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Linux Book Recommendations, for 2004?

Posted by Cliff on from the for-those-getting-started dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "LinuxDevices.com editor Henry Kingman has reviewed O'Reilly's new Pocket Linux Guide, a 191-page guide to Linux, asking whether a book that short can tell you what you need to know to get started working on a Linux system. Apparently this book cannot, to believe Kingman, who also dismisses O'Reilly's Linux in a Nutshell as 'dry.' Can anyone recommend a good book for smart but inexperienced Linux users, something that conveys a little of the magic of Linux without being too chatty, or too esoteric, or just too overwhelming?"

2 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. Another question... by dargaud · · Score: 2, Interesting
    ...I have been using Linux professionally for a few years, so I know how to configure ethernet, Apache, firewall, an internal RAID and more stuff from the config files, but I have no idea how the "Linux on the Desktop" works. I just installed Knoppix and Mandrake on my own machine for the 1st time a few days ago and was a bit lost. Is there some book or comprehensive website that will tell me how to:
    • use Gnome or KDE (how to add icons, how to add menus, how to add context sensitive menus, where are they defined internally...)
    • how to burn CDs
    • how to configure sound cards if they aren't recognized at once (I'm lucky, mine was)
    • how to deal with advanced X-windows. For instance on installation Mandrake guessed my 2 monitor setup. On second boot, X wouldn't work anymore and I had to manually delete all references to the 2nd monitor in the X config file...
    In other words, a "How to use a Linux Desktop for command line admins" type of book.
    --
    Non-Linux Penguins ?
    1. Re:Another question... by NullProg · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If you don't mind having extra CD's laying around, buy the latest SuSE Pro for the books. It comes with two well written manuals, one for admins and the other for desktop users. The users manual covers Audio, CD Burners, Office Apps, CUPS, Web Browsers, and KDE/Gnome configuration.

      Enjoy,

      --
      It's just the normal noises in here.