Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"The definitive work on Red Hat Linux. Chain it to your desk. You'll browse others, but you'll wear this one out."
-Nicholas Petreley, Founding Editor of LinuxWorld
If Red Hat Linux 9 can do it, you can do it too...
Activate the power of Red Hat Linux 9, the most popular distribution of this practical, economical operating system, with the in-depth information in this comprehensive reference manual. If you're exploring Linux for the first time, the hands-on instructions for installing, configuring, and customizing the system will get you going with confidence. If you're a Red Hat veteran, Linux expert Christopher Negus gives you everything you need to administer the latest desktop, server, and networking enhancements, plus much more.
Inside, you'll find complete coverage of Red Hat Linux 9
* Explore GNOME and KDE desktop menus, panels, file managers, workspaces, and themes
* Configure a firewall to share your Internet connection and protect your LAN
* Run applications for Internet browsing, publishing, music, video, and gaming
* Construct your own public Internet server, complete with mail, DNS, FTP, and Web services
* Administer users, manage backups, and automate system tasks
* Create dial-up connections, wireless LANs, and virtual private networks (CIPE)
* Set up Windows (Samba), Mac (netatalk), or NetWare (mars-nwe) file and print sharing from Linux
* Use the Red Hat Network up2date facility to easily get software updates
Special 3 CD-ROM version of Red Hat Linux 9, with 260 additional packages not included in the standard 2 CD Publisher's Edition
Red Hat Linux 9 core includes: Linux kernel, GNU C compiler, GNOME desktop, Apache Web server, Samba Windows file/print sharing, CUPS print service, Sendmail mail server, and BIND DNS server
Additional packages include:
* KDE desktop
* samba-swat
* vsftpd
* spamassassin
* sendmail-cf
* Legacy UNIX network services
* Tripwire
* sndconfig

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. vii)
• Part I Getting Started in Red Hat Linux (p. 1)
• Chapter 1 An Overview of Red Hat Linux (p. 3)
• Introducing Red Hat Linux (p. 3)
• What Is Linux? (p. 5)
• Linux's Roots in UNIX (p. 5)
• Common Linux Features (p. 7)
• Primary Advantages of Linux (p. 9)
• What Is Red Hat Linux? (p. 9)
• Why Choose Red Hat Linux? (p. 10)
• New Features in Red Hat Linux 9 (p. 12)
• The Culture of Free Software (p. 16)
• Chapter 2 Installing Red Hat Linux (p. 19)
• Quick Installation (p. 19)
• Detailed Installation Instructions (p. 22)
• Installing More Red Hat Linux Packages (p. 36)
• Special Installation Procedures (p. 37)
• Special Installation Topics (p. 46)
• Troubleshooting your Installation (p. 70)
• Part II Using Red Hat Linux (p. 73)
• Chapter 3 Getting Started with the Desktop (p. 75)
• Logging in to Red Hat Linux (p. 76)
• Getting Familiar with the Desktop (p. 77)
• Using the GNOME Desktop (p. 86)
• Using the KDE Desktop (p. 99)
• Troubleshooting Your Desktop (p. 117)
• Chapter 4 Using Linux Commands (p. 123)
• The Shell Interface (p. 123)
• Understanding the Red Hat Linux Shell (p. 127)
• Using the Shell in Red Hat Linux (p. 128)
• Working with the Red Hat Linux File System (p. 148)
• Using the vi Text Editor (p. 155)
• Chapter 5 Accessing and Running Applications (p. 161)
• Using Red Hat Linux as an Application Platform (p. 161)
• Finding Windows-Equivalent Applications in Linux (p. 163)
• Obtaining Red Hat Linux Applications (p. 165)
• Installing Red Hat Linux Applications (p. 171)
• Running X Window Applications (p. 182)
• Running Window, DOS, and Macintosh Applications (p. 190)
• Chapter 6 Publishing with Red Hat Linux (p. 201)
• Using OpenOffice (p. 202)
• Other Word Processors (p. 203)
• Using Traditional Linux Publishing Tools (p. 206)
• Creating Documents in Groff or LaTeX (p. 207)
• Printing Documents with Red Hat Linux (p. 225)
• Displaying Documents with Ghostscript and Acrobat (p. 228)
