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Learning Red Hat LINUX: Guide to Red Hat LINUX for New Users
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by Bill McCarty
Sales Rank: 745553
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$5.93
At Amazon
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Paperback: 378 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates; 1st edition September 1999
ISBN-10: 1565926277
ASIN: B00007FYF7
Product Review
Learning Red Hat Linux walks the reader through the process of installing, configuring, and using Red Hat Linux 6 and some of its most popular applications. Networking coverage includes essential local area network configuration, plus excellent coverage of Samba setup and the process of establishing a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection to the Internet. The book would be better with some information on setting up a local Domain Name Service (DNS) server to improve Internet connectivity, but what's here is commendable. The author includes basic coverage of the Apache Web server, plus sendmail and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
Learning Red Hat Linux emphasizes the Linux command line for system management tasks, explaining all the vital low-level commands as well as configuration aids like linuxconf. Popular graphical applications are explored too, including ApplixWare, StarOffice, and the WordPerfect suite. Bill McCarty exhibits plenty of patience in his writing and organizational styles, assuming no knowledge of Unix on the part of his readers. This book includes lots of annotated tables that explain the features in various programs, and many sections have a procedural format that allows you to follow along on your own Linux machine. --David Wall
Topics covered: Red Hat Linux 6, preinstallation planning, essential command-line tools, X Windows, Gnome, the K Desktop Environment (KDE), and networking.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
New users are flocking to Linux literally by the millions. Yet most of these new users draw from Microsoft Windows as their primary computing experience; for them an operating system from the UNIX family is an unfamiliar experience. In Learning Red Hat Linux, Bill McCarty has written a book aimed specifically at this new audience.
Learning Red Hat Linux will guide any new user of Linux through the installing and use of the Red Hat® version of the free operating system that is shaking up the commercial world of software. It demystifies Linux in terms familiar to Windows users and gives readers only what they need to start being successful users of Linux.
Built around the popular Red Hat distribution of Linux, Learning Red Hat Linux takes the reader step by step through the process of installing and setting up a Red Hat Linux system, and provides a thorough but gentle introduction to the basics of using Red Hat Linux.
Because the book is written specifically for the enclosed CD, the reader needs nothing else to get started with this exciting new operating system.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Customer Reviews & Comments
This review is from: Learning Red Hat LINUX: Guide to Red Hat LINUX for New Users (Paperback)
Unless you need Redhat tech support, buying this book to get you started with Linux isn't a bad idea. The author has titled the book "Learning" so if you are not experienced in Unix/Linux then this book will get you started. The fact that the author goes through the trouble of explaining a Redhat install from beginning to end was very useful. Unless you have some odd hardware (i.e. a 3d video card) you should have X runnng as well. You will immediately want to know more however, and this book will leave you wanting more. That is you will have to purchase another book in the near future. The Unleashed (i.e. Redhat 6.0 Unleashed etc...) are typically pretty good, and they also include a Redhat distribution. There are some mistakes/misprints however. Using the instructions as given you cannot get Quake2 running for example. Also there is nothing in the book about how to keep your installation up to date...a must for Linux users as the OS is constantly changing. The one thing though that really irked me was the authors insistence that Gnome was "the most popular desktop environment in the US". Even after updating Gnome on my Linux box with the most recent stable releaes I find Gnome to be unstable and somewhat puzzling. The author spends alot of time talkng about the basics of getting around Gnome, but ignores the other popular desktop for Linux....KDE.Alot of this has to do with an almost religious war within the Linux community regarding what software qualifies as "free software" and what doesn't. The author is obviously a free software zealot and therefore leans towards Gnome. You as a user don't have to worry about this war ...you only have to be concerned about how to use the software on your pc. I think the book is lacking severely becuase it didn't cover KDE as it should have and worse yet, took a slap at KDE. Gnome is unstable. KDE is not. KDE is "free" as far as the user is concerned. In defense of the author though, Gnome is the preferred desktop at Redhat and the book is entitled Learning Redhat Linux, and thats is the desktop you get unless you take other steps on your own. I am happy to report that I am typing this from KDE using Netscape as my browser. A testament to the fact that I got Linux working, and I used this book to get me started.
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Learning Red Hat LINUX: Guide to Red Hat LINUX for New Users
Available from Amazon
Price: $5.93
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