Linux in a small business. 
Buy it at Amazon
Author John P. Lathrop
Publisher APress
Length 336 pages
vbRad Rating: 4 fingers up. (4 out of 5)
Reviewed by Robert

Normally publishers just send us books to review. This one, I requested purely out of interest and need. If you work for a large corporation, you may be familiar with this situation: you want to buy software XYZ because you need it to do work. The company makes you fill out tons of paperwork or then explain to twenty different execs how it will provide ROI (that's just a term to make them feel good about themselves, it doesn't mean squat). Often you'll need an extra copy of NT or Exchange and inevitably you'll run roadblocks (we don't have the licenses, the CD is in the locked drawer and no one has the key, you need approval, etc…). A large corp is no startup: you can't just take the MSDN CD and install any software you want on any computer you want, like you did in the dotcom days. On top of it there are valid monetary concerns such as Windows, Exchange, SQL Server and associated client installations simply cost a pretty coin. The cost of Linux and its associated tools, on the other hand, is almost free.

Being as we are VB programmers, very few of us are Linux gurus; no one wants to deal with wacky configuration files or the command line. But cost controls being what they are today, one has to at least consider using Linux for rudimentary things or tasks it is good at. For instance, low end bits and pieces such as a printer server or a file server or email server or even a web server. Right there you saved yourself several grand. But jumping into Linux without a helping hand is going to end up costing a lot more than any version of Windows could. This is where this book comes in. It will walk you through all these tasks while explaining what's happening behind the scenes.

The book starts by denying that Linux developers are card carrying nerds with non-existent muscle tone. He further rejects the notion that they are arrogant, simply to cover up massive insecurities. Well, that's just heresy. I liked the book right away. Another reason I liked this book is that it has a stated goal of avoiding configuration files and command line, unless totally necessary. Another one of its goals is to present a business sense for running Linux boxes, rather than spouting Open Source ideology common in Linux books. It doesn't get into Linux kernel or any of that, just running & setting up business apps. And lastly, mostly it focuses on things that Linux is good at. By and large, it achieves this goal.

Specifically, you'll find step by step (trust me, you'll need it) on the following topics: · Apache web server · Samba (for connecting to Windows PCs, emulating NT and more) · Sendmail (mail server) · How to make Linux your gateway to the Internet using DSL/Cable/Other · How to make it a print or file server · Lots of other topics · Database server

Among points I disliked is the author's choice of desktops, even though I understand it (he wanted to stick to RedHat's defaults). He used GNOME instead of KDE, although most of Linux crowd now uses KDE.

All in all, an excellent way to start your journey to other side.


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