• Working with Graphics (p. 230)
• Using Scanners Driven by SANE (p. 233)
• Chapter 7 Playing Games with Red Hat Linux (p. 235)
• Basic Linux Gaming Information (p. 235)
• X Window Games (p. 238)
• Commercial Linux Games (p. 247)
• Chapter 8 Multimedia in Red Hat Linux (p. 257)
• Listening to Audio (p. 257)
• Viewing TV and Webcams (p. 273)
• Playing Video (p. 279)
• Using a Digital Camera with gtkam and gphoto2 (p. 283)
• Recording Music CDs (p. 285)
• Chapter 9 Tools for Using the Internet and the Web (p. 293)
• Overview of Internet Tools (p. 293)
• Browsing the Web (p. 294)
• Communicating with E-mail (p. 307)
• Participating in Newsgroups (p. 316)
• Participating in AOL Instant Messaging with Gaim (p. 319)
• Using Remote Login, Copy, and Execution (p. 320)
• Part III Administering Red Hat Linux (p. 335)
• Chapter 10 Understanding System Administration (p. 337)
• Using the root Login (p. 338)
• Becoming Super User (The su Command) (p. 338)
• Administrative GUI tools, Commands, Configuration Files, and Log Files (p. 339)
• Administering Your Red Hat Linux System (p. 352)
• Configuring Hardware (p. 353)
• Managing File Systems and Disk Space (p. 357)
• Monitoring System Performance (p. 370)
• Choosing Software Alternatives (p. 372)
• Getting Linux Software "up2date" (p. 374)
• Chapter 11 Setting Up and Supporting Users (p. 381)
• Creating User Accounts (p. 381)
• Setting User Defaults (p. 387)
• Creating Portable Desktops (p. 392)
• Providing Support to Users (p. 394)
• Modifying Accounts (p. 396)
• Deleting User Accounts (p. 399)
• Checking Disk Quotas (p. 400)
• Sending Mail to All Users (p. 405)
• Chapter 12 Automating System Tasks (p. 409)
• Understanding Shell Scripts (p. 409)
• System Initialization (p. 421)
• System Start-Up and Shutdown (p. 426)
• Scheduling System Tasks (p. 437)
• Chapter 13 Backing Up and Restoring Files (p. 445)
• Selecting a Backup Strategy (p. 445)
• Selecting a Backup Medium (p. 447)
• Backing Up to a Hard Drive (p. 454)
• Backing Up Files with dump (p. 456)
• Automating Backups with cron (p. 459)
• Restoring Backed Up Files (p. 461)
• Using the pax Archiving Tool (p. 472)
• Chapter 14 Computer Security Issues (p. 477)
• Hacker versus Cracker (p. 478)
• Password Protection (p. 478)
• Protection from Break-ins (p. 483)
• Protecting Linux by Filtering Network Access (p. 488)
• Protecting Your Network with Firewalls (p. 493)
• Detecting Intrusions from Log Files (p. 514)
• Using Tripwire to Detect Tampered Files (p. 519)
• Protection from Denial-of-Service Attacks (p. 523)
• Using Encryption Techniques (p. 526)
• Monitoring Log Files with LogSentry (p. 529)
• Guarding Your Computer with PortSentry (p. 538)
• Part IV Red Hat Linux Network and Server Setup (p. 549)
• Chapter 15 Setting Up a Local Area Network (p. 551)
• Understanding Local Area Networks (p. 551)
• Setting Up a Wireless LAN (p. 562)
• Understanding IP Addresses (p. 579)
• Troubleshooting your LAN (p. 584)
• Chapter 16 Connecting to the Internet (p. 597)
• Understanding How the Internet Is Structured (p. 598)
• Using Dial-up Connections to the Internet (p. 603)
• Connecting your LAN to the Internet (p. 614)
• Setting up Red Hat Linux as a Router (p. 615)
• Configuring a Virtual Private Network Connection (p. 620)
• Setting up Red Hat Linux as a Proxy Server (p. 627)
• Setting up Proxy Clients (p. 636)
• Chapter 17 Setting Up a Print Server (p. 641)
• Choosing CUPS or LPRng Print Services (p. 641)
• Setting Up Printers (p. 643)
• Working with CUPS Printing (p. 651)
• Managing Printing (p. 656)
• Using Printing Commands (p. 656)
• Configuring Print Servers (p. 658)
• Chapter 18 Setting Up a File Server (p. 665)
• Goals of Setting Up a File Server (p. 665)
• Setting Up an NFS File Server in Red Hat Linux (p. 666)
• Setting Up a Samba File Server in Red Hat Linux (p. 680)
• Setting Up a NetWare File Server in Red Hat Linux (p. 703)
• Chapter 19 Setting Up a Mail Server (p. 709)
• Introduction to SMTP and sendmail (p. 709)
