This book explains how to solve interesting (and progressively more complex) problems, using Java to work through the examples, building up from basic principles in Chapter 1 to implementing a chess program by the end of the book. It's not quite as polished as a professionally-edited book (you can tell his native tongue is French, although he writes in very good English), but it's a better self-study aid than any book I've seen from a mainstream publisher.
(Full disclosure: I used to work with Christophe at a previous job).
Linux spreads mainly on word-of-mouth advertising, and network-based cooperation. I suspect that Linux will take off in India when (hopefully not "if") network connections there become cheaper.
IIRC, bandwidth in India costs about an order of magnitude more than the same connection to the 'net would cost in the USA. Salaries for skilled computer geeks are perhaps 5 to 10 times lower. Thus, a comparable network connection will cost the geek maybe 50 to 100 times more in real terms.
I think the complaint about "configurations of individual permissions" refers to some additional refinement of permissions in Windows. In reality, the Unix permissions scheme adapts fairly well to real-world issues, providing good security without too much inconvenience. The Windows permission scheme, in contrast, appears over-complicated, poorly understood by Windows admins, and frequently ignored/bypassed.
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this point. Windows does offer finer-grained permissions control than UNIX, and this is important for certain types of collaborative situations. The Windows user interface implementation is pretty awful, and makes them hard to set and administer, but we shouldn't discard the book's premise just because it has a poor cover.
Ka-Ping Yee gives an elegant example, and a somewhat less elegant sample solution, in section 4.8 of this paper.
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Fun Science with your Computer by Christophe Cornu.
This book explains how to solve interesting (and progressively more complex) problems, using Java to work through the examples, building up from basic principles in Chapter 1 to implementing a chess program by the end of the book. It's not quite as polished as a professionally-edited book (you can tell his native tongue is French, although he writes in very good English), but it's a better self-study aid than any book I've seen from a mainstream publisher.
(Full disclosure: I used to work with Christophe at a previous job).
Linux spreads mainly on word-of-mouth advertising, and network-based cooperation. I suspect that Linux will take off in India when (hopefully not "if") network connections there become cheaper.
IIRC, bandwidth in India costs about an order of magnitude more than the same connection to the 'net would cost in the USA. Salaries for skilled computer geeks are perhaps 5 to 10 times lower. Thus, a comparable network connection will cost the geek maybe 50 to 100 times more in real terms.
I think the complaint about "configurations of individual permissions" refers to some additional refinement of permissions in Windows. In reality, the Unix permissions scheme adapts fairly well to real-world issues, providing good security without too much inconvenience. The Windows permission scheme, in contrast, appears over-complicated, poorly understood by Windows admins, and frequently ignored/bypassed.
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this point. Windows does offer finer-grained permissions control than UNIX, and this is important for certain types of collaborative situations. The Windows user interface implementation is pretty awful, and makes them hard to set and administer, but we shouldn't discard the book's premise just because it has a poor cover.
Ka-Ping Yee gives an elegant example, and a somewhat less elegant sample solution, in section 4.8 of this paper.
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