Test Driving Linux: From Windows to Linux in 60 Seconds [Kindle Edition]

This book is in effect a "user's guide" for checking out the Linux operating system without having to "commit" one way or the other. You insert the CD included with the book in your CD drive and start up your computer, voila you have a Linux machine. The CD contains a number of different Linux software, including web browsers, OpenOffice.Org, email program, file organizer, even software to play music and videos.

The book describes all of the software on the CD and guides your "tour" as you check all of it out.Starting off with a description of what Linux is and the KDE desktop, it then goes on to describe using the various programs included on the CD: web browsing, file management, Linux games, email and chat, digital image editing, Open Office, even a chapter about typing commands direct from a terminal screen command line. It brings back memories of using Unix prompts at various companies I used to work at. Linus increasingly has more and more excellent software available, and the book's next to last chapter describes some programs that aren't on the CD, but can be easily found elsewhere. And for those who decide to "take the plunge" and switch to Linux, the book's final chapter explains the major Linux distributions available. There's even a troubleshooting section at the end of the book. This book besides presenting an excellent introduction to Linux makes a great argument for leaving behind the world of Windows for something better.

There's always room for a decent Linux book that is focused on getting desktop users to switch over from Linux (especially if the risk is nonexistent). This book fits the bill... Test Driving Linux - From Windows To Linux In 60 Seconds by David Brickner.

Chapter List: Getting Started; Surf The Web; File Management; Music And Videos; Play Games; Email, Organizers, and Instant Messaging; Edit Digital Image; Customize Your Desktop; A Free Office Suite; Manage Your Finances; The Command Line; Great Programs That Aren't On The CD; Pre-Switching Information; Solutions To Common Problems; Index

Brickner has taken the Mandrake distribution and created a Knoppix-like CD distribution called the Move Live CD. This CD contains a KDE-style desktop Linux environment that can be booted from the CD without touching anything on the hard drive. It means you can test drive a Linux desktop environment without having to reformat your hard drive or destroy anything you're currently working on. Great news for the curious who want to understand what all the talk is about. The author also stays focused on *just* the Linux desktop environment. It'd be easy to try and write up information on Linux servers, command line stuff, shell scripts, etc. But that would dilute the focus. He stays on task and makes sure the book will appeal to the person who doesn't want to become an OS guru, but just wants to get work done using the type of tools they are already familiar with in the Window environment.

I liked the selection of software that was covered. OpenOffice to replace Office, GIMP to replace any other image package like Paintshop Pro, and GnuCash to replace packages like Money and Quicken. And best of all, they're all free. He also spends a fair amount of time on Konqueror, which serves as a file explorer as well as a web browser. There's no reason you can't use other software like Firefox for web browsing, but he had to draw the line somewhere in order to fit everything onto a single CD. And remember... when you turn off the computer, the OS disappears. This is only to give you the flavor of what Linux is like on the desktop, so that you can make some more intelligent choices if and when you decide to switch.

Very non-intimidating style of writing, and I'd feel comfortable recommending it to nearly anyone wanting to check out Linux... Except maybe my father... who has finally figured out where all the Windows stuff is at... Some dogs are best left sleeping... :-)

As a daily GNU/Linux user, it is easy to find fault with any CDROM-based "run-in-place" operating environment. The first thing one notices is that the speed of the operation is limited by the speed of your CDROM drive. Also, if you do not use a USB key, you have no configuration parameters or persistance of data across multiple boots.

The Amazon.com price point for this book makes it a very reasonable way to experience Linux to see if there are features of it that you may want to exploit in your business or home computing environments. While Linux is certainly an option that is gaining traction and respect in households and offices around the globe, it still isn't quite as easy or useful as "premium" paid options from Microsoft.

