linux

I am a Newbie to Linux. I've used MS products throughout the years, and finally decided to try Linux. From all of the reviews I had read, I chose the "Red Hat Linux 9 Bible," by Christopher Negus to begin my journey.

Luckily, I read-through about one-third of the book before trying the installation. I successfully installed Linux on a Compaq Presario, although the BIOS always over-rides any O.S. disk, other than the restoration disk (98) that came with the system. I compared the Linux Bible information to my MCSE 2000 kit and decided to set-up two FAT 16 partitions, two FAT 32 partitions, and leave the rest of the disk unpartitioned. Note: my first experiment, with only one FAT 16 partition was unsuccessful, and the Boot record was toast. Two FAT 16 partitions allowed me to retain the boot record and dual-boot, properly. The Linux Bible informed me about leaving the rest of the hard drive unpartitioned, in preparation for the Linux installation.

Even on the Compaq Presario--with the BIOS over-ride issue--I was able to dual-boot with MS Windows and Linux (although I am a newbie to Linux, and this was my first insatllation of Linux), thanks to The Linux Bible. Now, despite the fact that the BIOS only wants Windows 98, I can successfully boot Linux, 98 & 2000 on the same machine. Most people probably would-have just flashed the Motherboard BIOS, but this was my Mom's PC, at the time I was experimenting. 98 keeps the BIOS happy, and I need the FAT 16 partitions for Linux, so this set-up works well--without flashing the BIOS (and risking damage to the Motherboard).
Important note: the Linux Bible taught me to install the Windows Operating systems first, to preserve the Master Boot record--which I did. However, if I made Windows the primary O.S., it dusted Linux. So, I made Linux the Primary boot O.S., and DOS secondary. Now, when I boot, I can choose Linux (or let it automatically load), or choose DOS, then choose between 98 or 2000.
Without The Linux Bible I would not have had a clue how to trick the BIOS and install Linux on the Compaq Presario.
Also, I found The Linux Bible to be extremely helpful, once the O.S. was installed and I could tear myself away from the Astroids game--which is rather addictive.
I strongly suggest The Linux Bible to other Newbies. You can find all of the informmation you need--including the Shell commands. This book seems to be the perfect introduction / Initiation into Linux. I also purchased "Linux in a Nutshell" (O'Reilly), but it seems to be written for people who already know what they are doing and already know how to install Linux.

If you don't know your mouse from an iptable, I wouldn't recommend buying this book. While it is chock full of info, the majority of it seems geared to more hardcore power users. The book starts off slow and easy, but then suddenly everything is in command-land. I still find it handy as a reference, but it isn't really isn't a good book for beginner or intermediate users.

this book was a complete waste of my money. i am an experienced programmer with the microsoft platforms and i have run dozens of servers in a webfarm. i bought this book to help me add a redhat server to my home network. i wanted to set it up to run PHP on apache with mySQL. anyway my NIC card was not autodetected and i needed to get the drivers as source code and compile them. this is pretty standard fare for a linux setup. anyway the book does not even touch this subject. if you know next to nothing about PC's maybe this book could help you out. but i dont think the majority of linux users would fall into that category. so far the only benefit of this book is that it came with the 3 cd's of the redhat 9 distro, but i obviously scored those myself from their FTP site already. anyone want to buy a nearly mint copy of this book? :)