Spring Into Linux®

Spring Into Linux®

by Janet Valade
Released April 2005
Publisher(s): Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN: 0131853546

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Book description

The fastest route to true Linux mastery!

You know your way around Windows (or maybe a Mac, or even UNIX). Now, you're ready for Linux.

And you don't have a minute to waste.

Welcome. This book's for you.

Janet Valade has spent thirteen years helping new users master Linux and related technologies. She knows the "magic words" that'll help you get the job done, fast. (And she knows exactly how to keep you out of trouble, too!)

You'll learn Linux through dozens of focused, bite-size examples, each one carefully designed to build on what you've learned before.

Need specific solutions? This book's carefully crafted, high-efficiency format delivers them... instantly. Working on Fedora? Mandrake? SuSE? No matter. This book is for you.

No other introduction to Linux covers this much, this well, this quickly. Dig in, get started, get results!

  • All you need to succeed with Linux—without the hassles!

  • Choose the best Linux distribution for your personal or business needs

  • Get Linux installed quickly and running reliably

  • Handle your day-to-day tasks and efficiently manage your files

  • Master KDE, GNOME, and the Linux command line

  • Write documents and build spreadsheets with OpenOffice.org

  • Set up Web access, email, and instant messaging

  • Work with powerful Linux multimedia and graphics software

  • Find, install, and run new Linux software

  • Set up your printer to work with Linux

  • Supercharge Linux with shell scripts and customized configuration files

Includes concise Linux command reference and quick guide to building powerful Regular Expressions

Spring Into... is a new series of fast-paced tutorials from Addison-Wesley Professional Publishers. Each book in the series is designed to bring you up-to-speed quickly. Complex technologies are reduced to their core components, and each component is treated with remarkable efficiency in one- or two-page spreads. Just the information you need to begin working...now! And because the books are example-rich and easy to navigate, you'll find that they make great on-the-job references after you've mastered the basics.

