Linux Complete

A guide to the operating system covers installing and configuring hardware, Linux networking and security, GNOME, and the K Desktop environment

Linux Complete is a compilation of documents written for the Linux Documentation Project (and freely available on the Web as part of that effort). Mostly, it's a collection of HOWTO documents, which are succinct statements and descriptions of common Linux-related tasks. Coverage focuses on the 2.0.x and 2.2.x kernels.

Most of Linux Complete is outstanding. Linux developers like to write about their products, and their affection for them frequently shows in their writing. The section on IP masquerading, written by Ambrose Au and David Ranch, does a superior job of explaining how to recompile the Linux kernel to support this capability. It also explains how to configure Windows machines, Unix boxes, Macintoshes, and even MS-DOS computers to talk with a Linux machine that's providing IP masquerading services.

Other networking documents are well-written and detailed too, but some parts of this compilation are hardly useful at all. The section on the Gnome environment is little more than a list of menu entries and some how-to procedures that will be obvious to anyone who's played with Gnome for more than a few minutes.

You'll find Linux Complete handy for its presentation of instructions for configuring Linux networks and its 250-page Linux command reference (though the formatting of that reference could be clearer). This book is an economical way to pick up hard copies of many of the most useful Linux documents. Keep it handy if you don't like to read from your video monitor. --David Wall

Topics covered: Everything you ever wanted to know about making Linux jump through hoops but felt too intimidated to ask. Coverage includes installation, device configuration, local area networking, dial-up networking with PPP, IP masquerading, DHCP setup, and IP chains.