Point & Click Linux! (Paperback)

We all want our computers to "just work." We want to view Web sites, exchange email, create letters and other printed material, do our book-keeping, and perform other basic computer tasks without worrying about viruses, spam, Web popup ads, system crashes or high program license fees.

Linux is the low-cost key to trouble-free computing. It's a little different from Windows or Mac, so you'll need to learn some new tricks to use it, but they are not hard tricks, and they won't take long to learn. In return for that little bit of learning, you'll be able to perform everyday computing tasks rapidly and easily without worrying about viruses, worms or spyware. In fact, after you have Linux installed and your favorite programs set up, you won't need to think about your computer at all. You'll be able to concentrate on what you're doing with it, whether you're creating a budget spreadsheet for your business, creating a family newsletter or downloading and listening to your favorite music.

This book and the instructional DVD video inside the front cover are based on MEPIS Linux. The SimplyMEPIS CD inside the back cover includes all the software you need to surf the Web, read and write email, do sophisticated word processing, make slide presentations, manipulate spreadsheets, upload and edit images from digital cameras and scanners, create Web sites, enjoy music or videos, play many hours' worth of entertaining games, and generally do what you and most other people expect a personal computer to do.

About the Point & Click Linux! DVD - It's not a single hour-long video, but a series of "bite-sized" short tutorials. Each one focuses on a specific function or program. The video tutorials contain most of the information in the printed book, but show you how to do things instead o telling you how to do them.

The DVD plays in standard NTSC (U.S. format) DVD players, and in computers equipped with DVD drives.

Proprietary Windows software equivalent to the programs on your SimplyMEPIS CD, plus the current version of Windows itself, would cost at least $1500 or more. And if the included software doesn't cover all your needs, the MEPIS servers offer hundreds of other useful programs you can download right away and start using without paying another cent. Adventurous souls can experiment with any one of thousands of free non-MEPIS programs provided by the worldwide, volunteer-run Debian project with only a few mouse clicks—and can delete any programs that don't work out with another few clicks.

(Note that when you delete a MEPIS or Debian program, it is 100% gone. There is no "residue" or "registry crud" leftover as there often is in Windows when you try to delete a program you no longer want.)

While this book focuses on MEPIS, there is an appendix dedicated to other popular Linux distributions, because Linux is about choice, not about locking you into one way of doing things. You'll also be happy to know that the programs described in the following pages and on the included DVD video work the same way no matter which Linux distribution you choose. Even if you start with MEPIS and later move to another flavor of Linux, your learning time will not have been wasted.

But that's enough loose talk. Let's turn the page and get started with trouble-free, Point & Click Linux! computing.