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New I wrote a Linux textbook (a bit long)

I debated for quite a while before posting this here, but here goes:

After being frustrated by the lack of good, fun Linux administration textbooks (not reference books, we have plenty of those) I decided to put together my own material for my class. Eventually I had enough that I decided to organize it into book form and I'm publishing it on Lulu.com, a print-on-demand service.

It's light on theory, but heavy on hands-on. The style is chatty but like having an intelligent, patient friend hanging out with you while you learn the material. (At least that's the idea.)

The target audience is someone who has had some exposure to basic TCP/IP networking and can log into a Linux system and navigate the command line. Once the student completes the text, they will have a working Linux network with:

- DNS
- Apache
- E-mail (qmail, dovecot, squirrelmail)
- an OpenPGP public key server
- a certificate authority
- a Kerberos authentication server
- an OpenLDAP 'white pages' server
- a Squid proxy server
- NFS file sharing
- Samba file sharing
- WebDAV file sharing
- FTP using vsftpd

Unlike most texts I use Kanotix since I feel Debian is more learning-friendly than Red Hat.

The books is called "Linux Networking: Hands-On" and if you're interested in taking a look, my storefront is at

[link|http://www.lulu.com/tsinclair|Portal of Stuff].

It's available in both electronic and dead-tree formats. (However, if someone here really wants it, e-mail me and I can hook you up with a PDF 'free-of-charge-for-evaluation-purposes').

Oh, and one more thing. I totally forgot to thank the folks here in the introduction but I will be fixing that in a future revision.
Tom Sinclair

"You are going to be cleaning out latrines with your face if you don't cut that out."
- 'Our Mrs. Reynolds', Firefly
New Congratulations! That's a big step!
Here's hoping that your students (and other non-student readers, for that matter) get more out of it than you put into it.
-YendorMike

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Historical Review of Pennsylvania
New Re: Congratulations! That's a big step!
I've been using the chapters as handouts in my sysadmin class and the student response has been quite positive.

I think a good part of the reason is the typical Linux text doesn't get too much beyond managing users and doing backups. I looked at all of the other (Windows) courses they take and they're doing much more interesting stuff.

Just wanted to bring Linux up to that level and show off the cool stuff you can do while pointing out certain packages (like Apache) that can also run on Windows.

I also schedule one night as an InstallFest where they bring in their computers and I set up a CD burning workstation where I can help them deal with setting up Linux on their home machines.

Currently I'm planning a session to demonstrate performance clustering using LiveCDs like ClusterKnoppix and USF_FlashMob. (That's not ready for prime time yet, though)
Tom Sinclair

Mal: Now you only gotta scare him.
Jayne: Pain is scary\ufffd
- "Serenity" (pilot), Firefly
New Looks great!
It looks like a wonderful book, Tom. You're right that there's often too few books between References/Handbooks/RFCs and "This is how you click a button!". I'm sure it'll help a lot of people.

If I could make one stylistic suggestion: A little bit of whitespace or a tab indent at the start of a paragraph (e.g. the first section of the Primary Master Name Server section on p.118 of the sample) would help the eye. There's good use of whitespace in separating commands or file contents from discussion, etc., but when several paragraphs are together it seems like no whitespace is used.

I'll probably snag a copy in a few days. Best of luck with it!

Cheers,
Scott.
New Re: Looks great!
Thanks.

I've never done this before and I had to do all the layout myself. I used NeoOffice/J which took a little practice dealing with templates and master documents.

The nice thing about Lulu is that I can post a new edition and it's available immediately.
Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New Thanks for the update. That was fast! One copy purchased.
New The advantages of "print-on-demand"

The disadvantages:
- I had to do all my own editing and layout.
- It took me weeks to figure out how to consistently generate a file that would be press-ready.

On the gripping hand:

I know a lot more about fonts, PostScript and PDF now than I did before.
Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New It reads like a conversation.
Which is good.

I can also tell you definitely used much of the knwledge (if not all) rather regularly.

Scotts comment on the whitespace is spot on, but the book itself as it is, is fine.

