1. Chapter 1 Why Run Linux?

   1. Linux at Home and at Work

   2. What is Linux?

   3. Reasons to Choose or Not Choose Linux

   4. Linux Resources on the Internet

2. Chapter 2 Preparing to Install Linux

   1. Minimum Hardware Requirements

   2. Collecting Information About Your System

   3. Preparing Your Hard Disk

3. Chapter 3 Installing Linux

   1. Installing the Operating System and Applications

   2. Getting Help

4. Chapter 4 Issuing Linux Commands

   1. The System Use Cycle

   2. Working with the Linux Command Prompt

   3. How Linux Organizes Data

   4. Working with Devices

   5. Useful Linux Programs

5. Chapter 5 Installing and Configuring the X Window System

   1. What is X?

   2. Installing X

   3. Configuring X

   4. Starting and Stopping X

6. Chapter 6 Using the X Window System

   1. Keyboard Operations

   2. Mouse Operations

   3. Window Managers

   4. Desktops

   5. Using GNOME

   6. Using GNOME Applets and Applications

   7. Configuring GNOME

7. Chapter 7 Configuring and Administering Linux

   1. User and Group Administration

   2. Filesystem Administration

   3. Starting and Stopping the System and Services

   4. Viewing System Messages and Logs

   5. Setting the System Time and Time Zone

8. Chapter 8 Using Linux Applications and Clients

   1. Linux Desktop Applications

   2. Other Approaches to Desktop Computing

9. Chapter 9 Playing Linux Games

   1. A Survey of Linux Games

   2. Closeups of Some Popular Games

10. Chapter 10 Setting Up a Linux-Based LAN

    1. Introduction

    2. Network Administration

    3. Samba

    4. Samba Client Configuration and Use

11. Chapter 11 Getting Connected to the Internet

    1. Connecting to the Internet

    2. Configuring Your Modem

    3. Using wvdial

    4. PPP Client

    5. Web Browser

    6. gFTP FTP client

    7. Using minicom and seyon

    8. Making a PPP Connection Manually

12. Chapter 12 Setting Up a Linux-Based WAN

    1. An FTP Server

    2. Installing and Configuring a Web Server

    3. Using a Mail Server

    4. Configuring a Secure Shell Server

    5. Configuring a Dial-In Shell Server

13. Chapter 13 Conquering the BASH Shell

    1. The Linux Shell

    2. Using the Shell

    3. Understanding Shell Scripts

1. Appendix A Linux Directory Tree

2. Appendix B Principal Linux Files

3. Appendix C The Debian Package Management Utilities

   1. Packages

   2. The Package Management Tools

   3. Using dpkg

   4. Using dselect

   5. Using apt-get

   6. Package Contents and Installation Commands

4. Appendix D Managing the Boot Process

   1. Booting Linux

   2. Boot Disks

   3. The lilo Loader

   4. The loadlin Loader

   5. Boot Parameters

   6. Using Loadable Ethernet Drivers

5. Appendix E Linux Command Quick Reference

6. Appendix F Open Publication License

   1. I. REQUIREMENTS ON BOTH UNMODIFIED AND MODIFIED VERSIONS

   2. II. COPYRIGHT

   3. III. SCOPE OF LICENSE

   4. IV. REQUIREMENTS ON MODIFIED WORKS

   5. V. GOOD-PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS

   6. VI. LICENSE OPTIONS

7. Glossary

8. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The cover image of a man on a bucking bull is adapted from a 19th-century engraving from Marvels of the New West: A Vivid Portrayal of the Stupendous Marvels in the Vast Wonderland West of the Missouri River, by William Thayer (The Henry Bill Publishing Co., Norwich, CT, 1888). David Futato was the production editor and copyeditor for Learning Debian GNU/Linux; Kimo Carter provided production assistance; and Claire Cloutier LeBlanc provided quality control. David Futato and Ellie Cutler proofread the text; Robert Romano and Rhon Porter created the illustrations using Adobe Photoshop 5 and Macromedia FreeHand 8. Brenda Miller wrote the index.

Hanna Dyer designed the cover layout based on a series design by Edie Freedman. Kathleen Wilson produced the cover with QuarkXPress 3.32 and Adobe Photoshop 5 software, using the ITC Garamond Condensed font. Alicia Cech designed the interior layouts, based on a series design created by Edie Freedman and Jennifer Niederst and modified by Nancy Priest. Chapter opening graphics are from the Dover Pictorial Archive and Marvels of the New West.

Whenever possible, our books use RepKover, a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. If the page count exceeds RepKover's limit, perfect binding is used.

Interior fonts are Adobe ITC Garamond and Adobe ConstantWillison. Text was prepared in SGML using the DocBook 2.1 DTD. The print version of this book was created by translating the SGML source into a set of gtroff macros using a filter developed at O'Reilly by Norman Walsh. Steve Talbott designed and wrote the underlying macro set on the basis of the GNU gtroff -gs macros; Lenny Muellner adapted the macros to SGML and implemented the book design. The GNU groff text formatter version 1.09 was used to generate PostScript output; this output was distilled to PDF for use at press.