Beginning SUSE Linux. From Novice to Professional

Customer Reviews

Good reading whether level of your experience.

2006-11-04
I have read this book cover to cover. I am trained in computers and have been working with Linux now for over a year, and Windows six years. This book is good reading for people interested in computers regardless of you level of expertise in computers. I covers one of the most popular flavors of Linux.

Great Book,

2006-09-25
This is a great book whether you've are an intermediate Linux user or a true novice. I had used Linux on and off but not really dove in to it like I had with MS Windows. After purchasing this book though I have completly migrated off of Windows and now use SUSE Linux full time. The book is great at using examples to help certain things stay in your head. I also like the way this book starts off teaching the Linux GUI (X) and then moves on to the command-line, most Linux books I've read are the complete opposite. Once you learn the GUI you move on to command-line which helps you stay focused on the book since the command line can get fustrating when first learning to use it. Great book, highly recommended.

An excellent beginners guide

2006-07-29
I am a computer nerd, and I've been using Suse for roughly a year now, so you would think this book would be beneath me. However, it is an entertaining read.

I gives a great overview of Linux, and all of the great stuff it can do.

You can't expect a book to help you troubleshoot every piece of hardware you have. If you read the first few chapters you will find that most serious hardware troubleshooting will require some help from the linux community or at the very least some research online.

Doesn't explain things in great detail

2006-07-11
I tried this book and it was great until i started downloading files, I kept getting error codes. I'm thinking I did not have a file that i needed. I also read the chapter about playing dvd movies and online video not very helpful.every time you download something that some one mentions either on the web or in a not very well written book like this, there is either another file that you need or a conflict that has to be fixed.

Book has decent information but serious flaws

2005-10-13
I just installed Suse Linux 9.3. This book did provide some assistance and is worth having but not at the fourty dollars that I paid for it. The author needs to quit bashing Microsoft and try to sell his OS by its merits not by tearing down others. That said Linux has a whole series of problems of its own. Reading his book did not help me when during installation the mouse was not detected, my modem was detected by did not work, my scanner was not detected. After installation the screen flickered and went dark. I had to restart the computer. Linux has a lot of problems which this author glosses over in his obsession of criticizing Microsoft. I would recommend anyone interested in this book to sign it out from the library or borrow it from a friend and try to use it to install Linux. I challenge you to see if it really provides you all the help you are going to need.

Nice book, not really for beginner

2005-09-25

Beginning SUSE Linux: From Novice to Professional is designed for the newcomer to Linux. It aims to guide you through numerous practical topics relevant to effective operation of this popular operating system.

The book begins by discussing the background of Linux and open source software, then proceeds to guide you through the SUSE installation process. Youll learn how to use the basic functions, and modify the look and feel according to your tastes. This book is packed with troubleshooting tips, so even the most cautious beginner will feel right at home.

Next, the book covers the daily usage tasks that are enjoyable and interesting to learn. You'll learn how to configure your system to listen to audio CDs and MP3s, burn CDs, watch movies, connect to the Internet, and reproduce common Windows tasks.

In the process, you'll gain an in-depth understanding about the core of Linux. You'll learn how to master the command-line prompt, secure your system, and perform administration tasks like scheduling backups and managing users.

A full version of the SUSE operating system is supplied for free on the included DVD, so youll have everything you need to get a Linux system up and running.

Suse is a great alternative!

2005-08-18
This book is a great way for any reasonably experienced PC user to break into the Linux world. The author is clearly prejudiced against Microsft but who can blame him? He can do almost anything with Suse that can be done with XP for free. I have used all versions of windows from 3.0 to XP and I found Linux a little bit intimidating initially. After reading this book and using the information provided I now dual boot my primary box, I have turned an old PC into a web server, revived an old Thinkpad long thought useless, and my kids have a box that is used for school work, web surfing and photo editing (but not gaming). In many ways Linux is superior to windows especially when comparing costs. This book is a great way to get started!

Good So Far

2005-08-13
As a total Linux 'Noob' (newbie, new user) I've just finished installing SUSE 9.1, dual booting with Windows XP, using the DVD that came with this book, and using the first few chapters as a guide. Here are my initial thoughts...

Seems like a good book: good writing style, well edited, and a good value here on Amazon. The description of the installation process doesn't quite match what I saw on screen. I had particular problems trying to resize my partition and finally bailed and accepted the installation's defaults (mainly laziness on my part). There were some hardware issues, however:

1) Linux did not recognize my wireless keyboard during the install. It wouldn't let me click to close the very first dialog box, so I couldn't proceed with the installation. Plugged in a wired keyboard to fix that issue.

2) I have an ATI All-In-Wonder X800 video card, which isn't supported. The install completed, but the graphics were terrible. I Googled 'suse ati x800' and found that lots of people were having issues with this graphics card. There were fixes, but involved downloading drivers and recompiling Linux, so I replaced my X800 with an older Radeon 9600 and it worked flawlessly.

My point from these ramblings is that I am looking for alternatives to Windows (I have real concerns about Longhorn / Vista) and I will make the effort to become knowledgeable about Linux. Ultimately, I expect to use both operating systems (with a 91% user base, Windows won't be going away). Linux has come a long way in the last few years and looks great, but don't expect to master it without some effort and commitment, and don't try to use it with cutting edge hardware that probably won't be immediately supported.

Anti-Windows/Microsoft

2005-08-01
The beginnning of the book seems more of a bash on windows and makes some untrue claims, which makes me wonder how much experience the author actually has with linux.

"A primary benefit of Linux is that it doesn't crash. In years and years of using Linux, you will never experience your mouse cursor freezing on screen."

"Well, it's a little like running Windows, except there are no viruses, no crashes, and no inexplicable slowdowns."

Linux can crash, can have viruses and "inexplicable" slowdowns, no O/S is that perfect.

Great desktop tutorial

2005-07-26
This books is really useful if you've got some Windows experience and want to try SuSe as a desktop platform. It covers all desktop tools in great details, tells how to work with office documents, multimedia, burning CDs, building dual boot systems, etc.

Actually the best part of this book is not really Linux itself, but all extra apps you need to use under SuSE to get your common tasks done.

The book is not really useful if you plan to build a SuSE server.