Mark's Ubuntu Book

This page describes the Ubuntu book that Mark Stone is writing, and provides links to draft material.

Bibliographic Information

• Title: Desktop Linux with Ubuntu
• Author: Mark Stone
• Publisher: Manning Press
• Publication date: 2006

Draft Table of Contents

• Preface
• Intended readers
• Using this book

Introduction

Table of Contents

PART I - Getting Started with Ubuntu

• Part Introduction

1.0 Why Ubuntu?

• 1.1 Linux
  • 1.1.1 Overview and Rationale
  • 1.1.2 Linux Distributions
• 1.2 Debian
  • 1.2.1 What Is Debian?
  • 1.2.2 Stable, Testing and Unstable
• 1.3 Ubuntu
  • 1.3.1 Origins of Ubuntu
  • 1.3.2 The Ubuntu Community
  • 1.3.3 Ubuntu Design Philosophy
• 1.4 Summary

Here's the text of the Chapter 1 Summary:

Linux has grown from an experimental to a mature operating system, one that is now an important part of our technology infrastructure. For the desktop user this means that Linux is a more viable desktop platform than ever before.

Learning about Linux variations and the Linux community can be bewildering. Linux variations, commonly known as “distributions”, are differentiated in part by their package management systems. One key branch of the distribution family in this regard is the Debian distribution. Software in the Debian distribution is completely open source: it can be freely redistributed, modified, and the modifications freely redistributed. Thus while Debian is a large, comprehensive Linux distribution that evolves slowly, it has spawned a number of more focused distributions that start from Debian as a base.

Debian's package management system also uses a sophisticated approach that is highly network aware and does a superior job at tracking and managing dependencies between pieces of software. As a result, Debian-based Linux distributions are easier to update and maintained once the base software is installed.

Ubuntu is one Debian-based distribution, focused on ease of installation, ease of use, immediate usefulness, and regular release cycles.

A distribution is more than just a collection of software, however. It is also a community. The Debian community is one of the most mature and most active within the world of open source software, with tens of thousands of developers involved in maintaining the software, developing new software, or tracking and resolving bugs and security issues. The Ubuntu community is a separate community, but one that interacts and cooperates with the Debian community.

The Ubuntu community really consists of two parts. On the one hand, there is Canonical Ltd., the commercial company that provides services and support for Ubuntu, as well as dedicating some paid developers to work on Ubuntu. On the other hand, there is the community of Ubuntu volunteers, ranging from people who simply use Ubuntu to people who are actively involved in some of Ubuntu's many development project. Being an Ubuntu user means getting used to this broad, but unconventional supporting community. While commercial support for Ubuntu is available, your best resource for help is often the community of people just like you, learning and growing with Ubuntu.

2.0 Installing Ubuntu

• 2.1 Getting Ubuntu
  • 2.1.1 Ordering a CD
  • 2.1.2 Downloading from the Internet
  • 2.1.3 Downloading with Bittorent
• 2.2 Preparing Your System
  • 2.2.1 Readying Your CD
  • 2.2.2 Finding Your Hardware Specifications
  • 2.2.3 Deciding on Single Boot or Dual Boot
• 2.3 Initiating Installation
  • 2.3.1 Partitioning Your Hard Drive
  • 2.3.2 How Your System Boots
  • 2.3.3 Choosing Software
• 2.4 Installation Configuration Choices
  • 2.4.1 Users
  • 2.4.2 Graphical Environment
  • 2.4.3 Configuring Devices
  • 2.4.4 Network Setup
• 2.4 Summary

3.0 A Quick View of the Default Setup

• 3.1 Booting Up and Logging In
  • 3.1.1 The Grub Boot Manager
  • 3.1.2 Dual Boot vs. Single Boot
  • 3.1.3 GDM
• 3.2 Desktop Elements
  • 3.2.1 Desktops and Panels
  • 3.2.2 The Taskbar
  • 3.3.3 The Gnome Menu
• 3.3 Launching Applications
  • 3.3.1 Internet Applications
  • 3.3.2 Office Applications
  • 3.3.3 Multimedia Applications
  • 3.3.4 Other Applications
• 3.4 Navigating Files and Folders
• 3.5 Logging Out and Shutting Down
  • 3.5.1 Back to GDM
  • 3.5.2 Suspending vs. Shutting Down
• 3.6 Summary

