| Introduction | 1 |
| About This Book | 1 |
| How to Use This Book | 2 |
| Three Presumptuous Assumptions | 3 |
| How This Book Is Organized | 4 |
| Icons Used in This Book | 6 |
| Where to Go from Here | 6 |
| Part I | Getting Your Feet Wet | 7 |
| Chapter 1 | Getting Acquainted with Linux | 9 |
| Linux: Revolution or Just Another Operating System? | 10 |
| Anatomy of an Open Source Software Project | 13 |
| GNU who? | 13 |
| Packaging Linux: The Distribution | 16 |
| Chapter 2 | Prepping Your Computer for Linux | 19 |
| Installation Considerations | 19 |
| Preparing to Use Linux and Microsoft Windows Together | 20 |
| Working with Disk Partitions | 26 |
| Assessing Your Computer | 31 |
| Finally, Preparing for Your Installation | 34 |
| Enabling Booting from a CD- or DVD-ROM | 36 |
| Preparing to Boot from the Floppy Installation Disk | 37 |
| Chapter 3 | Installing Fedora Core | 39 |
| Things to Consider before You Begin Installation | 39 |
| The Installation Process | 41 |
| Your First Boot | 58 |
| Chapter 4 | Installing Other Distributions | 63 |
| Distribution Geography | 64 |
| Mandrake | 66 |
| SuSE | 68 |
| Chapter 5 | Booting and Stopping Linux | 73 |
| Giving Linux the Boot | 74 |
| Troubleshooting the Boot | 78 |
| Don't Just Turn Off the Machine! | 81 |
| Chapter 6 | Dip in Those Toes | 83 |
| The Interfaces | 84 |
| Accounts Great and Small | 96 |
| Printing | 101 |
| Zen and the Art of Linux Configuration | 103 |
| Part II | Internet NOW | 107 |
| Chapter 7 | Connecting to the Internet | 109 |
| Internet Connectivity 101 | 109 |
| Creating Your Internet-O-Matic | 111 |
| Turning to TCP/IP | 119 |
| Chapter 8 | Surfing the Web and Managing E-Mail | 125 |
| Configuring Mozilla | 126 |
| Them Dad-Gum Browser Plug-Ins | 131 |
| Shifting Mozilla into Gear | 133 |
| Evolving into E-Mail | 135 |
| Chapter 9 | Cool Internet Tools | 143 |
| Instant Messaging | 143 |
| Other Browsers to Consider | 147 |
| E-Mail Client: KMail | 149 |
| Transferring Files with FTP | 150 |
| Part III | Getting Up to Speed with Linux | 153 |
| Chapter 10 | Manipulating Files and Directories | 155 |
| Comprehending File Types | 155 |
| Working with the File System | 159 |
| Haggling with Permissions | 164 |
| Wildcards, or Legal Cheating | 171 |
| File Managers | 173 |
| Chapter 11 | Working without the GUI | 181 |
| Playing the Shell Game | 182 |
| Understanding bash Command Syntax and Structure | 184 |
| Starting Programs from the Shell | 186 |
| Putting Wildcard Expansion to Good Use | 186 |
| Working with Long Commands | 187 |
| Working with Variables | 189 |
| Using Redirection and Pipes | 193 |
| Altering the Shell Environment | 196 |
| Your Handy Command Toolkit | 196 |
| Chapter 12 | Gettin' Gooey with the GUIs | 199 |
| Changing GNOME's Look and Feel | 200 |
| Customizing KDE | 203 |
| Prettying Up Your Desktop | 205 |
| Tweaking the GUI's Innards | 210 |
| Chapter 13 | Putting the X in Text | 213 |
| Viewing the Contents of a Text File | 213 |
| Getting Prehistoric with vi | 214 |
| Going with gedit | 218 |
| Chapter 14 | Word Processing and More with OpenOffice.org | 223 |
| Installing OpenOffice.Org | 224 |
| Word Processing with OpenOffice.Org Writer | 227 |
| Spreadsheets with OpenOffice.Org Calc | 233 |
| Presentations with OpenOffice.Org Impress | 238 |
| Using the AutoPilot Presentation Wizard | 243 |
| Fine Art with OpenOffice.Org Draw | 244 |
| Calculations with OpenOffice.Org Math | 249 |
| Chapter 15 | Multimedia Wow! | 257 |
| Some Preliminaries | 257 |
| Checking Your Sound Card | 258 |
| Watchin' Movies | 273 |
| Dealing with Windows-Only Media Formats and Programs | 274 |
| Available Software | 275 |
| Installing and Using Wine | 279 |
| Part IV | Sinking Your Teeth into Linux | 283 |
| Chapter 16 | Checking Out the Linux File System | 285 |
| Introducing the Linux File System | 285 |
| Partitions versus Directories | 288 |
| Adding Media to Your File System | 291 |
| Care and Feeding of Your File System | 294 |
| Sharing Files by Using NFS | 297 |
| Accessing Shared Files on a Windows Computer | 300 |
| Chapter 17 | Adding Software to Linux | 303 |
| Getting Tarred and Feathered | 303 |
| Revving Your RPMs | 307 |
| Updating Your Machine | 311 |
| Finding New Software | 312 |
| Chapter 18 | A Secure Linux Box Is a Happy Linux Box | 313 |
| Choosing Secure Passwords | 314 |
| Updating Software | 314 |
| Plugging Security Holes | 315 |
| Keeping an Eye on Your Log Files with the System Log Viewer | 324 |
| Securing Your System | 325 |
| Part V | The Part of Tens | 327 |
| Chapter 19 | Eleven Troubleshooting Tips | 329 |
| "The Linux Installer Froze" | 330 |
| For Fedora Core Users | 331 |
| "My Graphics Fail the Installer Test" | 333 |
| "The Installer Tested My Graphics Fine, but My GUI Won't Start" | 333 |
| "I Think I'm in Linux, but I Don't Know What to Do!" | 334 |
| "I Don't Want to Boot into This!" | 335 |
| "I Want to Use Multiple Screen Resolutions" | 337 |
| "My GUI Is Hung and I'm Stuck!" | 338 |
| "Help, my machine hangs during boot!" | 338 |
| "How Do I Stop Scripting Screw-Ups?" | 339 |
| "Aaargh! I Forgot My Root Password! What Do I Do?" | 340 |
| Chapter 20 | Ten Superior Sources of Linux Information | 341 |
| The Best-Ever Linux Resource | 341 |
| Keeping the Bad Guys at Bay | 342 |
| The Kernel's at Linux Headquarters | 342 |
| Everything Linux | 342 |
| Looking for Linux Applications? | 343 |
| Lifelong Learning Includes Linux | 343 |
| Peerless Linux Publications Online | 343 |
| Supporting Linux Online | 344 |
| Slashdot: The Creme de la Nerd | 344 |
| More Tips off the Linux Berg | 344 |
| Part VI | Appendixes | 347 |
| Appendix A | Common Linux Commands | 349 |
| Linux Commands by Function | 349 |
| Appendix B | About the DVD-ROM | 355 |
| System Requirements | 355 |
| Using the DVD-ROM | 356 |
| What You Find in Fedora Core 1 | 358 |
| If You've Got Problems (Of the DVD-ROM Kind) | 358 |
| Index | 361 |
