Acknowledgments

Writing can be a lonely endeavor, but in the course of writing a book like this, there are all sorts of people whose paths you cross and who make the result better. Many thanks to Jenny Watson, my acquisitions editor, who gave me the chance to do this. Also thanks to my agent, Carole McClendon at Waterside Productions. Endless props to Rob Shimonski, who tech edited the bulk of the text and pitched in at the end to get this project completed. Scott Meyers offered excellent advice, Mandie Frank shepherded the review process, and Barbara Hacha did a marvelous copy edit. Special thanks to Scott Villinski at Novell, who helped with the installation chapter, and offered a few tips (with Tim Kresler) to the Milwaukee Linux Users Group; and Don Bangs, who got me my first computer and always responds to hardware emergencies.

To all the developers, testers, documenters, and users of SUSE Linux and all the wonderful applications that go with it: Thank you isn't enough, but I hope it'll do for now. To the participants on all the mailing lists: Your helpfulness to me and all the other users should never go unnoticed. To my friends in the Boulder and Milwaukee Linux Users Groups: Couldn't have done any of this without you.

Finally, to my wife Jeanette, who always believed I was a writer and my two favorite distractions, Hannah and Ben (and their parents, Bev and Bob): May you grow up happy and in a Linux world.

We Want to Hear from You!

As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator. We value your opinion and want to know what we're doing right, what we could do better, what areas you'd like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom you're willing to pass our way.

You can email or write me directly to let me know what you did or didn't like about this book—as well as what we can do to make our books stronger.

Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book, and that due to the high volume of mail I receive, I might not be able to reply to every message.

When you write, please be sure to include this book's title and author as well as your name and phone or email address. I will carefully review your comments and share them with the author and editors who worked on the book.

E-mail:	opensource@samspublishing.com
Mail:	Mark Taber Associate Publisher Sams Publishing 800 East 96th Street Indianapolis, IN 46240 USA

Reader Services

For more information about this book or another Sams Publishing title, visit our website at www.samspublishing.com. Type the ISBN (excluding hyphens) or the title of a book in the Search field to find the page you're looking for.

Introduction

Welcome to SUSE Linux 10 Unleashed ! This book is going to help you get the most out of your SUSE Linux system, and it includes a fully functional copy of the operating system distribution.

Since SUSE Linux A.G. was acquired by networking pioneer Novell in 2003, more North Americans are becoming familiar with the SUSE Linux distribution that has long been popular in Europe. SUSE Linux offers an incredibly easy installation and a large number of applications that have been tested for stability.

SUSE Linux 10 marks a new way of doing things for both Novell and SUSE, and this book can help you join the excitement. SUSE Linux 10 is the first SUSE release built and tested through the OpenSUSE project. Thousands of people around the world downloaded and ran four beta releases, contributed bug reports , feature wish lists, and postings on the OpenSUSE mailing list. Novell has committed to opening up the process even further in 2006. You'll read more about the OpenSUSE project in the next chapter.

Whether you're completely new to Linux or coming to SUSE Linux from another distribution, you're going to find solid information in a slightly more relaxed style than you're used to in a computer book.

SUSE Linux has always been known as a distribution packed with applications, and version 10 is no exception. This book, as always, includes a complete copy of the distribution on CDs and DVD. The Linux kernel forms the core of a truly modern operating system that can power anything from wrist watches to supercomputers. SUSE Linux can run on computers running processors ranging from the Intel 486 through 64-bit processors from AMD and Intel.

This book will be especially helpful to the millions using Linux as their everyday desktop system. After first sweeping over the server landscape in the late 1990s, Linux is gaining ground in the desktop arena. More Linux developers have become interested in writing software for the masses of ordinary users. You'll learn how to use several open -source office productivity applications, access the Internet, work with digital music and video, and even play a few games .

SUSE Linux 10 Unleashed contains everything you need to get started and be productive.

Note

This book includes a copy of SUSE Linux 10, but readers owning earlier versions of SUSE Linux should find nearly all the advice contained here useful.

You'll get a little bit of Linux history before jumping into the preparation needed for a successful installation and long- term operation of SUSE Linux. Then you'll get step-by-step instructions in using the SUSE Linux standby, Yet another Setup Tool (YaST), to install SUSE Linux and configure your hardware. Next, you'll learn about the everyday applications you need to run Linux on the desktop, and then you'll learn about using the Internet, creating websites , and running web and FTP servers.

System administration is the next major topic, where you'll learn how to manage your files, users, and data, and how to keep your system current by updating it with the same tool you use to install the system.

Finally, because Linux has always been a playground for programmers, we'll cover both the classic tools for creating new programs and the newer scripting languages.

Flylib.com

Category list

Similar pages

Acknowledgments