I'll be digging out the funds here shortly for it.
--
[link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg],
[link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey
Freedom is not FREE.
Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars?
SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0;

0 rows returned.
New That was the idea
I wanted this to be a book that someone could use on their own or in an instructor-led course.

So far my program director and fellow instructors seem impressed. There's a possibility that it may become a standard text at each of our twenty campuses.
Tom Sinclair

Zo\ufffd: Sir, we don't want to deal with Patience again.
Mal: Why not?
Zo\ufffd: She shot you.
Mal: Well, yeah, she did a bit. Still\ufffd
- "Serenity" (pilot), Firefly
New My God! He's a CAT!
:-)

Very cool, I'd love to see it since I've just begun my web empire on some linux box in boca raton (that's the hosting company's location) and I'm just now struggling with DNS, firewalls, and all that stuff I used to make the little people do. (grd)

tblanchard with a mac.com account.



"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect"   --Mark Twain

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."   --Albert Einstein

"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses."   --George W. Bush
Expand Edited by tuberculosis Aug. 21, 2007, 06:00:50 AM EDT
New All right, you got me

Actually, I decided that since my cat is better looking than I am and he likes hanging around my laptop when I write, he deserved the back cover spot.

By the way, that's our 24 lb. (~11 Kg) Maine Coon, Scruffy.
Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New Tried to Purchase.
But... ahem...

There is no Download option. Only Shipping from USPS and UPS. I keep getting an error.

You might want to fix that.

I will keep this ready to do at a moments notice.


FYI, I have an existing LULU account since about 3 years ago. I have purchased quite a few things there.
--
[link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg],
[link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey
Freedom is not FREE.
Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars?
SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0;

0 rows returned.
New I can check that out

You tried to purchase the PDF?

I'm new at this myself so hang loose.

Shoot me an e-mail (tsinclair AT mac DOT com) and I can give you a link to my copy.

Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New Here's a discussion thread at Lulu
from someone with a similar issue (posting date is Feb. 21 2006)

[link|http://www.lulu.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33910|Lulu download problem]

Is this what you were seeing?

Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New Nope.
I add it to my cart, and the Kanotix. goto checkout and I cannot continue, it says it cannot assign a shipping charge.

And has me go back.

But in any case, I testes a previous Book I downloaded (which was still available to me) and it downloaded just fine.
--
[link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg],
[link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey
Freedom is not FREE.
Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars?
SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0;

0 rows returned.
New Try it once more

Without the CD.

If it still doesn't work, drop me an e-mail (tsinclair AT mac DOT com) and I'll hook you up with a PDF.

Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New Got it. The Kanotix is the issue.
If I try to download it period... it complains that it cannot set the shipping price. Seems to think it has something to physically ship.

Reading it soon. All the way through, will critique it. I am sure I'll have an opinion on it.
--
[link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg],
[link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey
Freedom is not FREE.
Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars?
SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0;

0 rows returned.
New Thought that might be the case

after you described the symptoms.

I'll be happy to hear your opinions.
Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New Critiques \tLinux Networking: Hands-On (Multiupdates planned) (new thread)
Created as new thread #247045 titled [link|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=247045|Critiques \tLinux Networking: Hands-On (Multiupdates planned)]
--
[link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg],
[link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey
Freedom is not FREE.
Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars?
SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0;

0 rows returned.
New Man, that's SOMETHING!
And it sounds like just the kick in the ass I need to get moving on adding Linux to my home machine (other than the Knoppix version Greg so kindly supplied me with earlier).

Gimme a few days to poke into it...things are a bit on the hectic sice right now...and I'll get back to you...prolly with some cash.

Congratulations...this is no small feat!
jb4
"Every Repbulican who wants to defend Bush on [the expansion of Presidential powers], should be forced to say, 'I wouldn't hesitate to see President Hillary Rodham Clinton have the same authority'."
&mdash an unidentified letter writer to Newsweek on the expansion of executive powers under the Bush administration
New Thanks!

I'm very pleased by the positive feedback I've been getting here and I thank all of you who have responded thus far.

