Fedora Bible 2010 Edition: Featuring Fedora Linux 12

Preface

With the Fedora Linux operating system and the instructions in this book, you can transform your PC into a safe, powerful, and free computer system. Starting with Fedora, you can simply replace (or coexist with) Microsoft Windows on your everyday desktop computer. You can also configure your computer to share your files, printers, Web pages, or directory services to other computers. Then, if you choose, you can transition your skills to manage anything from a small office to a large, corporate Red Hat Enterprise Linux computer installation.

This book tells you how and gives you all the software you need to do it.

Who Are You?

You are someone who wants to run Linux, and wants to get up and productive as quickly as possible. This book covers what you need to know to get Fedora Linux up and running with a minimum of fuss on your existing PCs. From there, we cover how to get Linux on a network, and from a local network to the Internet. We show you how to lock down Linux, making it secure, and also how to perform day-to-day administrative functions such as backups and performance checks.

You don't need to be a programmer to use this book. You may be someone who just wants to use Linux (to run programs, access the Internet, and so on). Or you may simply want to know how to administer a Linux system in a workgroup or on a network.

We assume that you are somewhat computer literate but have little or no experience with Linux (or UNIX). You may need to use Linux at work, typically as a ...