This is 2 start book. You're better served with something
more in depth book that a) you can refer all the time to get
problems solved b) or goes more deeper on the details of the specific
Linux distribution. This book does not give you very good overview what is so special
with "debian". You're much more better served with Michael Kofler's "Linux" book,
which gives in depth discussion and comparision of various Linux
system. It's one of the best Linux books around.
You can use it with Debian as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Stuck midstream without a paddle
Review: This book is smooth sailing for the newbie until chapter 5. In a previous chapter you were asked to load the "Basic" profile, out of a choice of about 10 "profiles". Now chapter 5 simply starts by saying, "Run xf86config." Well guess what. No such package exists on the system. Being that I dumped Win'98 to learn Linux, I'm left unable to proceed with my learning. What's more, now that I'm booting up Linux all the time, Windows for me is now non-funtional. Other problems: In chapter 3 you have to name your "outgoing mail host" - but what does that mean? In Windows, bad as it was, you'd "point and shoot" through your muddy way but you'd get there after a few stumbles. A lesser gripe: The book has a poor index. I tried loading a new "profile". But lookout! Now you're asked a bunch of questions for which you'd need a new book for each profile. To be fair to the author, I've tried to load Debian onto my only computer - a laptop - and because I have only one slot into which goes EITHER my cdrom OR my floppy, I skipped a step somewhere that called for me to make a backup floppy - because that would have meant to get into a catch 22 reboot situation. Another big peeve - Why doesn't the book tell you how to back up or back out during setup? If you make a mistake, you've got to start the whole long install story all over again. The first part of the book was good because it took me by the hand. Except that by chapter 5, I found myself adrift with no paddle to steer me any longer.
Rating:
Summary: Stuck midstream without a paddle
Review: This book was for my second foray into the Linux world. I have tried the Slackware distribution, and liked it, but I was looking for a convenient desktop-station version, but not one of the more commercialized versions. McCarty does an outstanding job of walking one through the intricacies of installing the Debian system, and the included CD (while not completely up to date) will put enough on your computer to make it reasonably easy to fill out your system directly from the Internet. There were a couple of small flubs in the book, but nothing that a little consideration couldn't solve. I love the Debian system, and I would recommend this book to any newbie who wants to start running Debian/GNU Linux.
Rating:
Summary: Debian made as easy as possible
Review: This book was for my second foray into the Linux world. I have tried the Slackware distribution, and liked it, but I was looking for a convenient desktop-station version, but not one of the more commercialized versions. McCarty does an outstanding job of walking one through the intricacies of installing the Debian system, and the included CD (while not completely up to date) will put enough on your computer to make it reasonably easy to fill out your system directly from the Internet. There were a couple of small flubs in the book, but nothing that a little consideration couldn't solve. I love the Debian system, and I would recommend this book to any newbie who wants to start running Debian/GNU Linux.
Rating:
Summary: Inadecuado para expertos, inadecuado para novatos
Review: Todos sabemos que Debian no es tan fácil como Corel o RedHat o Suse. Pero permite un grado de libertad y limpieza que no tiene ninguna otra distribución. Si eres nuevo en esto te perderás en cuanto encuentres un problema con Debian. Y el libro no te ayudará entonces. Si no lo eres, encontrarás un nivel muy bajo en este libro. No te servirá para resolver problemas de configuración, te llevará de la mano por las ventanas de Gnome y otros aspectos básicos. Habitualmente esto no es lo que busca un experto.
Rating:
Summary: It's ok, but could have been better...
Review: While it's nice to have a book cover the Debian specific installation procedure, too much space was wasted on repeating instructions like "with the arrow key, highlight 'Ok' and hit the Enter key". Too much space in this book is taken up with these trivial instructions, over and over again, it becomes tedius to read. If we didn't have to read about hitting the arrow and Enter keys with every little step, this book otherwise has some useful Debian specific information in it. Too bad the book couldn't have been packed with more useful info and fewer instructions on how to highlight a menu item.
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