A very good start on Linux allows a general understanding of diverse options distributions. Well written. Thanks.

The book is very informative for Linux starters. Teaches you from where to get the right Linux software that suits your application, software installation and the Linux basics.

Very inexpensive. It would have been better
if it focused on one of two distributions with
more insights.

Linux Bible 2008 edition is very readable. The page-count
may intimidate some, but the book is well organized and
seems to provide an appropriate amount of detail. The CD
and DvD work very well for trying out various flavors of
Linux. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to explore
implementing Linux onto their computer system.
Linux Bible, 2008 Edition: Boot up to Ubuntu, Fedora, KNOPPIX, Debian, openSUSE, and 11 Other Distributions

I taught from Negus's Fedora Core 3 book for several semesters at the local Community College. I found it to be as good a publication as the one that I'm reviewing now. There is a tremendous amount of information on the topic presented in a readable fashion and should be on the desktop of anyone who needs to support Linux systems and applications.

That being said, however, it is not a text from which to teach people just learning LINUX/UNIX, because of the lack of support materials. If the Negus books provided Instructor materials for preparing and giving College level classes, there would be more sales to the educational community.

With all respect due to the author, I think this book shows no effort to make you interested in reading it. You try to force yourself to read but its so dead boring approach that you put down, you try again and you fail again, till you rip the book to peaces and throw it in the trash (like I did).

This book tries to answer all the questions but fails to organize the material in a form that keeps the reader interested. It made me almost give up on learning Linux until I found William Von "Ubuntu Linux Bible" which made all the difference. I recommend that one instead and recommend it very strongly.

With Linux, you will learn somehow different than Windows world.
I'm working with windows, as many of us, but I'm do really "love" GNU/Linux, it is free, the community is real and active, Enjoy Linux.
Nicolas.

Linux may well be the successor to Windows. Its design, based on Unix (a multi-user, multi-task operating system), was from its start multi-tasking and multi-user. Windows was built on DOS, a single user, single-tasking operating system, which was evolved slightly from the CP/M operating system created by the small company Digital Research. Windows began as a paste-up on DOS. (Digital Research had a GUI operating system before Windows, on which using Ventura Publisher, I wrote two illustrated engineering textbooks. Linux has, by now, almost too many variations. That is to be expected, since in the open software movement anyone can attempt to build a better mousetrap on the shoulders of those who have gone before. (He just can't make by treating it as a trade secret!)
In the Linux Bibble the buyer receives a DVD and a CD, which together contain seven different Linux systems. What's more, some of them can be run on your Windows PC directly from the optical drive without ever writing to your hard disk. Although program fetching is a bit slower than
when from a hard disk, since your memory is used to store data, operation is still quick.
The major alternative to using "the Bible" to explore using Linux is to download gigbytes of system loads and write them to your own CD or DVD. In that case you also must go back to the 'net for help that you can locate more quickly in the pages of "the Bible". It's well worth its cost and saves a great deal of time (or money, if you choose to buy individual distributions and their documentation.
I have tested Linux three times in past years, going a long way back. Each time, something I really needed was not easily available, for example connection to the Internet. In this case, using a PC that was hard-wired to my router, connection to the Internet was automatic. Linux has come a long way, thanks to thousands of volunteers. This time I will join the bandwagon. It doesn't mean I will stop using Windows, but I plan to use Linux for most web activity. Since I already used Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird under Windows, and use Open Office in Windows for text, spreadsheets and other office tasks, I plan to move everything I can to Linux while still retaining current Windows.

This review originally appeared in the AZTCS journal.

There are things I don't like about this book.

In Chapter 3, I'm disappointed there isn't more detail about alternate window managers. I think too many people feel KDE and GNOME are the only choices available ... or the desktop is Linux ... or don't know they can start with a blank xwindow and make their own desktop and menus.

The book should include more about shell scripting, not so much to teach it as to give an idea of the power available. I feel slighted he didn't mention Emacs in the text editor section; honestly I think this is a tremendous oversight on his part as Emacs is a popular and powerful text editor.

Another thing I didn't like was with the CD/DVD set. A lot of older computers don't have DVD readers making installation of the distros on DVD more difficult.

There are several things I like about the book. I think it gives an objective view of Linux. The author introduces and quickly acquaints the reader with the command-line. Many authors seem to feel the command line should be avoided, but Negus plunges in and makes the use of the command-line, if not easy, at least not scary. The command-line is a part of Linux. He is not afraid to expose his readers to the terminal and to its use.

The CD/DVD collection contains an excellent range of distros ... from a distro that will run from a floppy (I recently used a floppy distro to fix a forgotten password in XP) to some desktops that are a little cramped on a PIII with 512 MB memory. Negus shows, although there are some specialized distributions, most have the tools and versitiliy to handle any task. If you want to surf the web and check your email and chat on-line, build a full webhost, add a firewall to your home network, recover files from a crashed Windows system or are looking for something VERY interesting to do with your computer, Linux probably has something for you.

His instructions are generally clear and concise. Where necessary, Negus gives step-by-step examples. He explains but, to me, manages to balance between overinforming to the point of boredom and talking down to the audience. I read 2 or 3 of his other books and his style generally is informative and as technical as necessary but not overly so.

Of the several beginning to intermediate Linix books I read in the last few years, this book is the best.

THIS HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS EVER! People just don't know how much this can help your IT department and or e-business. -William, Texas.