The Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use - Softcover

Stutz, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1886411484 ISBN 13: 9781886411487

Publisher: No Starch Press,US, 2001

Synopsis

Step-by-step "recipes" show readers the best ways to use Linux tools to accomplish specific tasks. The Linux Cookbook shows Linux users at all levels how to perform a variety of everyday computer tasks such as: printing stationery; converting and managing files; editing and formating text; working with digital audio; and creating and manipulating graphics. The quick-reference, "cookbook"-style format, includes step-by-step Linux "recipes." The step-by-step recipes make it easy to use Linux to get things done, including how to: Get online, manage email, and chat Produce professional-quality typeset documents and create posters and large banners Browse the Web, archive Web sites, and write HTML Send and receive faxes, prepare files for printing, and read and write data across platforms Use spelling and grammar checkers, word counters, and powerful dictionary tools Scan and convert images, extract PhotoCD graphics, and capture screen shots Record and play audio, make MP3s, and burn CD media

About this title

Review

Lots of newcomers to Linux, having heard from friends and publications how great the operating system is, enthusiastically set out to install and use it. They then become frustrated by the unfamiliar conventions Linux employs--"How in the world do I dial my Internet provider?!"--and give up because of the learning curve. The Linux Cookbook aims to provide new Linux users with enough instructions to get them familiar with the Linux conventions that surround everyday procedures. Using the Debian GNU/Linux distribution for his examples, author Michael Stutz combines "type this, get that" listings with text. Debian isn't the most popular Linux distribution, but it's one of the most capable and least sugar-coated. Users who want to get familiar with the command line (Stutz uses bash) will be thrilled.

There's not a lot of original wisdom in these pages; pretty much everything documented in the book appears in help files and in free online documentation. The value of this work is in formatting (it's easy to locate the instructions you need) and in commentary (the comments on procedures help enlighten the reader as to what's going on and why). Consider this an easy-to-follow HOWTO document, in book form, for users who know very little about Linux and aspire to use it for everyday workstation tasks like electronic mail, Web surfing and file storage. --David Wall

Topics covered: the "Linux Way" of getting work done, primarily with the bash shell under Debian GNU/Linux, workstation subjects (like getting hooked up to the Internet via a PPP connection on a modem) and Linux peculiarities (such as the environment's exotic text-processing capabilities) in a "recipe" format well-suited to novices.

Edition details

• Publisher: No Starch Press,US
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1886411484
• ISBN 13: 9781886411487
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 395