LINUX FOR NON-GEEKS:
A plain English guide for Linux home users
San Francisco, CA - No Starch Press, publisher of books on alternative
operating systems and Open Source tools, has just released a new book for
home computer users wishing to use Linux as a replacement for Microsoft
Windows. "Linux for Non-Geeks" shows the new Linux user how to use Linux
every day, whether to surf the Internet, send email, write letters, listen
to music, or burn CDs.
Once the province of computer geeks, Linux has made dramatic strides in
usability in the last couple of years. Most people can install Linux on
their computers in about half an hour and, with a bit of introduction,
will find that they can do just what they're used to doing with Windows
with their new fast, free, and secure operating system. Today's Linux is a
viable alternative to Microsoft Windows, and it's free. While that makes
Microsoft very nervous, it excites the Linux-advocating folks at No Starch
Press in San Francisco.
"We wanted to publish a book for people who are new to Linux but not quite
sure how to begin to use it," says No Starch Press publisher William
Pollock. "'Linux for Non-Geeks' is a book that Linux newbies can use as a
resource and introduction, just as they would a basic book on Microsoft
Windows."
Author Rickford Grant wrote the original manuscript as a tutorial for his
mother. Later, he sent it to No Starch Press, unsolicited. While
unsolicited manuscripts often end up the proverbial "circular file," No
Starch Press took a fancy to this one because of Grant's uniquely friendly
approach. "I wanted to create the kind of book that I was looking for when
I first got started," says Grant, "not a book for geeks. This is a book
for average users that shows how to do the things that normal folk like to
do on their computer. It shows people that they can do it all with Linux
just as well as they did with their previous OS."
Projects in each chapter build on each other so that readers move from
basic to more complex tasks, and have fun doing it. For example, an early
project introduces the GNOME desktop and takes readers step-by-step
through adding folders, moving icons, and adding program launchers.
Subsequent projects build on their knowledge of the desktop, showing them
more advanced desktop customization like changing wallpaper and themes,
and even how to create their own unique emblems (using a graphics program
they've installed in an earlier project).
"Linux for Non-Geeks" includes a full version of Fedora Linux on two CDs.
This book and CD combination is everything the home user needs to make the
move to Linux.
LINUX FOR NON-GEEKS
A Hands-On, Project-Based, Take-It-Slow Guidebook, by Rickford Grant
ISBN 1593270348, Mar 2004, US $34.95 ($49.95 Cdn), 336 pp. w/CD
Available at fine bookstores everywhere
To order from the publisher: visit www.nostarch.com, email
orders@nostarch.com, or call 800-420-7240
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Table of contents: http://nostarch.com/frameset.php?startat=nongeeks_toc
Sample chapter from the book: http://nostarch.com/nongeeks_ch3.pdf
Cover image: http://nostarch.com/frameset.php?startat=nongeeks_big
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rickford Grant has been an operating system maniac for over 20 years. From
his earliest days with his Atari XL600 to his present Linux machines, he
has been the guy at the other end of the computer help line for family,
friends and colleagues. When not burning himself out in front of his
monitor, or annoying his neighbors with his Nyckelharpa (Swedish keyed
fiddle) playing, he spends his working hours as an Associate Professor at
Toyama University of International Studies in Japan, where he teaches
courses in English Language, Swedish Culture, and English-language-based
computing.
ABOUT NO STARCH PRESS
Since 1994, No Starch Press has published unique books on computing, with
a focus on Open Source, security, hacking, web development, programming,
gaming, and alternative operating systems. Our titles have personality,
our authors are passionate, and we publish books on topics that people
care about.
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