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. Spring Into Series
  3. From the Series Editor
  4. Preface
    1. Who Should Read This Book?
    2. How Is This Book Organized?
    3. What's Unusual About This Book?
    4. Who Helped Me Write This Book?
    5. About the Author
    6. About the Series Editor
  5. Understanding Open Source Software
    1. Open Source Software
    2. Open Source License
    3. Linux Is Open Source Software
    4. What Is GNU?
    5. Summary
  6. Choosing a Linux Distribution
    1. Distribution Contents
    2. Red Hat/Fedora
    3. Mandrake
    4. SuSE
    5. Other Distributions
    6. Live CDs
    7. Summary
  7. Getting Ready to Install Linux
    1. Hardware Requirements
    2. Hardware Compatibility
    3. Purchasing Linux
    4. Downloading Linux
    5. Planning Your Computer System
    6. Running Linux with Windows
    7. Examining Your Hard Drive
    8. Making Room for Linux During Installation
    9. Making Room for Linux Before Installation
    10. Booting from the CD or from a Floppy
    11. Summary
  8. Installation
    1. Installation Overview
    2. Starting the Fedora Installation Procedure
    3. Collecting Hardware Information for Fedora
    4. Selecting the Installation Type for Fedora
    5. Selecting Where to Install Fedora
    6. Collecting Network Information for Fedora
    7. Languages and Time Zone for Fedora
    8. Creating the Root Account for Fedora
    9. Selecting Packages to Install on Fedora
    10. Installing the Fedora System
    11. Starting the Mandrake Installation Procedure
    12. Collecting Information for Mandrake
    13. Selecting Packages to Install on Mandrake
    14. Installing the Mandrake System
    15. Creating Accounts for Mandrake
    16. Configuration Summary for Mandrake
    17. Finishing Mandrake Installation
    18. Starting the SuSE Installation Procedure
    19. Configuration Settings for SuSE
    20. Selecting Packages to Install on SuSE
    21. Installing the SuSE System
    22. Configuring the Installed SuSE System
    23. Finishing SuSE Installation
    24. Summary
  9. Interacting with Linux
    1. The Graphical User Interface on Linux
    2. GNOME
    3. KDE
    4. The Command-Line Interface on Linux
    5. Choosing the Interface
    6. Summary
  10. Using Your Desktop
    1. Logging In
    2. Your First Login
    3. Anatomy of a Desktop
    4. KDE and GNOME Desktops
    5. The Panel
    6. Working on the Desktop
    7. Configuring the Desktop
    8. Changing the KDE Background
    9. Changing the GNOME Background
    10. Setting Fonts
    11. Setting the Screen Saver
    12. Organizing the Desktop
    13. Changing the Panel Location and Size
    14. Configuring Multiple Virtual Desktops
    15. Logging Out
    16. Summary
  11. Using the Command Line
    1. Entering Commands
    2. Entering a Single Command
    3. Command-Line Syntax
    4. Redirecting Input and Output
    5. Running Commands in the Background
    6. Editing the Command Line
    7. Command-Line Help
    8. Some Useful Commands
    9. The sort Command
    10. The grep Command
    11. Configuring the Terminal Window
    12. Summary
  12. Linux Accounts
    1. Account Types
    2. Groups
    3. Account Information
    4. Adding Accounts
    5. Passwords
    6. Group Information
    7. Adding Groups
    8. Forgotten Root Password
    9. Summary
  13. File Management
    1. File Organization
    2. File Information
    3. Examining Files from the Desktop
    4. Examining Files from the Command Line
    5. File Permissions
    6. Changing Permissions
    7. Managing Owners and Groups
    8. File Types
    9. Finding Files
    10. Creating Directories, Files, and Links
    11. Copying, Renaming, and Moving Files
    12. Viewing and Editing Text Files
    13. Deleting Files and Directories
    14. Summary
  14. Applications and Programs
    1. Programs
    2. Linux Commands
    3. Applications
    4. Managing Application Software
    5. Installing from the Distribution CDs
    6. Installing from the Distribution Web Site
    7. Finding Packages on the Internet
    8. Installing Packages Using RPM
    9. Installing Packages from Source Code
    10. Summary
  15. Word Processing
    1. Creating a Document
    2. Menus and Toolbars
    3. Formatting
    4. Styles
    5. Using Templates
    6. Creating Templates
    7. Editing Document Contents
    8. Autocorrection
    9. Spell Checking
    10. Tables and Columns
    11. Frames
    12. Graphics in Documents
    13. The Gallery
    14. Document File Formats
    15. Tracking Changes
    16. Summary
  16. Spreadsheets
    1. Creating a Spreadsheet
    2. Menus and Toolbars
    3. Formatting Cells
    4. Formatting Pages
    5. Editing the Spreadsheet Content
    6. Formulas and Functions
    7. Saving and Printing
    8. Summary
  17. Graphics
    1. Graphics File Formats
    2. Viewing Graphics Files
    3. Scanning Documents
    4. Presentation Graphics
    5. Digital Cameras
    6. Screen Shots
    7. Diagramming with Dia
    8. Drawing with OpenOffice Draw
    9. Creating and Opening Images in the GIMP
    10. The GIMP Toolbox
    11. Changing Image Size in GIMP
    12. Removing Elements from an Image in GIMP
    13. Adding Elements to an Image in the GIMP
