Covers installation and implementation of Red Hat Linux, including the Red Hat Database
Concentrates on Linux's usage in the real-world environment - integrated with Windows
Introduces the open source Microsoft Office alternative, StarOffice
The author's site www.linuxleap.org includes pre-written configuration files for easy download
Employing a practical, hands-on approach, Linux in Small Business: A Practical User's Guide author John Lathrop guides the reader through a multitude of scenarios commonplace in a real-world corporate environment. Eschewing evangelism, Lathrop instead presents real Linux solutions that reduce software purchases, enhance stability, and lower the costs of maintenance and hardware upgrades. Precursory material includes instruction regarding the installation, configuration, and basic operation of Red Hat 7.2, the latest version of the leading Linux distribution. Readers are then guided through a series of practical lessons covering networking (particularly in a heterogeneous Linux/Windows environment), databases, the use of popular office products such as StarOffice, and basic system administration. Tackling many of these issues from the perspective of a native Windows user, newcomers to Linux will have no problem following the lessons.
Lathrop also shows how Linux can be integrated in a mixed Linux/Windows environment, which results in saving money and avoiding workplace disruption due to otherwise unwieldy platform migrations. Linux has now matured to the point where, with modest instruction and familiar GUI tools, a Windows user or administrator can install, set up, and use Linux effectively in a business, workgroup, school, or government office.
Linux in Small Business: A Practical User's Guide covers more material than most Linux books; the scenario-based LAN section alone covers DHCP, DNS, NAT, Samba, NFS, Sendmail, Apache, and PostgreSQL. Readers will find the coupling of this breadth of information with the goal-oriented presentational approach employed by Lathrop to be a refreshing and methodical strategy for quickly implementing a Linux-based solution.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Installation
The Different Flavors of Linux and of the Linux Desktop
Obtaining Linux Pre-Installed
Installing Linux Yourself
Quick Install Guide
Installing Red Hat Linux 7.1 In Detail
Disk Partitioning Guide
Chapter 2: An Introduction to Linux and the Desktop
Logging In, Starting the Desktop, and Shutting Down
Checking System Services with Setup
Accessing CDs from the Terminal
An Introduction to the Linux Desktop
Chapter 3: Connecting to the Internet
Configuring New Networking Hardware
Configuring Dial-up Internet Access
Configuring DSL Internet Access
Chapter 4: Linux as a LAN and Intranet Server
Hardware and Addresses
Setting up a Dynamic Server and Clients
Setting up a Domain Name System Server for the LAN
Setting up an Internet Server for the LAN
Setting up a File Server
Samba and NFS
Setting up a Print Server
Setting up a Local E-Mail Server
Setting up a Local Web and Database Server
Adopting PostgreSQL
Chapter 5: Serving a Website and Mail to the Internet
Self-Hosting, or Contracting Out?
Administrative and Technical Issues
Chapter 6: Linux as a Workstation Solution
Setting up E-mail and the Web Browser
Installing and Setting up Office Applications
Setting up a Linux Workstation Printer
Wordprocessing in StarOffice Writer
Creating Spreadsheets in StarOffice Calc
Creating Presentations in StarOffice Impress
Sharing Data Between Applications
Working with Microsoft Office Files
Using Netscape 4.7 and Netscape 6.1 E-mail
Calendaring
Chapter 7: System Management
Tracking Memory and CPU Usage
Process Control
Techniques to Keep Track of System Health
Package Management
Recovering from X Window Failures, and Shutting Down
Chapter 8: Command Line Operations
Linux Directories and Navigation
Manipulating and Editing Files
Mounting Partitions and Network Shares
Command Line Networking
Index |
