Beginning SUSE Linux: From Novice to Professional [With DVD]

by Keir Thomas

Book Overview

Readers of all levels stand to benefit from this book's coverage of SUSE's ability to play MP3s and DVDs, burn CDs, perform office tasks and data backups, and offer a secure operating system... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590594584
• ISBN13: 9781590594582
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Apress
• Length: 514 Pages
• Weight: 1.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.1" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book and distro for Linux.

Install was easy. I do have a problem with the DVD player and the codex instructions, but other than that everything installed easily. My install was dual boot with XP. The partition and dual boot tools worked fine. The book is clearly written and easy to follow. If you are looking at LINUX for the first time I would recommend this book.

Good reading whether level of your experience.

I have read this book cover to cover. I am trained in computers and have been working with Linux now for over a year, and Windows six years. This book is good reading for people interested in computers regardless of you level of expertise in computers. I covers one of the most popular flavors of Linux.

Nice book, not really for beginner

If you really a beginner and never had an opportunity to play around with a command line you find it difficult to read, however this book is valuable if you have passed initial "scared" phase. Try also Linux and UNIX for a beginner complete training suite, 4DVDs + 2CDs ed.2008 Happy learning!

Great desktop tutorial

This books is really useful if you've got some Windows experience and want to try SuSe as a desktop platform. It covers all desktop tools in great details, tells how to work with office documents, multimedia, burning CDs, building dual boot systems, etc. Actually the best part of this book is not really Linux itself, but all extra apps you need to use under SuSE to get your common tasks done. The book is not really useful if you plan to build a SuSE server.

Great Beginning level book on Suse - one of the best

I've spent years working with Linux and think it is one of the best operating systems going but I have spent very little time with the SUSE distribution. This book not only describes the basics of SUSE Linux but also includes a DVD with a complete copy of version 9.1 ready to install. Why should you consider looking at SUSE? If you work in the networking technical support arena then sooner or later you will have to deal with a SUSE system. Since Novell and IBM worked together to purchase the rights to SUSE Linux you can be sure it will appear in many networking environments. The first part of the book provides the reader with the history of Linux, its benefits, and a description of some of the different distributions of Linux. This is common to all introductory Linux books and can be skipped if you are already knowledgeable about Linux in general. The second section covers installing Linux and walks the reader through the installation process for the version on the DVD. It is absolutely critical that this section be detailed and thorough. The authors do an excellent job by dividing it up into four sections - pre-installation steps, installing SUSE, solving installation problems, and GUI configuration with SaX2 Part three includes instruction on the very basics of what you need to know in order to work effectively in Linux. The subjects in this section include booting Linux for the first time and logging in, virtual desktops, setting up e-mail and instant messaging, getting your hardware up and running, securing your system with the basic security tools and setting up the Linux firewall, using Linux replacements of Windows programs, managing your files, including accessing Windows files, floppies, CDs and DVDs, and dealing with common problems. If you want to have a deeper understanding of Linux (beyond the basic user level), part four introduces the Linux shell (the BASH shell in particular) and how it can be used to work with the system from the command line. The authors also discuss the Linux virtual file system and how it works. They conclude with a discussion of how to control processes and jobs. This is one of the really great things about Linux - the ability to change priorities for specific jobs. Part five covers multimedia and working with MP3s, CDs, viewing movies, and editing images. Of course it also covers playing and ripping MP3 Music, recording audio and burning CDs. It includes the very basics of using GIMP, the powerful image editing software included with Linux. Part six covers working with Open Office. Open Office is Linux software that does essentially the equivalent tasks as Microsoft Office (it even reads and writes Microsoft Office files). Of, if you prefer, they also cover how to install Microsoft Office in Linux so that it works correctly. The various chapters in this section each take on one aspect of office including using Writer, Calc, Impress (presentation software), and ReKall (database). Part