
Preface
|
xix
Chapter 9, Administration and Automation
If you’re a Debian user, this is a must-read chapter, because it is one of
the few places you’ll find a way to restore a Debian system after you
have accidentally deleted the package database. Learn how to make
your system configure and deconfigure network connections simply by
connecting or disconnecting the network cable. This chapter also
includes a hack that gives CodeWeavers’ CrossOver Office and/or Wine
users a relatively safe way to view untrusted Microsoft Word docu-
ments that arrive in email as attachments. You will also learn some
basics, such as how to keep your computer clock synchronized, how to
speed up the loading of C++ programs (namely, almost all of KDE and
KDE applications), and how to back up or clone information from one
machine to another. In addition, this chapter shows you a trick that
restarts a background application every time it accidentally (or inten-
tionally) dies, and it does it with a simple script instead of using compli-
cated daemon tools.
Chapter 10, Kernel
This chapter discusses Linux, the kernel. Here you will learn how to
compile your own kernel and how to upgrade your system from the 2.4
kernel series to 2.6. It also covers one alternative kernel branch that
offers improved desktop performance, and ways to tweak your system
performance without modifying the kernel.
Chapter 11, Hardware
Your computer isn’t ...