Description:
In Linux: The Complete Reference, Richard Petersen has created a modern Linux text that's remarkably neutral with regard to its users' computing backgrounds. He hasn't written specifically for people with experience in Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, other versions of Unix, or any other operating system. He's just written an easy-to-follow, comprehensive book on the Linux kernel (version 2.2), the K Desktop Environment (KDE), Gnome, and the most popular commercial distributions (Red Hat Linux 6.0 and Caldera OpenLinux 2.2). A side effect of this approach is that this book sometimes seems a bit simplistic, particularly in the passages that deal with issues you've already figured out. Still, it's generally better for a technical book to be too deliberate in its explanations than not clear enough. Coverage of the KDE and Gnome environments is commendable, as is the information on XFree86 and window managers (though there's no information on setting up dual monitors). The file system section comes after a great introduction to the bash shell and goes into some detail on the file-management commands bash, like most other shells, provides. Internet coverage is strong too, with comparative information on tools for mail, FTP, news, and other services on both the client and server sides. More information on setting up a Domain Name System (DNS) server would make this book better, but extensive reporting on the Apache Web server helps compensate. --David Wall Topics covered: Installing Red Hat Linux, installing Caldera OpenLinux, configuring KDE and Gnome, shell commands, file management, Internet servers and client software, system and network administration, and applications.
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