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csimons
August 11th, 2007, 10:15 PM
Earlier this year I bought the first edition of the Official Ubuntu Book, and recently found that a second edition has already hit the scene. Since there is no "Look Inside" feature for this edition available on Amazon.com, I was wondering if anyone here knows what significant changes or new sections were added?

fluteflute
August 15th, 2007, 02:21 PM
I believe it was updating it for fiesty rather than dapper

YMS_1975
September 18th, 2007, 01:01 AM
Hey folks,

Newbie to the whole Ubuntu/Linux scene (but loving what I've seen thus far).

I'm looking at buying the Official Ubuntu Book (Second Edition). Has anybody here read the second edition book? How is it? Would you recommend it for a complete novice?

I just switched from Microsoft's Windows Vista to Ubuntu and I'm finding great difficulties with things like how to use Terminal. From what I can gather, it's the equivalent of the MS-DOS shell (but then again, what do I know?; hence my need for this book!)

Anyways...all I want to know is this:

1) Is this book geared towards Ubuntu 7.04?
2) Is it good for the complete beginner/novice?
3) Will it discuss items like webcam installations? (I've got a Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 and despite reading the threads on this awesome site I can't get it work! Damnit! I'm having trouble installing programs like Camorama, EasyCam, Etc. because I'm used to GUI's for installation programs and not only that but I'm finding Camorama has several files that you can download and I'm not sure which one to download/install).

I'd really like to get a book that'll help me ease out of the MS Windows platform and gear up for Ubuntu. I don't know why, but Ubuntu takes me back to my OS/2 Warp days (the good feeling I got from running a stable OS!)

Dan400Man
September 25th, 2007, 11:03 PM
I *just* got the 2nd edition in the mail. Definitely geared towards a Linux beginner. Which is me. Very experienced Windows (ab)user, trying to break out of the M$ stranglehold. The 2nd edition was written for 7.04.

Anyway, I'm only now into Chapter 2 (Installing Ubuntu). Chapter 1 was very educational, providing history and background.

Regarding your question about webcams, the index shows 2 mentions, but they are not references to installing webcams. Chapter 5 "Support and Typical Problems" has a section for Hardware, and found this:


I Bought a Device, but it Doesn't Work in Ubuntu

When you buy a hardware device such as a ... Webcam, the device needs to have a driver installed for it to work.

Sometimes you need to go looking for a driver, or even find out whether Ubuntu supports it at all. To do this, search the Ubuntu forums or help wiki, or you can do a general search on the Internet for your device and the keyword Linux. After a bit of hunting around, you will probably find a driver that is available but obviously was not included with Ubuntu. Your first job should be to submit a bug report to say that the driver is not included in Ubuntu. ... Include in your bug report the location of where you found the driver.

Earlier in the Hardware section, I found:


Unlike systems such as Windows, you don't need to install a special driver included with the device. Instead, the driver should already be included in Ubuntu and ready to work out of the box.


That seems a little hard to believe, but I haven't really tried any "exotic" hardware on my 7.04 install to be able to give an opinion based on experience.

Also, the earlier reference to searching on the internet. Start with a very specific search, such as the model number and "ubuntu" and "7.04". You might be surprised.

O.k., my turn:
Does anyone know whether the book's contents are included on the DVD that comes with it? I am under the impression that it's supposed to be. The preface has this: "While most book publishers and authors struggle with the decision to release a book under a free license that allows uninhibited redistributions, reuse, and revision, our situation was clear: Any official book needed to live up to the Ubuntu community's stated philosophical standards of freedom for sharing and reuse." The contents of the DVD take up over 4GB, far more than the normal CD distros. The title printed on the DVD is "The Official Ubuntu Book Second Edition". Maybe I read into all that more than I should. There's nothing obvious on the DVD that would indicate that the "book" is on there somewhere. Anybody know?

TIA