"This is a splendid way of easing folks into Linux. A live DVD of Ubuntu means that no install is necessary. Another fine job by Gagné. "--Peter Salus, Editor, UnixReview.com

Customer Reviews & Comments
I received 3 Ubuntu titles and thought it might be useful to compare them. Ubuntu is a fairly recent Linux distribution that strives to be usable out of the box, with strong support. It has deep pockets and a thriving community behind it. I admire a lot of the design choices that went into Ubuntu, such as limiting the use of the all-powerful root account, which can get people into trouble. The bare-bones server install is the cleanest Linux server I've seen - *no* open ports, minimal services. Just enough to log in at a console and then install what you want. On the other hand, if you want a LAMP server (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP - the most popular combination on the internet), that's a one button install! Brilliant! I think all three books are pretty good, and your choice will depend on your technical level and religious ferver. If you are uncomfortable with computers, I think _Moving to Ubuntu_ is your best choice. If you are somewhat comfortable and into the philosophy behind Ubuntu, _the Official Ubuntu book_ is your best choice. If you are unintimidated by the topic, _Ubuntu Unleashed_ has the most detailed technical coverage. You can get a free, fully-functional installation and livecd just for asking, or downloading. The only thing I don't like is the iptables firewall. A "linux for everyone" needs an easier firewall to deal with. (I love pf, written for OpenBSD and now showing up on other systems.) This is the most approachable of the three books. Gagne has an enthusiastic, conversational, even narrative approach to the material. The audience is people stuck using Windows desktops because they don't know any Linux nerds willing to help them. I think it's a terrific book, and it showed me some cool things to do on the desktop. I use Linux mainly for servers. It covers productivity apps very well. About my only quibble: he introduces GAIM, for chatting on various systems, and then introduces another tool for IRC, which GAIM handles just fine. The multimedia coverage is the best of the three books. The section on games is good as well, and I like his approach of getting a teenage nephew to recommend the best Linux games. Like Ubuntu Unleashed, this book has a lot of material lifted from earlier works. I don't think that's a bad thing if the material lifted is generic. In this case, Gagne uses material from the slightly earlier _Moving to Linux_, which mostly used on one (non-Ubuntu) distro and mentioned some differences. Unlike _Ubuntu Unleashed_, the material was applied carefully. They even updated some things that didn't have to be, like an illustration in _MTL_ that had a graphic with a logo reading, "Welcome to Linux". In _MTU_ they cared enough to change it to "Welcome to Ubuntu". The chapters on Open Office are the same - and that's appropriate because Open Office IS the same. The GIMP is the same. So I think it's appropriate for the chapters to be the same. Gagne pays some attention to the Ubuntu community ethos, but he's mostly concerned with showing someone unfamiliar with the system how to do the things they are most likely to want to do. A good book, GREAT for newbies.