| Introducing "Linux Made Easy" |
by Rickford Grant (Sep. 27, 2005)
 Foreward: In this interesting article, Rickford Grant, author of Linux Made Easy introduces his book and explains the rationale behind it. Grant bases his assertion that "Linux is easy" on Xandros 3, generally considered one of the most user-friendly desktop Linux distributions.
The book, which comes with a copy of Xandros 3, concentrates on the subjects of most interest to the average home user or hobbyist -- installation, using the Internet, playing multimedia files, using scanners, working with digital cameras and images, games, downloading software and fonts, USB storage devices, PDAs, printing, Internet telephony, and more.
Enjoy . . . !
Introducing Linux Made Easy
by the book's author, Rickford Grant
For whatever reason, more and more people are joining the Linux bandwagon. Most of these are admittedly interested in using Linux for rather specialized purposes, but for many others it's simply a matter of finding an operating system and applications that they can use at home to surf the net, write up a few documents, and view their digital images, but won't force them to empty out their coffers in order to do so.
Making the switch to Linux, however, hasn't always been such a simple task.
In the not-too-distant past (and we're talking computer-world time here), Linux was a challenging system for the average computer user. Even if you were lucky enough to get the thing installed on your machine without losing most of your hair and depleting your repertoire of expletives in the process, there were still all sorts of other challenges awaiting you, such as getting your peripherals to work or even installing fonts. Oh, and then there were those commands, which to newbies weaned on point-and-click Windows and Mac systems, seemed archaic, not to mention rather intimidating.
Fortunately for all interested parties, installation of most Linux distributions today has become quite the breeze, and the system's capabilities in terms of peripheral handling, font installation, and a host of other system configurations have been greatly improved and simplified. Better news still for new Linux immigrants, is the fact that you can pretty much do all you want without having to deal with commands.
Bad rep stills keeps people away
Despite all the progress Linux has made in terms of accessibility, it is still plagued by its for-geeks-only reputation, which it rightfully acquired in its earlier days. This was, until recently, reinforced by most of the Linux books out there, which tended to address the needs and interests of the geekier side of Linux's potential user base. Granted, that was natural enough, as the books were merely reflecting the full power of what Linux had under its hood, but to a potential immigrant to the Linux camp, all that talk about commands and server setup seemed to suggest that Linux was still a power users' system that was not, cute penguin mascot aside, intended for the average computer user.
My first book, Linux for Non-Geeks, sought to address the issue by presenting Linux as a viable, highly useable, home-user-friendly alternative operating system. Based on Fedora Core I, the book attempted to ease users into the world of Linux by just getting in there and doing things without getting too stressed out. Of course, there were a few areas that still required users to resort to commands now and then, but all in all, it was pretty much a point-and-click introduction to the world of Linux.
Be that as it may, there were still some folks out there who were not completely satisfied in regard to the easiness factor. Some complained that setting up a dual-boot system was still too complicated, as were font handling and package installation. Another issue was that although Linux for Non-Geeks mentioned and discussed the many applications that come with a Linux distribution, it failed to discuss how to deal with them. One friend in particular was concerned that there was no discussion of how to work with PDAs and the like. I took all those concerns to heart as I searched for a distro that I thought would fill the easiness bill.
Well, when a friend suggested Xandros, I knew I had found a viable candidate. Not only did Xandros work well on all the junk machines I tried it on, it also made creating a dual-boot system a snap. In fact, the installation itself was about as easy a process as I had ever seen, and package and font installation were just as simple. And everything just seemed to work right ... Xandros was, in fact, Linux made easy.
Linux Made Easy
As I started writing Linux Made Easy, it was clear that I was going to be addressing a different audience than that I had been addressing with Linux for Non-Geeks. Non-Geeks appealed to those already interested in Linux, while this time around I would be trying to reach users who were more interested in low-cost alternatives to Windows than in Linux per se. With that idea in mind, along with the reservations and grumblings I had collected in the wake of Linux for Non-Geeks, and the fact that I was discussing a totally different distro, I set up Linux Made Easy somewhat differently, though keeping the project-based approach.
The book, which includes a full working copy of Xandros Open Circulation Edition (and 120 free Skype Out minutes, so you can use your computer to call land line numbers), is divided into five parts.
Part One is an introduction to get users up and running in Xandros, and to familiarize them with their new desktop.
Part Two covers dealing with the system itself, including areas such as setting up Internet connections, working with the file system, reading and burning CDs, installing fonts, and customizing the look and feel of the desktop. The section ends up with a chapter on Xandros Networks, which is perhaps one of the most attractive features of Xandros -- the application and repository duo that makes finding and installing additional applications (and all those nasty dependencies) all too easy.
As Xandros is such an easy distro to use, Part One and Part Two of Linux Made Easy take up less than a third of the book. While the chapters within those sections are pretty-much Xandros specific, what comes afterwards could apply to just about any KDE-based distribution out there.
Part Three covers peripheral devices, with individual chapters on printers, scanners, digital cameras, and PDAs. The chapters on printers and scanners not only discuss how to work with the devices themselves, but also deal with basic concepts of how to get as much as you can out of the documents you print or scan.
Part Four deals with the various applications that come with Xandros or are available via Xandros Networks, most of which also come with other distributions, for that matter. This section is thematically broken into chapters dealing with the Internet, audio, video, graphics, and business/productivity applications. This is rounded out with a chapter on games and one on applications for children, including a project on setting up a kid-friendly, kid-safe user account for your children.
Rather than merely receiving an introduction to these applications and what they do, readers are also provided with projects by which they can get a feel for the various applications' abilities in a hands-on sort of way. In many cases, these projects also act to further round out the system and build new skills applicable to all aspects of using the system.
Finally, the book finishes with a one-chapter section on the command line. This chapter helps users interested in playing around with the geekier side of Linux to do so without having to lose their minds (and confidence) in the process. While keeping the command console in perspective as a strictly optional resource, readers are enticed a bit, by being shown how using the command line will give them access to yet other applications and features, such as Java and other script-based applications.
Is the Linux Made Easy + Xandros combo right for you?
Experienced Linux users may well find Linux Made Easy a bit too easy to bother with. But then, they aren't really the targeted audience for the book, so that is pretty much a natural reaction.
For someone who just wants an inexpensive and easy-to-use way out of Windows or just an easy way into Linux, however, the Linux Made Easy + Xandros combo may well be just the ticket. Such users will find the Xandros distribution to be extremely easy to use, and the book a good and encouraging resource as they try to get the most they can out of their system and the applications that come with it.
Summary
Title -- Linux Made Easy
ISBN 1-59327-057-7
Author -- Rickford Grant
Length -- 496 pages
Price -- $34.95 The book's table of contents and a downloadable sample chapter (PDF file) are available here.
About the Author
Rickford Grant has been a computer operating system maniac for more than 20 years, from his early days with an Atari XL600 to his current Linux machines. Grant spent the past seven years as an Associate Professor at Toyama University of International Studies in Japan.
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