• Installing and Running sendmail (p. 710)
• Configuring sendmail (p. 713)
• Introducing Postfix (p. 738)
• Stopping Spam with SpamAssassin (p. 740)
• Getting Mail from the Server (POP) (p. 742)
• Administering a Mailing List (p. 745)
• Chapter 20 Setting Up an FTP Server (p. 749)
• Understanding FTP Servers (p. 750)
• Using the Very Secure FTP Server (vsFTPd) (p. 751)
• Using the Washington University FTP Server (WU-FTPD) (p. 757)
• Getting More Information about FTP Servers (p. 775)
• Chapter 21 Setting Up a Web Server (p. 777)
• Introduction to Web Servers (p. 777)
• Quick Starting the Apache Web Server (p. 780)
• Configuring the Apache Server (p. 782)
• Starting and Stopping the Server (p. 816)
• Monitoring Server Activities (p. 818)
• Chapter 22 Setting Up a News Server (p. 825)
• Understanding News Transports (p. 825)
• Planning Your News Server (p. 826)
• Configuring an INN News Server (p. 828)
• Setting Up News Feeds (p. 842)
• Choosing How Articles Are Stored (p. 847)
• Setting Up Expiration Times (p. 851)
• Allowing Users to Access Your Server (p. 852)
• Starting the News Service (p. 853)
• Checking News Log Files (p. 854)
• Chapter 23 Setting Up Boot Servers: DHCP and NIS (p. 855)
• Using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (p. 856)
• Setting Up a DHCP Server (p. 856)
• Setting Up a DHCP Client (p. 865)
• Understanding Network Information Service (p. 866)
• Setting Up Red Hat Linux as an NIS Client (p. 868)
• Setting Up Red Hat Linux as an NIS Master Server (p. 872)
• Setting Up Red Hat Linux as an NIS Slave Server (p. 876)
• Chapter 24 Setting Up a MySQL Database Server (p. 879)
• Finding MySQL Packages (p. 880)
• Configuring the MySQL Server (p. 880)
• Starting the MySQL Server (p. 888)
• Checking that MySQL Server Is Working (p. 889)
• Working with MySQL Databases (p. 890)
• Understanding MySQL Tables (p. 896)
• Displaying MySQL Databases (p. 901)
• Making Changes to Tables and Records (p. 904)
• Adding and Removing User Access (p. 905)
• Checking and Fixing Databases (p. 908)
• Chapter 25 Making Servers Public with DNS (p. 911)
• Determining Goals for Your Server (p. 912)
• Connecting a Public Server (p. 913)
• Configuring Your Public Server (p. 918)
• Setting Up a Domain Name System Server (p. 921)
• Getting More Information about BIND (p. 935)
• Chapter 26 Using Linux Servers from a MAC (p. 937)
• Looking inside MAC OS/X (p. 937)
• Using Network Services from MAC OS/X (p. 938)
• Configuring an AppleTalk Server in Linux (p. 943)
• Part V Appendixes (p. 959)
• Appendix A What's on the CD-ROMs (p. 961)
• Using Linux Kernel Source Code (p. 962)
• Appendix B Red Hat Linux RPMs (p. 967)
• Removed Packages (p. 967)
• Packages in Red Hat Linux 9 (p. 971)
• Appendix C Running Network Services (p. 1011)
• Checklist for Running Networking Services (p. 1011)
• Networking Service Daemons (p. 1012)
• Choosing Alternatives (p. 1014)
• Referencing Network Services (p. 1015)
• Index (p. 1033)
• General Public License (p. 1075)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Christopher Negus has been working with UNIX systems, the Internet, and (more recently) Linux systems for more than two decades. During that time, Chris worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories, UNIX System Laboratories, and Novell, helping to develop the UNIX operating system. Features from many of the UNIX projects Chris worked on at AT&T have found their way into Red Hat and other Linux systems.
During the past few years, Chris has written several books on UNIX and the Internet, including Caldera OpenLinux Bible, Internet Explorer 4 Bible, and Netscape Plug-Ins for Dummies for Wiley Publishing. He also co-wrote several books for Que Corporation, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Networking (second and third editions) and Using UNIX (second edition). Chris's other writings include articles for Internet World , NetWare Connection , and Visual Developer magazines.