4.0 Getting Online

• 4.1 Connecting to a network
  • 4.1.1 Modem
  • 4.1.2 Ethernet

  • 4.1.3 WiFi

• 4.2 Connecting to the Internet
  • 4.2.1 Dial-up
  • 4.2.2 Direct Broadband
  • 4.2.3 PPP Over Ethernet
  • 4.2.4 LAN
  • 4.2.5 Wireless
• 4.3 Summary

5.0 Connecting to Other Devices

• 5.1 Modes of Connection
  • 5.1.1 USB
  • 5.1.2 Serial and Parallel Cables
  • 5.1.3 Bluetooth
  • 5.1.4 LAN
• 5.2 Typical Devices
  • 5.2.1 USB Printer
  • 5.2.2 Parallel Printer
  • 5.2.3 USB Camera
  • 5.2.4 Scanner
  • 5.2.5 Cell phone
• 5.3 Summary

* Part Summary

PART II - Using Ubuntu

* Part Introduction

6.0 Understanding Users and Groups

• 6.l What Is a Multi-User System?
• 6.2 Super User Permissions
  • 6.2.1 The sudo Command
  • 6.2.2 Why No Root User?
• 6.3 Adding Users and Groups
• 6.4 Default Groups and Permissions
  • 6.4.1 The Users Group
  • 6.4.2 The Disk Group
  • 6.4.3 The Dialout Group
  • 6.4.4 The Audio Group
  • 6.4.5 The CDRom Group
• 6.5 Summary

7.0 The Ubuntu Desktop

• 7.1 Gnome Overview
  • 7.1.1 About Desktop Environments
  • 7.1.2 How Gnome Works
  • 7.1.3 Other Desktop Environments
• 7.2 The Metacity Window Manager
  • 7.2.1 What's a Window Manager?
  • 7.2.2 How Metacity Works
  • 7.2.3 Other Window Managers
• 7.3 Panels and the Virtual Desktop
  • 7.3.1 Switching Panels
  • 7.3.2 Changing the Number of Panels
  • 7.3.3 Making Items Sticky
• 7.4 Menus, Taskbars, and Icons
  • 7.4.1 Standard Menu Entries
  • 7.4.2 Standard Taskbar Items
  • 7.4.3 Changing the Menu or Taskbar
  • 7.4.4 Adding Icons to the Desktop
• 7.5 Folders and the File Hierarchy
• 7.6 Keyboard Shortcuts
• 7.7 Summary

8.0 Internet Applications

• 8.1 Browsing the Web
  • 8.1.1 Firefox 8.1.2 Alternate Browsers
  8.2 Sending Email
  • 8.2.1 Evolution 8.2.2 Thunderbird 8.2.3 Mutt
  8.3 Instant Messaging
  • 8.3.1 GAIM 8.3.2 X-chat 8.3.3 Gnome Meeting
  8.4 Remote Access
  • 8.4.1 ssh 8.4.2 Running X Applications Over ssh 8.4.3 scp 8.4.4 sftp
  8.5 Summary

9.0 Office Applications

• 9.1 OpenOffice.org Applications

  • 9.1.1 Word Processing 9.1.2 Spreadsheets 9.1.3 Presentation Software
  9.2 Alternatives

  • 9.2.1 AbiWord and Other Word Processors 9.2.2 Spreadsheets 9.2.3 Presentation software

  9.3 Working with PDF and PostScript

  • 9.3.1 XPDF 9.3.2 Ghostview

    9.3.3 Creating PDFs with OpenOffice

  9.4 Contact management
  • 9.4.1 Evolution and Other Gnome Tools 9.4.2 JPilot 9.4.3 Kontact
  9.5 Graphics
  • 9.5.1 GIMP 9.5.2 imagemagick
  9.6 Summary

10.0 Multimedia Applications

• 10.1 Playing Audio
  • 10.1.2 CD Player 10.1.3 XMMS 10.1.4 RealPlayer/Helix
  10.2 Recording Audio
  • 10.2.1 Audacity
  10.3 Playing Video
  • 10.3.1 DVD Playback (xine) 10.3.2 Internet Media (real)
  10.4 Burning CDs/DVDs
  • 10.4.1 Burning CDs 10.4.2 Burning DVDs
  10.5 Digital Imaging

