Book covers setting up, using, and hacking Ubuntu

Keywords: Match:

Jun. 23, 2006

Ubuntu Hacks, a new volume from O'Reilly Media ($29.99), explains the phenomenon of Ubuntu's popularity, expounds on its use, and offers easy-to-understand "hacks" -- that is, how to tweak it to do exactly what you want.

(Click for larger cover image)

Don't be put off by the title. While "hacking" has a bad reputation in the press today, the term originally referred to solving difficult problems or devising a creative ways to get something done.

O'Reilly's Hacks series -- of which Ubuntu Hacks is the latest -- is an attempt to reclaim the word, document the good ways people are hacking, and pass the hacker ethic of creative participation on to the uninitiated, the publisher said.

Co-authors Jonathan Oxer, Kyle Rankin, and Bill Childers detail exactly 100 "hacks" you can use to set up a printer, tweak the GNOME or KDE desktops, rip and encode DVDs, connect multiple displays, or post a blog. If those don't interest you, perhaps some of the 96 other good bits of advice will.

The book is organized in 10 chapters:

Topics covered range from simple tasks such as test driving Ubuntu on your hardware using the live CD, installing and configuring a permanent install on your hard drive, and using typical applications; to installing and configuring file, web, email, proxy, dhcp, and domain name servers; to advanced system hacks and tweaks.

You can view the entire table of contents, read an overview and early reviews, and see some sample chapters here.

Summary:

For other interesting desktop-oriented Linux books see our summary article:

The Desktop Linux Book Roundup

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