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This newbies guide to Ubuntu - now updated for Feisty Fawn, the latest Ubuntu release, which puts the spotlight on multimedia enablement and desktop effects - lets readers learn by doing. Using immersion-learning techniques favored by language courses, step-by-step projects build upon earlier tutorial concepts, stimulating the brain and increasing the readers understanding. It also covers all the topics likely to be of interest to an average desktop user, such as installing new software via Synaptic; Internet connectivity; working with removable storage devices, printers, and scanners; and handling DVDs, audio files, and even iPods. It also eases readers into the world of commands, thus allowing them to work with Java, Python or other script-based applications; converting RPMs to DEB files; and compiling software from source.
Summary
"A fast, crystal-clear topical tour of the amazing collective accomplishment embodied in Ubuntu."
- Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing
Ubuntu has been hailed as the Linux distribution for newbies, and it´s certainly the Linux for the less geeky among us. Even the name is user-friendly – it´s a South African term that translates roughly as "humanity toward others" and could also describe author Rickford Grans´s approach to teaching Linux.
Full of tips, tricks, and helbful pointers, Ubuntu for Non-Geeks, 2nd Edition is a hands-on, project-based, take-it-slow guidebook for those interested in – but nervous about – switching to the Linux operating system. This edition has been updated for Feisty Fawn, the latest Ubuntu release (7.04), which puts the spotlight on multimedia support and desktop effects. Step-by-step projects build upon earlier tutorials concepts, helping absorb and apply what you´ve learned.
Ubuntu for Non-Geeks covers all the topics likely to be of interest to an average desktop user. Inside, you´ll learn to:
- Download and install free applications, games, and utilities
- Connect to the Internet and wireless networks
- Configure your hardware, including printers, scanners, and removable storage devices
- Watch DVDs, listen to music, and even sync your iPod
- Download photos and videos from your digital camera, then edit and share them
- Tackle more advanced tasks as soon as you´re ready
Weather you´re new to computers, looking for a painfree way to make the Linux switch, or just want a low-cost alternative to Windows, Ubuntu is for you.