11. Games

• 11.1 Casual Games
  • 11.1.1 Card Games 11.2.1 Dice Games 11.3.1 Simple Arcade Games
  11.2 Strategy Games
  • 11.2.1 Lincity 11.2.2 Freeciv 11.2.3 Wesnoth
  11.3 RPGs 11.4 Summary

12.0 Interacting with Other Operating Systems

• 12.1 Wine 12.2 Crossover

  12.3 Win4Lin 12.4 VMWare 12.5 Summary

13.0 SOHO Networks

• 13.1 Architecture of a SOHO Network 13.2 Firewalls and Gateways 13.3 Sharing Files and Printers over the Network 13.4 Remote Connections to other PCs 13.5 Virtual Network Connection (VNC) 13.6 Summary

14.0 Working from the Command Line

• 14.1 CLI - Philosophy of the Command Line Interface 14.2 The Shell Environment 14.3 The Bourne Again Shell 14.4 Customizing Your Shell 14.5 The Power of Aliases 14.6 Shell scripts 14.7 Using gedit 14.8 Other Editors 14.9 Summary

Part Summary

PART III - Care and Upkeep of Ubuntu

Part Introduction

15.0 Managing Your Information

• 15.1 File Properties
  • 15.1.1 Ownership 15.1.2 Permissions 15.1.3 Date Last Modified
  15.2 Folders and Recursion 15.3 Making Archives
  • 15.3.1 Zip 15.3.2 Tar 15.3.3 Gzip and Bzip
  15.4 Mounting File Systems 15.4.1 Information on CD 15.4.2 USB Storage Devices 15.4.3 Other Hard Drive Partitions 15.5 Backing Up Your Files
  • 15.5.1 Burning to CD 15.5.2 Copying to USB 15.5.3 Rsync
  15.5 Summary

16.0 Updating the Kernel

• 16.1 What Is the Kernel? 16.2 Understanding Loadable Kernel Modules 16.3 Installing a new or updated kernel 16.4 Summary

17.0 Updating Software

• 17.1 Packages and Dependencies 17.2 Debian and Ubuntu
  • 17.2.1 The Debian Package Archives 17.2.2 The Ubuntu Release Process 17.2.3 Relating Debian and Ubuntu
  17.3 The Ubuntu Software Repository system
  • 17.3.1 Main 17.3.2 Restricted 17.3.3 Universe 17.3.4 Multi-verse
  17.4 Software Management
  • 17.4.1 Synaptic 17.4.2 Aptitude 17.4.3 apt-get
    • 17.4.3.1 Using apt-get 17.4.3.2 Adding repositories to apt-get 17.4.3.3 Dpkg
  17.5 Summary

18.0 Customizing Your System

• 18.1 Searching for Applications 18.2 Selecting and Configuring New Applications 18.3 Removing Unwanted Applications 18.4 Setting Up Alternate Network Configurations
  • 18.4.1 Switching Between Dial-up and Broadband 18.4.2 Roaming with Laptops
  18.5 Screen Resolution 18.6 Customizing Users and Groups 18.7 Summary

19.0 Configuration Files

• 19.1 Overview of the Linux File Hierarchy 19.2 Boot Files 19.3 Start-up Files 19.4 Understanding Etc 19.5 Configuration Files in Your Home Folder 19.6 Summary

20.0 Diagnostics and Troubleshooting

• 20.1 Processes and Resources 20.2 Device Management 20.3 System Monitor
  • 20.1 top 20.2 ps
  20.3 tracepath/traceroute/ping 20.4 Summary

21.0 Getting Help

• 21.1 Ubuntu Community 21.2 Ubuntu Forums and Mailing Lists 21.3 IRC 21.4 Other useful resources 21.5 Summary

Part Summary

PART IV - Ubuntu Variations

Part Introduction

22.0 Kubuntu

23.0 Edubuntu

24.0 Ubuntulite

25.0 Ubuntu Live CD

Part Summary

GLOSSARY

INDEX