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.
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 HatЮ 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.