Last Updated on May 4, 2021
5. Test Driving Linux: From Windows to Linux in 60 Seconds
By David Brickner (HTML; 368 pages)
Test Driving Linux: From Windows to Linux in 60 Seconds is a detailed step-by-step guide to Linux and selected popular open source programs. It is a gentle introduction for newcomers to Linux showing them how to perform common activities such as surfing the web, using email, instant message with friends, writing letters, creating spreadsheets, and enhancing digital photos.
The book explores a wide range of topics including:
- Surfing the web
- File Management
- Music and Videos
- Playing Games
- Email, Organizers and Instant Messaging
- Office Suite
- The Command Line
6. Open Sources 2.0
By Chris DiBona, Danese Cooper, Mark Stone (HTML; 496 pages)
Open Sources 2.0 is a collection of insightful and thought-provoking essays from today’s technology leaders that continues painting the evolutionary picture that developed in Open Sources: Voices from the Revolution.
Explores:
- Open Source: Competition and Evolution, covering such topics as:
- Mozilla, Commoditization of software
- Dual Licensing – provide a single software product under two different licenses
- Security
- Open Source Software in India and China
- Beyond Open Source: Collaboration and Community
- The Open Source Paradigm Shift
- Patterns of Governance in Open Source
7. Linux in a Windows World (book appears to have been removed)
By Roderick W. Smith (HTML; 496 pages)
Linux still faces numerous challenges before it can dominate the computing world, much less the world at large. One of these challenges is the huge installed base of Windows systems. Linux must coexist with these systems. Indeed, the challenge of coexisting with Windows can be viewed as an opportunity: Linux can be integrated into a Windows network, providing a reliable and low-cost platform on which to run vital services for Windows systems, or even serving as a workstation on an otherwise Windows-dominated network. This book is dedicated to describing this opportunity for Linux.
Covers topics such as:
- Samba – an Open Source/Free Software suite that provides seamless file and print services to SMB/CIFS clients
- OpenLDAP – an implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
- BIND – Berkeley Internet Name Domain
- Kerberos Configuration and Use – Kerberos is a network authentication protocol
- Remote Login Tools such as VNC
- Configuring Mail Servers
- Network Backups
- How to manage a network
8. Linux From Scratch
By Gerard Beekmans, Matthew Burgess, Bruce Dubbs (PDF, HTML, Single page HTML, XML; 290 pages)
Linux From Scratch (LFS) is a project that provides you with step-by-step instructions for building your own customized Linux system entirely from source.
Chapters cover:
- How to create a new Linux native partition and file system
- Which packages and patches need to be downloaded to build an LFS system and how to store them on the new file system
- How to Set up an appropriate working environment
- Installation of packages, and how to build a toolchain
- Building a full LFS system
Next Section: 12 More of the Best Free Linux Books – Part 3
This article is divided into three parts:
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |