Organization of This Book

Chapter 1: This chapter is designed to introduce you to Linux and help you determine whether Linux is appropriate for you.
Chapter 2: This chapter helps you understand what's involved in installing Linux and guides you through the process of gathering information about your system necessary to successfully install Linux.
Chapter 3: This chapter takes you step-by-step through the installation of Linux.
Chapter 4: Before you can effectively use a desktop environment, you need to know some Linux fundamentals. This chapter explains basic Linux concepts that underlie graphical and nongraphical system use.
Chapter 5: This chapter explains how to configure and use the GNOME and KDE desktop environments.
Chapter 6: This chapter introduces you to OpenOffice.org, Linux's desktop suite, which includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, and more. The chapter also introduces you to Evolution, a popular Linux email client and personal scheduler.
Chapter 7: This chapter digs deeper into the bash shell, the Linux command-line interface. You'll learn how to use the Linux command-line interface, which resembles MS-DOS but is much more powerful and sophisticated. Here you'll see firsthand just how powerful and easy to use Linux can be.
Chapter 8: This chapter explains the RPM Package Manager, which helps you manage program and applications. It also explains how to use Red Hat Network to keep your system up to date.
Chapter 9: Administering a multiuser operating system such as Linux is somewhat more complicated than administering a single-user operating system, but Linux includes tools that simplify the work. This chapter shows you how to configure your Linux system, including how to configure sound and printers.
Chapter 10: This chapter shows you how to connect via your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to the Internet. Once connected, you can use your Linux system to surf the Web and access other familiar Internet services.
Chapter 11: This chapter shows you how to connect your Linux system to other systems on your Local-Area Network, and how to install and configure servers such as Apache, the world's most popular web server.
Chapter 12: This chapter shows how to use advanced shell features and how to create shell scripts that extend the capabilities of Linux.

Four appendixes are also provided to help you locate important files and directories, manage the way your system boots, and use common Linux commands.