    14. Working with Layers in the GIMP
    15. Summary
  18. Printing
    1. Installing Your Printer on Fedora
    2. Installing Your Printer on Other Distributions
    3. Printing
    4. Managing Print Jobs
    5. Summary
  19. The Internet
    1. Accessing the Internet
    2. Hardware for Accessing the Internet
    3. Checking Your Network Connections
    4. Adding a Dial-Up Network Connection
    5. Adding a Broadband Network Connection
    6. Web Browsers
    7. Browsing with Mozilla
    8. Mozilla Menus and Toolbars
    9. The Mozilla Sidebar
    10. Tabbed Browsing in Mozilla
    11. Controlling Pop-Ups with Mozilla
    12. Downloads, Forms, Passwords, and Cookies
    13. Plug-Ins
    14. Summary
  20. Multimedia
    1. Configuring Your Sound Card
    2. Playing Audio CDs
    3. Downloading Music
    4. Xmms
    5. Rhythmbox
    6. Video Players
    7. RealPlayer
    8. MPlayer
    9. Listening to Radio
    10. Copying Music Files from CD to Hard Disk
    11. Summary
  21. Email, Messaging, and News
    1. Email Accounts
    2. Email Software
    3. Setting Up an Email Account
    4. Configuring Mozilla Email
    5. Reading Email in Mozilla
    6. Sending Email in Mozilla
    7. Mozilla Message Filters
    8. Creating a Message Filter in Mozilla
    9. Spam
    10. Mozilla Address Book
    11. Adding and Editing Address Cards
    12. Instant Messaging
    13. Signing Up for AIM
    14. Signing Up for MSN Messenger
    15. Signing On with Gaim
    16. IM Conversations
    17. Newsgroups
    18. Summary
  22. Editing Text Files
    1. Opening a File in Kate
    2. Editing in Kate
    3. Kate Features for Programmers
    4. Opening a File in vi
    5. Editing and Saving Files with vi
    6. Moving Around a File in vi
    7. vi Editing Commands
    8. Sample vi Editing Session
    9. Summary
  23. Shell Scripts
    1. A Simple Shell Script
    2. The Basics of Variables and Arrays
    3. Reading Data into Variables
    4. Special Characters and Quotes
    5. Flow Control
    6. Testing Conditions
    7. If Statements
    8. Case Statements
    9. For Loops
    10. While Loops and Until Loops
    11. Infinite Loops
    12. Scheduling Scripts to Run Automatically
    13. A Sample Script
    14. Summary
  24. Regular Expressions
    1. Match a Single Character ( . ) (?)
    2. Specify the Location (^) ($)
    3. Group Characters ( () )
    4. Match One of a Set of Literal Characters ( [ ] )
    5. Exclude a Set of Literal Characters ( [^ ] )
    6. Match a String of Characters (+) (*) ( { n} )
    7. Match One of Alternate Literal Strings ( ( | ) )
    8. Using Regular Expressions
    9. Examples
  25. Command Reference
    1. basename (display filename only)
    2. bunzip2 (decompress bz2 files)
    3. bzcat (display bz2 files)
    4. bzip2 (compress files)
    5. bzip2recover (recover bzip2 files)
    6. cal (displays a calendar)
    7. cat (display files)
    8. cdage (change password expiration)
    9. chgrp (change group)
    10. chmod (change permissions)
    11. chown (change owner)
    12. clear (clear the screen)
    13. cmp (compare files)
    14. colrm (remove columns from a text file)
    15. comm (compare two sorted text files)
    16. cp (copy files)
    17. crontab (schedule commands)
    18. date (displays date and time)
    19. df (display disk space)
    20. diff (compare two text files)
    21. diff3 (compare 3 text files, merges files)
    22. dir (list filenames)
    23. du (display disk usage)
    24. echo (display text)
    25. env (display and set environmental variables)
    26. file (display file type)
    27. find (find files)
    28. finger (display user information)
    29. fold (break lines at a specified column)
    30. ftp (transfer files)
    31. gawk (process text)
    32. grep (find text in files)
    33. groupadd (add a group)
    34. groupdel (delete a group)
    35. groups (show groups)
    36. gunzip (uncompress gzip file)
    37. gzip (compress files)
    38. info (display online documentation)
    39. less (display file one page at a time)
    40. lpq (check print queue)
    41. lpr (print)
    42. lprm (remove a job from the print queue)
    43. ls (list filenames)
    44. man (display manual page)
    45. merge (merge 3 files)
    46. mkdir (create a new directory)
    47. more (display files to screen)
    48. mv (move or rename a file)
    49. passwd (change password)
    50. pwd (show current directory)
    51. quota (show disk usage)
    52. rename (rename series of files)
    53. rm (delete files)
    54. rmdir (remove directories)
    55. sed (edits text files)
    56. sleep (pause)
    57. sort (sort contents of a file)
    58. tar (copy files into or restore files from an archive file)
    59. touch (update access and modification date)
    60. uniq (remove duplicate lines)
    61. unset (remove an environmental variable)
    62. useradd (add accounts)
    63. userdel (remove account)
    64. w (display system information)
    65. wc (count characters, words, and lines)
    66. who (display users who are logged in)
    67. whoami (display current user)
  26. Index

Product information

  • Title: Spring Into Linux®
  • Author(s): Janet Valade
  • Release date: April 2005
  • Publisher(s): Addison-Wesley Professional
  • ISBN: 0131853546