Terms and Conditions:

Peter Harrison wrote:This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later (the latest version is presently available at http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/).

Excerpts from the Preface:

Without question, Linux is rapidly becoming the operating system of choice in many core areas of business. It is transforming information technology in many exciting ways, from being used in products ranging from cell phones and PDAs to cars and mainframe computers.

Like its many uses, Linux has a variety of printed and electronic guides to show you what to do. The specialist guides are highly detailed, focusing on narrow areas of excellence. The encyclopedic guides for beginners focus on Linux fundamentals and only then introduce you to more specialized topics. Unfortunately, there are few practical texts in between that help you to make the transition from being a beginner to having the confidence of an expert.

Why is this book necessary?

Most Linux "encyclopedias" are split in three sections: an introductory section covering topics such as CD-based Linux installation, GUI interfaces, and text editors; an intermediate section covering Microsoft Office clone productivity suites; and an advanced section covering the topics most nondesktop-support IT professionals use on a day-to-day basis. Unfortunately the "advanced sections" in these guides cover the underlying theory reasonably well, but often are short on space to adequately cover detailed configuration instructions. IT professionals frequently have to purchase additional specialist books on each topic.

Linux Quick Fix Notebook takes these "advanced sections" and expands them sufficiently to provide a practical tutorial guide on how to do basic configuration of many popular Linux back-office applications with command-by-command instructions.

To avoid confusion between the many flavors of Linux, each with its own GUI interface, this guide exclusively uses the command line to illustrate the tasks needed to be done. It provides all the expected screen output when configuring the most commonly used Linux applications to help assure readers that they are doing the right thing. The notebook also includes many of the most commonly encountered errors with explanations of their causes and how to fix them.

Prerequisites

The book’s format is aimed at proficient beginners, students, and IT professionals who often have to do advanced tasks in which the underlying theory is understood, but the commands to do it are forgotten or at the tips of their tongues. To maintain its appeal as a compact guide, only the essential supporting theory is provided to help end users implement their projects under budget and ahead of schedule.

A great deal of attention has been paid to troubleshooting techniques that are often needed to remedy unexpected behavior, and every chapter has real-world practical examples in the form of tutorials.

Because the readers are assumed to be exposed to the theory of Linux, many of the introductory topics are not covered, which provides room for much more coverage of the steps needed to get the more difficult jobs done. Two to three months of hands-on Linux experience is an ideal prerequisite. Additionally, basic Windows exposure to the concept of sharing directories between servers is needed.

Reviews:

Linux Journal

:) "Peter Harrison's new Linux Quick Fix Notebook is the kind of book that all Linux professionals should have handy for times when they need immediate results."

Reg Developer

:) "... the title is uninspiring and makes it sound like another book promising expertise without effort. But this is far from the truth and, contrary to what we expected, this is a book that can easily be recommended."

Amazon.com

:) "Harrison does a great job in hitting the target audience. He is writing to "proficient beginners, students, and IT professionals" who understand the theory but need a little nudge on the command formatting."

:) "The mail chapter alone was worth the price but this book is full of solving common system administration tasks for people with some linux experience but not the expertise of being a sysadmin."