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Moving to Linux, Second Edition: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye!, 2nd Edition
- By Marcel Gagné
- Published Aug 1, 2005 by Addison-Wesley Professional.
Book
- Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
About
Features
An update to the #1 Linux migration book for Windows users frustrated with the hassles and insecurity of Windows computing.
° How to use the most common desktop applications on Linux, such as web browsers, email clients, and instant messaging clients
° Bootable Knoppix CD allows readers to test-drive Linux without having to install Linux or remove their Windows installation.
° Coverage of OpenOffice.org 2.0 shows how to preserve their library of existing documents and spreadsheets under Linux.
Description
- Copyright 2006
- Edition: 2nd
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-321-35640-3
- ISBN-13: 978-0-321-35640-6
Praise for Marcel Gagné’s Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye!
“This is kind of a funny book for me to be recommending to readers of a Windows newsletter, but a lot of people ask me about this topic, so here goes. Author Marcel Gagné is a columnist for Linux Journal, and in Moving to Linux he’s prepared a step-by-step guide to converting a Windows PC to Linux—or just trying it! The book includes a bootable CD with a version of Linux that you can poke around in without touching or changing anything about your Windows installation. If your boss is asking, ‘What’s with this Linux stuff?’, moving to Linux is a great way to show that you know what you’re talking about.”
—Brian Livingston, Editor, WindowsSecrets.com
“Pros: Too many to list in the available space. We liked the book from the very first page right through to the end. Gagné has done a solid job of exposing Linux and all its components in a way that is both inviting, useful, and easy to understand . . . We really liked this book—highly recommended.”
—Howard Carson, Kickstart News, www.kickstartnews.com
“Marcel walks the user through each technique in a very chatty and comfortable style. In fact, when I put the book down, I had a momentary impression that I’d just finished watching a good cooking show with an entertaining chef. (Australian readers may understand if I say that it felt like having just watched Ian Parmenter do an episode of ‘Consuming Passions.’)”
—Jenn Vesperman, Linuxchix.org
“Gagné’s Moving to Linux is a straightforward exposition of just how a non-hacker PC user can get rid of ‘The Blue Screen of Death’. If you have a friend, a co-worker, a significant other, or a relative who periodically screams, sighs, bursts into tears, or asks for help, here’s the simple solution. It comes with a bootable CD of Knoppix, Klaus Knopper’s variant of Debian.”
—Peter H. Salus, writing in ;login: The Usenix Magazine
“This is a book aimed not at you, dear developer/techie/guru, but at your friends, acquaintances, and family who are lowly users of Windows. Yes, such people do exist even in the tightest of families. Fear not, however, because salvation is at hand should any of them decide that this Linux thing might be worth investigating. No longer will you be faced with the unenviable task of walking them through the process of switching OS. Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye! is a big, bold, and friendly guide to help them along. The emphasis is firmly on using Linux as a desktop system—this isn’t a book about Linux as a file, print, or Web server.”
—Tech Book Reports
Say Goodbye to Windows®-Related Crashes, Viruses, Hassles, and Costs!
Today, Linux is more powerful, useful, and practical than ever before! Moving to Linux, Second Edition, can help you migrate from Windows to the latest and best versions of Linux in just hours. By the time you’re finished, you’ll be able to do virtually anything in Linux—without the aggravation, crashes, security risks, or high costs of running Windows!
This is not a book for techies! It’s for people who write documents, create spreadsheets, surf the Web, use email, listen to music, watch movies, and play games—and want to do it in Linux, without becoming technical experts.
- Convert your Windows PC to a Linux system that does more for less money—one step at a time
- Take control of Linux the easy way, with the quick, efficient KDE graphical environment
- Browse the Internet using Firefox, the fast, powerful browser that’s quickly replacing Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Send and receive email and instant messages using your existing AOL, MSN, and Yahoo! accounts
- Manage all your digital photos, without the hassle, using digikam
- Rip music, burn and play CDs, and watch movies
- Discover the world of Linux games and learn how to run Windows games on your Linux PC
There’s more! Create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with OpenOffice.org 2.0—the free office suite for Linux that’s now easier, more powerful, and even more compatible with Microsoft Office.
Say goodbye to expensive software upgrades, burdensome Microsoft licensing, Windows viruses, and “blue screens of death.” Say hello to computing the way it’s supposed to be—with Linux!
Extras
Related Articles
Marcel's Linux Walkabout: Easy Software Installations with klik
Marcel's Linux Walkabout: Open Source Business Accounting with Quasar
Marcel's Linux Walkabout: RSS Newsfeeds, the Linux Way
Remastering a Custom Knoppix Distribution, Part 1
Remastering a Custom Knoppix Distribution, Part 2
Sample Content
Online Sample Chapter
Customizing Your Linux Desktop (or Making Your World Your Own)
Downloadable Sample Chapter
Download the Sample
Chapter related to this title.
Table of Contents
Preface.
1. Introduction.
Is Linux Really FREE?
The GPL
So What Do I Gain?
What Do I Lose?
Some Tips on Using This Book
Help Me!
About the CD
It’s My Philosophy
Resources
2. An Introduction to the WFTL Edition Knoppix Disk.
Ready to Try Linux?