My concern was that you would find it lacking in rigor and too shallow an approach.

However, that appears to not be the case, to say the least.

Oddly enough, I offered this to the primary publisher for our school and they told me they weren't interested in a Linux networking book. (Of course, it was the overly simplistic presentation of their Linux texts that pushed me to write this one, so it's kind of ironic.)

Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New Hey Everyone, He needs some reviews posted....
not just here, but on lulu.
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
New Yes, please

Pithy, quotable and witty, if possible.

It'd be nice to add some to the back cover blurb.

BTW, I modified the introduction to add a big belated thanks to the crew here.

Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New Very nice, Tom.
Purchased and downloaded the pdf without issue.
--
Steve
[link|http://www.ubuntulinux.org|Ubuntu]
New Good to hear

I can't test this with my account since I already have access to the file.

Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New New edition is posted

For those of you who haven't grabbed it yet. A few small edits (mostly typos) and I added indents and extra whitespace for readability per Scott's earlier suggestion.

If you already have a copy, no changes big enough for concern.
Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
New KANOTIX looks like a very nice distro.
I believe you've mentioned it before, but you should have sung its praises a bit more. :-)

The KANOTIX web page has a heavy Deutsch slant, but if one is willing to select [link|http://kanotix.com/index.php?&newlang=eng|English] from the language drop-down box (scroll down, on the left) for each page, it works well. It's nice that it has KDE 3.5 available, and that it's built directly on SID.

There's a nice review of KANOTIX 2005.3 (the previous version) on [link|http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=review-kanotix|DistroWatch].

I've downloaded a copy, but probably won't find the time to actually install it for a while. I notice that Klaus Knopper has a talk at CeBIT where he'll be talking about [link|http://www.knopper.net/cebit/index-en.html|KNOPPIX 5.0], so there may be some other nice changes coming very soon.

Interesting times. :-)

Cheers,
Scott.
New I used to use Knoppix

when I first switched from RH to Debian in the course. However, the recent versions of Knoppix (from about 3.9) were not very install-friendly.

I read about Kanotix, gave it a try and it gives me what I used to have with Knoppix without having to hand out a three page sheet of cheat codes.

Tom Sinclair

"This is a lovely party," said the Bursar to a chair, "I wish I was here."
-- The Bursar is a man under a *lot* of stress
(Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies)
     I wrote a Linux textbook (a bit long) - (tjsinclair) - (27)
         Congratulations! That's a big step! - (Yendor) - (1)
             Re: Congratulations! That's a big step! - (tjsinclair)
         Looks great! - (Another Scott) - (3)
             Re: Looks great! - (tjsinclair) - (2)
                 Thanks for the update. That was fast! One copy purchased. -NT - (Another Scott) - (1)
                     The advantages of "print-on-demand" - (tjsinclair)
         It reads like a conversation. - (folkert) - (1)
             That was the idea - (tjsinclair)
         My God! He's a CAT! - (tuberculosis) - (1)
             All right, you got me - (tjsinclair)
         Tried to Purchase. - (folkert) - (7)
             I can check that out - (tjsinclair) - (6)
                 Here's a discussion thread at Lulu - (tjsinclair) - (5)
                     Nope. - (folkert) - (4)
                         Try it once more - (tjsinclair) - (3)
                             Got it. The Kanotix is the issue. - (folkert) - (2)
                                 Thought that might be the case - (tjsinclair) - (1)
                                     Critiques \tLinux Networking: Hands-On (Multiupdates planned) (new thread) - (folkert)
         Man, that's SOMETHING! - (jb4) - (1)
             Thanks! - (tjsinclair)
         Hey Everyone, He needs some reviews posted.... - (jbrabeck) - (1)
             Yes, please - (tjsinclair)
         Very nice, Tom. - (Steve Lowe) - (1)
             Good to hear - (tjsinclair)
         New edition is posted - (tjsinclair)
         KANOTIX looks like a very nice distro. - (Another Scott) - (1)
             I used to use Knoppix - (tjsinclair)

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