The Official Ubuntu Book 139
Craig Maloney writes "Over the long history of Linux, there have been many different distributions. One of the most famous distributions, love it or hate it, is the Ubuntu distribution. Ubuntu has come quickly from being the new kid on the block with the Warty Warthog release (4.10) to the most recent release Gutsy Gibbon (7.10). In that three year span, Ubuntu has grown from a handful of enthusiasts and developers to a thriving worldwide community. The Official Ubuntu Book is the official book from Canonical, which describes not only the Ubuntu distributions, but also the community from which Ubuntu is derived." Read below for the rest of Craig's review.
The Official Ubuntu Book is comprised of 10 main chapters covering various aspects of the Ubuntu project. The first chapter discusses a bit of the history of the Ubuntu project, as well as the relationship of Canonical to the project. Chapter 2 dives into installing Ubuntu from either the Live CD or the Alternative installation CD. Chapter 3 shows how to use the applications that ship with Ubuntu with some detail. Some of the more in-depth programs get more attention, like The GIMP and Firefox. Also covered are the basics of the GNOME interface, such as adding items to the panels, or logging off of the system. Chapter 4 covers basic system administration (printers, upgrades, file sharing), and package management. Chapter 5 introduces the Ubuntu Server variant, covering RAID, LVM, and more package management techniques. Chapter 6 deals with support issues in a question / answer format, and is a great place for readers to get some of their more common questions answered. Chapter 7 covers the Kubuntu variant of Ubuntu in more depth. Chapter 8 and 9 introduce the Ubuntu Community, and the tools that keep the Ubuntu project running. These chapters alone should be required reading for anyone with more than a passing interest in the Ubuntu project. Lastly, Chapter 10 covers the Edbuntu project, and demonstrates how to set up a LTSP network. The appendices include the Ubuntu related documents, a quick tutorial on the command line, and a great Windows / Ubuntu equivalent section for those who are looking for the best alternatives for certain Windows programs. All-in-all, The Official Ubuntu Book covers the main aspects of the Ubuntu project in a very thorough manner.
| The Official Ubuntu Book | |
| author | Benjamin Mako Hill, Jono Bacon, et. al |
| pages | 463 |
| publisher | Prentice Hall |
| rating | 9 |
| reviewer | Craig Maloney |
| ISBN | 0-13-235413-6 |
| summary | An excellent way to get introduced to the Ubuntu distribution and community |
Included with the book is the Ubuntu 7.04 release (Feisty Fawn) on DVD. This is a solid release, and was current at the time the book was published. It still has 12 months active support even in light of the recent 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) release, and should give those looking to try Ubuntu an excellent starting point.
The biggest issue facing a book like The Official Ubuntu Book is determining a target audience. Ubuntu appeals to a wide range of people; from the newest newbie to the hardened UNIX aficionado. Making a book that speaks to both is no easy task. Fortunately, The Book does an admirable job of providing enough to keep both parties interested. New Ubuntu users will find lots of information about how to get things accomplished in Ubuntu, while seasoned UNIX user will find enough information to see what th differences are between Ubuntu and other Linux distributions. Both will find a great introduction to participating with the rest of the Ubuntu community in the later chapters of the book. Any user of Ubuntu would be well served in reviewing those chapters fora sense of what opportunities exist, and how best to participate in the community given their talents and skills. True, the chapters describing specific applications lack much depth, but the omission can be forgiven in light of the shear amount of material covered. Just learning how to navigate what is provided on the live CD could fill a tome the size of this book, leaving no room to discuss the more about the community. The Official Ubuntu Book balances between both extremes, and provides plenty of information about both the Ubuntu distribution, and the community.
The success of the Ubuntu project is due in no small part to the people who spend their time participating with other Ubuntu users. Reading the book not only gives a sense of what Ubuntu is about, but also shows how open and inviting these users are. It may not be the best tutorial for the new Linux user, but it is an excellent book for those who want to take the next step and be a part of putting together and supporting a large Linux distribution. The Official Ubuntu Book captures the spirit of the Ubuntu community well, and brings the excitement in a palpable form to the reader. I can recommend this book to new users of Ubuntu with only the caution that they may need to find other resources to learn the many new programs that ship with Ubuntu. However, I can also highly recommend this book to anyone who has even a passing interest in getting involved with the Ubuntu project, both new and experienced. The Official Ubuntu Book, much like the Ubuntu project, is an ambitious undertaking, and similarly we all benefit from their hard work.
You can purchase The Official Ubuntu Book from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Re:The probem with these types of books is that... (Score:2, Insightful)
May by the standards of.... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Supposed to be easy to use... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:That's Why I Hate Magazines. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:That's Why I Hate Magazines. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Supposed to be easy to use... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:The probem with these types of books is that... (Score:3, Insightful)
"The main thing that's kicking my butt with ubuntu these days is cups and network printing; every time I manage to get it working, it takes a couple of weekends of pulling my hair out, and then it breaks again at the next upgrade. For that, the book is certain to be useless to me because of obsolescence, and also probably because the issue with cups seems to have more to do with poor design and integration into the distro."
I think you're closer to the truth regarding distro integration, because my experience with CUPS in Slackware 12.0 was the exact opposite. I went into it dreading it too, because I am famous for not getting along with printers at all. I started at 11 am on Saturday, figuring the bulk of my weekend would need to be sacrificed just so I could print from my new system. All I did was start the CUPS server, logged on to it, told it the printer's IP and model number, and it Just Worked(tm). I was done and printing recipes for Ethiopian dishes at 11:02am :-). I was simultaneously pleased and flabbergasted all at once.
It's somewhat surprising to me a distro targeted in part at the newbie market would be such a bear to configure to do as common a task as using a printer, especially when it's using the same software package a "hard" distro like Slackware uses.
Re:I dislike Ubuntu (Score:3, Insightful)
community (Score:3, Insightful)
And by "community" you mean "debian".
Re:I dislike Ubuntu (Score:2, Insightful)
If I wanted all that I would have used Windows at first place, I mean, If you're a user which came to Linux to look for alternative, Ubuntu is for you, but if you came to look for something better then Windows, the last thing on earth I would suggest is Ubuntu (I'd suggest Slackware, which is my favorite). That's why also I don't there's a need for Ubuntu handbook, I mean, it's all GUIish (jesus!).
I hope I will not get -1 flamebait cause that's what I really thing (plus, my karma now is terrible, and I'm doing my best to fix it, don't make me sad
Happy 10Th Slashdot birthday!
You don't get it do you. There are two types of computer users, those who understand how it works and those who just want it to work. Now since we want FOSS to overtake the world we need either a Distro for both users or separate Distros for each. Ubuntu supplies that separate Distro. It is not a MS Windows clone either. Ubuntu is about making the computer easier to use. MS Windows is about making a profit which somehow matches making the computer easy to use. However MS Windows can only go so far, Ubuntu can go much further. If you actually used both Ubuntu and MS Windows you would realize that they are chalk and cheese. Don't associate MS Windows with easy to use because it is actually not, it just has the trappings of it.
As far as I am concerned both Slackware and Ubuntu have a future, they are aimed at different users. Don't dismiss these Ubuntu newbies as the worst thing since the GUI. You have a lot to teach them, you have a purpose that is defined by the fact that you know how the system works. They have different purposes. Don't get confused by this new world order, or you will just end up bitter.
P.S. I am writing this from a Slackware machine.
P.P.S I notice that somehow you have been voted offtopic when you should have been modded flamebait. This just proves that most of the moderators are on crack.
Re:it is NOT comprised of (Score:1, Insightful)
To comprise means to comprehend, to contain, to grasp or hold in the hand. This is evident to anyone with just a little knowledge of Latin or a Romance language. It's a strong visual metaphor that doesn't work the other way round.
Also, for obvious reasons words shouldn't be their own antonyms.