I tested Test Driving Linux on a home-brewed PC at least two or three generations old and on a new Dell Inspiron 2200 notebook. The old desktop PC featured an AMD Athlon 1.05GHz processor while the Dell notebook has an Intel Pentium 4M at 1.6GHz. They both had about equally fast CDROM drives that are also both DVD reader/writer drives. The AMD box shares video memory from its system memory, which made ~191MB available to Linux while the Dell had some 1200MB of memory available to Linux.

The Test Drive CD failed to bind an IP address to the Ethernet device in the Dell, but worked properly in the older AMD box. Attempted use of the Open Office-based Writer program (similar to Microsoft Word, but free) on the notebook was sluggish at best, a testament to the speed of the CDROM drive--or lack thereof. Due to the limited memory of the AMD machine, I decided not to try it, but I'm guessing that performance isn't going to be very exciting on a much slower machine with less memory even if the CDROM drive is the performance bottleneck.

I found that navigating the Test Drive was annoying, but that's probably because I use Linux everyday and a newcomer to Linux may not find it annoying at all, but exciting and new. Something that is missing on this (and other) CDROM-based run-in-place distributions are that the programming tools, which probably take up too much space to warrant their inclusion.

I didn't use a USB key, but I suspect that it will save your configuration information such as accepting the licensing agreement and your login username and password.

The benefit of most computing platforms is the ability to customize the system to your computing needs--it made Microsoft a very wealthy company and changed the way we all think of computers in the process. This book and enclosed CDROM are not going to do much more than give its reader the opportunity to explore Linux and some of the very useful mostly free tools associated with a regular commercial or free distribution. For that purpose, I commend it with a 3-stars rating. I'd be more inclined to rate it with 4 stars had it been Knoppix-based rather than Mandrake "Move" based. Either are fine for a test drive, which is really what this book is all about, but not the only purpose for a CDROM run-in-place based distribution. The author does tell us about Knoppix and recommends it because of its better hardware detection capability and goes so far as to recommend an excellent O'Reilly book on the topic.

On my Dell notebook, the "tap" feature of the glide pad didn't work under Move, but does work properly under Knoppix...as did my Ethernet. Little things like that lead me to believe that Knoppix is probably a better choice for that slim segment of users who want to carry a "live" Linux CDROM with them for perhaps sharing a computer with a relative or when visiting friends or other offices where one wouldn't want to "soil" an existing computer with user configuration details, cookies and browser temporary files and such mess. A CDROM-based Linux system offers a lot of convenience and security that you won't find elsewhere. I'd probably recommend Knoppix for anyone who was serious about discovering Linux.

What this book does well is describe a lot of the applications that are available through open sources. The book is very well written and works with the reader in a considerate and professional manner without being stiff or haughty. One can easily tell that the author is well-spoken and genuinely interested in sharing his Linux knowledge with a broader base of individuals. I would have liked to see more recognition given to GNU and the Free Software Foundation as a matter of practice considering that Linux is a microkernel and nearly everything else is GNU...and all of it is built using GNU tools, but it wouldn't do anything to help the reader better understand the basics of the Test Drive. I think that all Linux users need to make a stronger point of the fact that GNU is why there even is a Linux kernel...along with the help of literally thousands of contributors to Free Software. Brickner does try to accomplish this through his automotive analogy, but the two do not correlate very well, IMO. He tells us that Linux is the engine, transmission and wheels and that GNU makes up more utilitarian elements such as the belts, hoses, frame and such.

The only aspect of it that I easily agree with is the frame. If it is not for a strong foundation in Free Software, there would be no Linux kernel to be built with GNU tools so that other GNU programs, libraries and functionality could be added to our hypothetical car drivetrain. I'd probably have worded the analogy to be more like GNU is the car and Linux is a bit of gasoline we use to power it...but that wouldn't be very correct, either.

I give Mr. Brickner credit for taking the fear out of his presentation of this Test Driving Linux. It should meet with the basic needs of any newcomer trying to move away from Windows. I strongly agree with the 2nd paragraph of his summary on page 326. It basically tells us that there is an alternative to Windows and he gets us started in the right direction with this work.