This massive tome has just about anything you'd ever want to know about Ubuntu, including information on using this distro as a desktop, server, web host, programming tool and much, much more.

With 35 chapters and an appendix of online resources, you can bet this book covers a lot. You're not going to read it in a weekend but I sure have enjoyed having it next to my machines while I work away.

When I first obtained a copy, I opened it to several pages at random and found what I was looking at pretty useful right off the bat. This book is full of tidbits that can help any user or sysadmin along with their daily projects.

This book is broken up into several broad topics, which include Installation and configuration, System Administration, Ubuntu as a server, Programming Linux and Ubuntu Housekeeping. Within these topics are detailed instructions for many, many every day desktop and server tasks.

Some of my favorite sections deal with backing up and restoring your machine, and using Apache to host a website. There's all kinds of useful information in these two chapters alone.

This is the kind of Linux book that I can really sink my teeth into. It's got information that will bring a user from basic installation to using their Ubuntu machine to host their websites, program their software and

Pros: This is a tome. Full of knowledge which is quickly accessible. The contents and index make finding what you're looking for a snap.

Cons: This book is massive. At 3.15 pounds, it weighs very nearly as much as my laptop. This is probably why the Hudson brothers didn't call it the Portable Ubuntu Book. This can also make something like an easy read or a quick skim pretty much impossible. It also means dragging it to a friends house can be a bit of a pain.

If you plan on using Ubuntu for anything more than surfing the web or checking your email then this book is going to be good to you. I've had it for a week and I've already referenced it several times. It can be of particular use if you find yourself without a web connection. I particularly enjoy it for myself as many things I just haven't had time to look up on the web are easily found and then easily implemented.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

delicious | digg | technorati