List of Articles Book Review: Moving to Linux by Jason Wallwork Upgrading NVIDIA Graphics Drivers by Clint Gilders Mandrake 9.0 Experience by Harry "Buster" Ellis Safari Bookshelf Review by Clint Gilders Libranet: An Easy Way To Get Debian by Harry "Buster" Ellis   Book Review: Moving to Linux by Jason Wallwork There are many Linux books, but few of them focus on the user that just wants to get things done without becoming a technical expert. Moving To Linux promises to be just such a book. After carefully reviewing this 348-page manual, it's obvious Gagné has achieved this goal. Fans of Linux Journal magazine will remember Marcel Gagné from his "Cooking With Linux" column. His column is known for its lively personal style that engages the reader and Moving to Linux is no different. His style can be summed up in the phrase - learn by doing. The first chapter jumps right into the gains of Linux rather than spend a lot of time explaining what Linux is, a welcome relief from the usual. Linux's unique licensing is covered, as are the gains and disadvantages of using Linux. Gagné has support pages for the book at his website and even a virtual Linux User Group (LUG) in which readers are invited to join. The book comes with a customized version of Knoppix 3.2, a Linux distribution that runs entirely off a CD. Readers can thus try Linux without having to partition their drives or risking their Windows data. Having used Knoppix before, I must commend the author on choosing a great CD for beginners. The book isn't tied to any particular version of Linux, though. Chapters two and three discuss how to get other versions of Linux, package managers, dual-booting, running Windows programs under Linux, and quick guides to installing Mandrake, Red Hat and SuSE, the most popular Linux distributions. All the sections are excellent at avoiding technical terminology whenever possible and explaining terms when not. Chapter four plunges the user into the KDE desktop, the most popular of the desktop environments for Linux. The author doesn't spend time with Gnome or other desktops here or throughout the rest of the book, but he does recommend that users try them. Non-KDE users may find this omission glaring. However, Gagné is probably right to focus on a single desktop for simplification and beginners to Linux will probably use the included CD which has KDE. The rest of the book focuses on specific programs with separate chapters on installing new software, hardware and getting updates, interspersed throughout the book. Two chapters are spent on Konqueror, the KDE file manager, web browser, and viewer. Even this grizzled Linux veteran learned a few new tips. Marcel also does a good job of explaining the difference between KDE themes and styles in a chapter on customizing the desktop. Mozilla is also covered in the second chapter that also features Konqueror. A chapter is spent on each of the staple computer apps, the word processor, spreadsheet, and presentations program. Here Gagné shows how to use the powerful OpenOffice.org suite components. No time is spent showing how to use the alternatives such as Koffice, Gnumeric or Abiword other but he does talk about them. The author might've spent some time discussing Abiword since it is a lot quicker, easier and cleaner word processor but, as Gagné points out, it and Kword have trouble exporting documents to Microsoft Word, a serious drawback in today's world. OpenOffice.org is also a good pick because it is installed by default with all the major distributions and looks the most like its Microsoft counterpart. A chapter on Electronic Mail covers both the excellent Kmail and the Outlook-like Evolution. Several large chapters feature graphics and art, multimedia and games. The chapter featuring graphics has a great section on using the Gimp, the premiere Linux photo retouching and graphical tool. You will even learn how to make your own logo in just a few minutes. Though KDE-centric, Marcel covers the best of of the breed in every application area.  Readers of this book will come away with a strong foundation for using the top Linux programs. Every chapter is packed with tips, screenshots, and resources. Rather than have entire boring chapters on security, user management and permissions, the author passes this information on while discussing various applications. This non-threatening approach is sure to please the neophye Linux user while still passing on essential knowledge. There are several instances where the reader is invited to use a shell command or run an application directly from the shell and a special appendix covers the shell in greater depth. Though there are many chapters, eighteen in all, many chapters are less than 20 pages making the book easy even on readers who might not like books. With the suggested retail price of $49.99 CAD, Moving to Linux is the perfect preparation for those new to Linux or even to computers. More information on the book including a free chapter is available at http://www.marcelgagne.com/KBSODG. At the time of writing ,both Amazon.ca and Chapters.ca have it for $35 CAD plus shipping.   ©2003 Peterborough Linux User Group, All Rights Reserved. Logos and buttons are used by permission of their respective owners. PLUG can not be held liable for damages resulting from the use or misuse of the information at this website or from its members. Don't run with scissors.   Comments can be sent to Jason Wallwork, Webmaster.