Linux in easy steps, 4th edition
By Mike McGrath
£10.99
Publication: January 11, 2008
Pages: 192
ISBN: 978-1-84078-351-3
About the book
Begun as a small-scale labor of love, Linux has blossomed into the world's most versatile and flexible operating system. The reasons for its appeal are manifold: This open source OS allows numerous users to simultaneously work with multiple applications without experiencing any traffic problems, thus making it an ideal operating system for web servers. In addition, Linux is an extremely stable operating system that serves as a platform for an ever-growing number of quality applications. And not least, it's free! You can download it for nothing from the Internet.
With Linux in easy steps, joining the Linux Revolution is as easy as one, two, three. Following its simple instructions, you can learn to install the operating system, explore the desktop, and launch great applications. This fully illustrated primer teaches you to climb the Linux directory tree, navigate with the File Browser, and much more. Its easy-to-understand tutorials guide you through the OpenOffice business suite and media applications that let you enjoy the web, music, video, and graphics. Later chapters show you how to use the Linux shell to communicate directly with the kernel at the very heart of the operating system, allowing you total control over your Linux system.
Linux in easy steps opens the door to a whole new world of digital possibilities!
About the author
Mike McGrath now lives in South-east Europe, on the sun-kissed shores of the Aegean Sea. Mike gained his extensive knowledge of computer languages while working as a developer contracting to companies around the world. His interests include coins of ancient Greece, dining-out with friends, and the ongoing evolution of the world wide web.
Contents
- Getting started
- Introducing Linux
- Choosing a Linux distro
- Evaluating hardware
- Making space for Linux
- Beginning installation
- Partitioning the disk
- Creating a user account
- Completing installation
- Summary
- Exploring the desktop
- Adjusting the taskbar
- Launching applications
- Changing screen resolution
- Choosing a background
- Customizing windows
- Enabling system sounds
- Using multiple desktops
- Getting help
- Summary
- Touring the filesystem
- Meeting the directory tree
- Recognizing directories
- Navigating with File Browser
- Handling files
- Creating shortcuts
- Locating files
- Understanding permissions
- Summary
- Running office applications
- Creating documents
- Exporting documents
- Creating spreadsheets
- Creating presentations
- Creating charts & graphs
- Creating databases
- Querying table data
- Sending & reading email
- Summary
- Running media applications
- Browsing the web
- Messaging online
- Phoning over the internet
- Watching video
- Playing music
- Burning disks
- Creating graphics
- Adding more applications
- Summary
- Commanding the shell
- Invoking the terminal
- Becoming the superuser
- Customizing the shell prompt
- Changing the run level
- Revealing shell variables
- Launching apps from the shell
- Navigating at the prompt
- Operating on directories
- Summary
- Handling files in the shell
- Managing files
- Examining file properties
- Comparing files
- Finding files
- Reading text files
- Creating & editing text files
- Manipulating text content
- Matching text patterns
- Summary
- Performing shell operations
- Handling archives
- Making backups
- Examining filesystems
- Controlling processes
- Working with accounts
- Setting access permissions
- Installing packages
- Getting the date and time
- Summary
- Networking with the shell
- Connecting across a network
- Communicating on the network
- Transferring files
- Switching shell consoles
- Sending network messages
- Printing from the shell
- Evaluating expressions
- Scripting for the shell
- Summary
- Command reference
- Symbols
- A - C commands
- D - F commands
- F - I commands
- J - L commands
- M - N commands
- P commands
- R commands
- S commands
- T commands
- U - V commands
- W - Z commands
