Dulaney - Linux All-in-One for Dummies

Linux All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition

by Emmett Dulaney

Linux All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010933460

ISBN: 978-0-470-77019-1

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Emmett Dulaney is the author of several books on operating systems and certifications, and an assistant professor at Anderson University. Other books he has written include CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide (Sybex) and Security + Study Guide (Sybex).

Emmett is a columnist for CertCities and is a contributor to a number of other magazines.

Dedication

For Karen, Kristin, Evan, and Spencer.

Authors Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Naba Barkakati, who wrote the first two editions and did a fantastic job of condensing a wealth of information into a small tome. Equal thanks go to Graham Brown for his assistance in doing a similar task with the 4th edition of this book and never saw a task that couldnt be tackled.

I would also like to thank Elizabeth Zinkann for being one of the best technical editors in the business and Susan Pink for keeping everything on track and on time.

Publishers Acknowledgments

Were proud of this book; please send us your comments at www.dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.

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Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Susan Pink (Previous Edition: Pat OBrien)

Acquisitions Editor: Kyle Looper

Copy Editor: Susan Pink (Previous Edition: Jen Riggs)

Technical Editor: Elizabeth Zinkann

Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen

Editorial Assistant: Leslie Saxman

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

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Introduction

L inux is truly amazing when you consider how it originated and how it continues to evolve. From its modest beginning as the hobby of one person Linus Torvalds of Finland Linux has grown into a full-fledged operating system with features that rival those of any commercial UNIX operating system. To top it off, Linux with all of its source code is available free to anyone. All you have to do is download it from an Internet site or get it on CDs or a DVD for a nominal fee from one of many Linux CD vendors.

Linux certainly is an exception to the rule that you get what you pay for. Even though Linux is free, it is no slouch when it comes to performance, features, and reliability. The robustness of Linux has to do with the way it is developed and updated. Developers around the world collaborate to add features. Incremental versions are continually downloaded by users and tested in a variety of system configurations. Linux revisions go through much more rigorous beta testing than any commercial software does.

Since the release of Linux kernel 1.0 on March 14, 1994, the number of Linux users around the world has grown exponentially. Many Linux distributions combinations of the operating system with applications and installation tools have been developed to simplify installation and use. Some Linux distributions are commercially sold and supported, while many continue to be freely available.

Linux, unlike many freely available software programs, comes with extensive online information on topics such as installing and configuring the operating system for a wide variety of PCs and peripherals. A small group of hard-core Linux users are expert enough to productively use Linux with the online documentation alone. A much larger number of users, however, move to Linux with some specific purpose in mind (such as setting up a Web server or learning Linux). Also, a large number of Linux users use their systems at home. For these new users, the online documentation is not easy to use and typically does not cover the specific uses of Linux that the user may have in mind.