BKSEUCOL.RVW   990922

"Special Edition Using Caldera OpenLinux", Allen Smart et al, 1999,
0-7897-2058-2, U$39.99/C$59.99/UK#36.99
%A   Allen Smart
%A   Erik Ratcliffe
%A   Tim Bird
%A   David Bandel dbandel@ix.netcom.com
%A   Wilson Mattos
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1999
%G   0-7897-2058-2
%I   Macmillan Computer Publishing (MCP)
%O   U$39.99/C$59.99/UK#36.99 800-858-7674 http://www.mcp.com
%P   1194 p. + CD-ROM
%T   "Special Edition Using Caldera OpenLinux"

The Linux titles are coming thick and fast these days.  This offering
has a strong Caldera presence, with a number of the authors working
for the company.  The early sections of the book will be useless to
anyone using another Linux variant, but later parts may be helpful to
some.

The introductory section has a chapter that does a very good, and
mostly even-handed, job of explaining Linux and the variety of forms
available.  The chapter on installation is not written to the same
standard.  The user is primarily walked through the automated
installation system, and certain parts of that, such as repartitioning
the hard drive on an existing system, may just be slightly harder than
the book makes out.

The second section, on using OpenLinux, isn't, really.  Actually, it
concentrates on using the K Desktop Environment (KDE), and hardly
mentions the basic Linux system at all.  There is an introduction to,
and navigation of, the desktop, customization, the KDE Desktop
Manager, KDE applications, and KOffice.

System administration does emphasize the Linux command line, since
most of the work has to be done there.  Topics include the file
system, users and groups, running DOS programs, system initialization,
the shell, printing, software management, building software, kernel
modules, disk drives, and the boot loader.

Networking occupies fully a quarter of the book.  This material would
be very useful for those intending to use Linux for advanced Internet
functions, but the level of the content is pitched far higher than is
the case in other sections.  The information covers TCP/IP
fundamentals, network administration, advanced features, connecting to
an ISP (Internet Service Provider), email, the Domain Name Server,
file transfer protocol, the Web server, proxy server, firewalls, TCP
wrappers, NFS (Network File System), NetWare connections, Microsoft
Windows connections, ARP (Address Resolution Protocol), BOOTP, DHCP
(Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), and setting up a simple
network.

There is a section with four chapters on the use and management of the
X windowing system, plus chapters on encryption software and
multimedia.

While there is a great deal of information provided in this volume,
there are a number of large gaps in the material as well.  The
technical level of the content varies greatly from topic to topic. 
This book misses some areas that newcomers should have addressed, but
doesn't have enough depth in many places for intermediate or advanced
users.  The strongest area is in networking, and this work might be
useful to those experienced computer users who intend to set up
specialized Internet services using the Linux platform.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKSEUCOL.RVW   990922