Official Ubuntu Book, The (5th Edition) Immediately

I've been using Linux for a decade, but have only used Ubuntu for several years, my earlier favourite distros being RPM based. The Official Ubuntu Handbook provides enough information for someone reasonably competent in using computers to install and become productive with Ubuntu, Kubuntu or Edubuntu and does an excellent job of informing the reader of how they can become involved in the Ubuntu Community.

While familiar with the Open Source environment, I still enjoyed reading the book's introduction to Open Source, Linux and the successful Ubuntu experiment. Chapter 7 builds on Chapter 1, providing detailed information on the Ubuntu Community, Ubuntu Governance and the various avenues for involvement within the community. The Ubuntu related projects in chapter 10 I also found interesting, i.e. the officially supported derivatives such as Kubuntu (covered in detail in chapter 8) and Edubuntu (chapter 9), the server edition (chapter 5), the recognised derivatives (Xubuntu, Mythbuntu and Ubuntu Studio, etc) along with the infrastructure projects incorporated in Launchpad.

Chapters 2 to 4 walk you through how to install Ubuntu, how to use the Desktop and advanced usage and management of Ubuntu and comprise about 20% of the book.

The best description of the various uses of apt-cache and apt-get I've seen to date are in the Package Management section of the Ubuntu Server chapter (chapter 5), so I recommend desktop users read at least this part of the server chapter.

Kubuntu (my current Linux distro favourite) gets its own dedicated coverage of 44 pages in chapter 8.

If you are interested in using Linux in an educational setting, the book is worth getting for chapter 9 alone, where Edubuntu and Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) are covered in detail.

The coverage of the Ubuntu community and the supporting toolset means there is less detailed coverage of the finer points of installing and using Ubuntu, for example, in Chapter 4, when modifying fstab is mentioned, it is disappointing that mounting NTFS partitions is not even mentioned, given virtually no Windows PCs are now installed on FAT partitions. That said, the 55 pages of Chapter 6 cover many of the common problems new users are likely to strike and chapter 11 introduces you to the Ubuntu Forums, should you need further information or support.

The two appendices include an introduction to the command line, with a sufficient overview to get a new user productively using it and a list of equivalent Linux programs to common Windows programs. Finally, there is a very comprehensive 51 page index.

If you are very interested in the Ubuntu Community and how you can be involved or particularly interested in using Ubuntu in a terminal server mode, e.g. with Edubuntu, then you'll find this book will reward your investment. Those with different interests or wanting a more in-depth description may find another Ubuntu book, such as Beginning Ubuntu Linux, Fourth Edition, a better choice.

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