Linux: Configuration and Installation (Mis Press Slackware Series)

"This book is . . . a Linux user's godsend."--The Linux Journal. An update to the top-selling first edition, this version of Linux Configuration & Installation will cover in detail Internet tools, networking, programming, and XFree86. The CDs include the entire Slackware release and a wealth of Linux applications.

This book provides everything you would expect, but little more; however, Linux Configuration & Installation provides it so authoritatively that there's no doubt about completeness or accuracy. Because one of the authors, Patrick Volkerding, created Slackware Linux, this documentation of his own Linux flavor is good.

The authors begin by helping you decide if your machine's hardware will cooperate with Linux. They then show you how to install Slackware Linux 3.2 and get it to recognize your hardware. The authors detail how to install XFree86 (X Windows for Linux) and give more customization advice than most other authors of Linux books do. Other chapter topics include managing files; applications, such as elvis and a vi port for Linux; system administration; and Internet services. While these chapters aren't command references, they do show users how to get into the proper frame of mind for doing things with Slackware Linux and impart some command facts along the way.

The best features of this book are its two CD-ROMs. Not only do they contain Slackware Linux 3.2, ready to install, but also XFree86, lots of hardware drivers, a bunch of compilers, and some games and miscellaneous utilities. You'll play with this stuff for days.