Red Hat Linux Unleashed, Second Edition - Softcover

The darling of the open-source movement, Linux offers up a tinkerer's dream: the ability to configure, manipulate, and (potentially) improve absolutely everything about the operating system. Red Hat Linux Unleashed recognises the central desire of Linux adopters--control over just about everything (including the source code). The book devotes copious pages to step-by-step instructions to accompany the Red Hat installation CD- ROM.

Red Hat Linux Unleashed explains some troubleshooting techniques, mostly by detailing prevention. The authors want readers to understand the processes underlying Linux in order to make intelligent decisions about system maintenance. A good portion of the book deals with network administration, including chapters on STMP & POP, FTP, and security issues. For those looking to host Web servers, the specifics of Apache, Domain Name Systems (DNS), Network Information Service (NIS) client/server database systems, and Network File System (NFS) software all receive ample coverage.

While Red Hat Linux Unleashed does try to be all things to all people, the authors acknowledge the impossibility of this mandate. They sprinkle URLs throughout the book, encouraging readers to visit other locations for more in-depth coverage. A strong overall resource, Red Hat Linux Unleashed is a good place to start for Linux installation. -- Jennifer Buckendorff, Amazon.com

Bill Ball is the best-selling author of nearly 20 books about Linux, including several editions of Red Hat Linux Unleashed, Que's Using Linux, and Sams Publishing's SuSE Linux Unleashed. He is a technical writer, editor and magazine journalist and has been using computers for nearly 30 years. He first edited books for Que in 1986 and wrote one of the first best-selling Linux books, Teach Yourself Linux in 24 Hours, in 1997. He has authored articles and reviews in Linux Journal, developed technical online content for business websites and has developed and released open source software for the Mac OS and Palm OS platforms.

Hoyt Duff feels that a good word to describe Hoyt Duff's life experience is "former"-former senior vice president and senior commercial loan officer for a bank, former community college instructor, former restaurateur and former special education teacher. He currently meets the needs of his inner ADD child by spending the summer months tending to his family business, a sport fishing pier (the longest on the East Coast) and playing cocktail piano on weekends. Hoyt even finds time to write about Linux as a columnist and regular contributor of reviews and tutorial for Linux Format magazine. Active in the TideWater UNIX Users Group (http://www.twuug.org), Hoyt enjoys the regular Linux installfests the most and will attempt to install Linux on anything that moves.