Playing with WFTL Knoppix
Just Looking Around
Configure Now, Remember Me Later
The Persistence of Memory
Setting Up the Network
HELP!
Remember to Share
Resources
3. Ready . . . Set . . . Linux!
Getting Linux
Getting a Free Copy of Linux
Dual Booting
Preserving Your Data
A Linux-Only System
Windows on Linux
Breaking Free!
Resources
4. Getting Your Hands Dirty.
Getting to Know You. . . KDE
Logging In
Becoming One with the Desktop
Your First Application
Windows, Title Bars, and Menus, Oh My!
Resizing Windows
Command Central
A Polite Introduction to the Command Line
Give Me More!
Changing Your Password
User Security
I Need More Help!
Konquest of the Desktop
Resources
5. Konquering Your World.
Files, Directories, and the Root of All Things
Wherever You Go. . .
Enhancing Konqueror
Uh, Roger, Copy That. . .
Creating New Folders
Copying Files and Directories (and Moving, Too!)
Deleting Files and Directories
My World, My Way
Making Your Home a Home
6. Customizing Your Desktop (or Making Your World Your Own).
I Am Sovereign of All I Survey. . .
Save My Screen, Please!
Moving Things Around
Is That a Theme or a Motif?
Adding Icons and Shortcuts to Your Desktop
Miscellaneous Changes
Resources
7. Installing New Applications.
Linux and Security
The Many Faces of Software Installation
SuSE Software Package Installs
Mandrakes’s urpmi
Searching for Common Ground
Kpackage
RPMs, the Shell Way
The Extract and Build Five-Step
Resources
8. Printers and Other Hardware.
Yes, It Runs with Linux
Plug and Play
Getting Familiar with Your Hardware
Printers and Printing
Kprinter
Modems versus Winmodems
What? More Devices?
Resources
9. Connecting to the Internet.
Before You Begin
Getting on the Net
Connecting to the Net with a Modem
Cable Modems and High-Speed DSL
Okay, I’m Connected. Now What?
Kopete
Resources
10. Surfing the Internet.
Konqueror
Cool Konqueror Tricks
Mozilla Firefox
Wrapping Up
Resources
11. Electronic Mail Clients.
Be Prepared. . .
Kontact
KMail
Let’s Communicate!
Evolution
Other Options
Resources
12. Getting Organized.
KOrganizer
Evolution
Other Tools
Resources
13. Word Processors (It Was a Dark and Stormy Night. . .).
OpenOffice.org Writer
Write Now!
Toolbars of Every Kind. . .
Help!
To Word or Not to Word?
Personalizing Your Environment
A Wizard of Words
Navigating Style
Speaking of Document Elements. . .
More! Give Me More!
Other Options
Resources
14. Spreadsheets (Tables You Can Count On).
Starting a New Spreadsheet and Entering Data
Basic Math
Saving Your Work
Complex Charts and Graphs, Oh My!
Alternatives
Resources
15. Presentation Graphics (For Those Who Need No Introduction).
Getting Ready to Impress
Instant Web Presentations
How About a Little Flash? Shocking!
So What’s with the Penguin?
Extra! Extra!
Alternatives
Resources
16. Digital Photography.
Working with a Digital Camera
Picture-Perfect Konqueror
Picture-Perfect digiKam
Scanning. . .
Scanning under KDE-Kooka
Optical Character Recognition
Resources
17. Digital Art with the GIMP.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your GIMP
Printing Your Masterpiece
Tools, Tools, and More Tools
Resources
18. Linux Multimedia (If Music Be the Food of Love. . .).
Adjusting the Levels
KsCD, the KDE CD Player
XMMS
Noatun
Ripping and Burning Songs
KAudioCreator
K3b, for a Friendlier Burn
Put Another Nickel In . . .
Lights, Camera, Action: Moving Pictures
It’s a Wrap!
Resources
19. Fun and Games (Very Serious Fun).
Take Me Out to the Arcade
Deal Those Cards, Ace
B-4. Miss. E-7. Hit!
Educational Games
3D Accelerated Fun
The 13-Year Old’s Picks
More Games! I Need More Games!
Resources
Appendix A: The GNU General Public License.
Appendix B: Installation.
Appendix C: Taking Command of Linux.
Appendix D: Working with Editors.
Index.
Preface
Linux continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The face of Linux that most people see has changed quite a bit with KDE 3.4 being the latest offering of the desktop environment itself. Below that desktop environment, the graphical engine that drives it all changed as well. Linux distributions overwhelmingly switched from XFree86 to X.Org for the X Window System software. Office productivity tools took another leap forward as OpenOffice 2.0 made its appearance, providing users with greater functionality, ease of use, and Microsoft document filters so accurate, they make the whole question of sharing documents between the two platforms a virtual non-issue. The Linux Internet experience has vastly improved and Linux multimedia is now in a class all its own. A lot has changed, and the changes are fantastic. This is a great time to move to Linux and leave your old OS troubles behind. I look forward to being part of that journey.
Index
Download the Index
file related to this title.
Updates
Errata
Errata for this book is available at: http://www.marcelgagne.com/mtl2nd.html