Overview
Continuing with the tradition of offering the best and most comprehensive coverage of Red Hat Linux on the market, Red Hat Linux 8 Unleashed includes new and additional material based on the latest release of Red Hat Linux.
Incorporating a more advanced approach to presenting information about Red Hat Linux, the book aims to provide the best and latest information intermediate to advanced Red Hat users need to know about installation, configuration, system administration, server operations, and security.
All chapters concentrate on Red Hat Linux software packages. There is updated topic coverage in areas such as:
- The architecture of Linux kernel 2.4.18
- USB
- KDE
- GNOME 1.4
- Broadband access issues, routing, gateways, firewalling (SOHO networking)
- The new XFree86 4.2 architecture and features
- Disk tuning
- GCC 2.2
- Perl 5.6.1
- Python 2
- New printing services (CUPS)
- Security
Author Biography:
Bill Ball is an author, technical writer, and magazine journalist, working with Linux since 1986. He has published more than a dozen articles and several successful computer books. Other books published by the author are:
- Linux Unleashed, Fourth Edition, 0-672-31688-9, Sams Publishing
- Sams Teach Yourself Linux in 24 Hours, First and Second Editions
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewBy one estimate, it would've cost nearly a billion dollars to commercially develop the software in Red Hat Linux 8: software you're free to use and copy. With every version, Red Hat Linux gets slicker and more sophisticated -- and Red Hat 8 is, by far, the most advanced version yet. There's no way one book can cover it all. But Red Hat Linux 8 Unleashed comes remarkably close.
Bill Ball has shepherded this book from its first edition, several years ago. This time around, he has able assistance from Linux Format columnist (and Mandrake documentation contributor) Hoyt Duff, plus six other expert contributors. Together, they've covered Red Hat Linux from the perspective of users, system administrators, and even developers.
Their first 200-page section focuses on Red Hat Linux installation, configuration, and setting up basic user services. You'll walk through planning for a trouble-free install; partitioning; using RedHat's KickStart tool for automating installation on multiple systems; configuring audio; even setting up power management and support for PCMCIA cards. There's also a full chapter on configuring the X Window System (Red Hat 8 now ships with XFree86 4.2, discussed in detail here.)
Section I also introduces you to the Linux file system, showing how to browse files, work with shared data, protect the contents of user directories, work with permissions, and much more.
Next, it's on to the fundamentals of system administration. You'll learn how to manage services (including controlling the boot process and runlevels; using text-based and GUI-based service configuration tools; and using service management to troubleshoot problems.
The authors introduce Red Hat's essential RPM package management tool; then offer in-depth coverage of managing users and filesystems -- everything from passwords and disk quotas to CD-ROMs and Logical Volume Management (LVM). You'll also find updated coverage of CUPS-based printing.
Sysadmins will especially appreciate the coverage of backup and recovery, which contains a step-by-step walkthrough of using tar; and detailed system rescue techniques (including restoring your computer's Master Boot Record and Partition Table).
You'll find equally detailed coverage of connecting to the Internet, including (new in this edition) setting up broadband access; routing and gateways; and firewalling for small office/home office networks. Ball and his colleagues also walk through configuring crucial Internet and related services, including SMTP, FTP, Apache, Internet news, DNS, DHCP, NIS, NFS, and Samba file/print. Along the way, they also show how to set up IRC, ICQ, and chat clients; and use Red Hat's improved wireless network support.
Red Hat Linux 8 Unleashed presents a fairly thorough introduction to Linux' programming facilities, from the new GNU C/C++ 2.2 compiler to shell scripting. In particular, this edition's been updated to reflect Python 2, Perl 5.6.1, and other language updates.
You'll find a chapter on compatible Office productivity applications -- everything from the OpenOffice.org suite (and alternatives like KOffice) to Palm PDA connectivity software, scanner applications, fax clients, even CD burning software. (Ball also covers "nonproductivity" applications
There's even a chapter on tools available to achieve DOS, Windows, and Mac compatibility from within Linux. For example, there's updated coverage of WINE in all its variants (both the bundled open source version and commercial alternatives such as TransGaming's WineX for gaming, and Codeweavers' Crossover Office for running Microsoft Office 97/2000, Quicken, IE 5.5, and so forth. The authors also discuss other options, including Bochs and FreeDOS for running legacy DOS programs, and accessing other computers' Windows desktops from your Linux system.
This book's 1,000 pages long; we've barely scratched the surface of what's in here. You also get the complete multi-CD Red Hat Linux 8.0 Publisher's Edition, which contains everything from the latest versions of the Apache web server and Samba file/print server for Windows to the complete OpenOffice.org office suite. (Plus loads of games!)
Red Hat Linux 8 Unleashed: it's the power resource for power Linux users. Bill Camarda Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies®, Second Edition.