Usually I prefer to review books one at a time. Since I like to not only read the book I’m reviewing but apply some of the suggestions, it makes to evaluate it from an average user’s point of view as well, trying to cover more than one book per review is difficult.

In the case of these two books, though, my usual practices have to be ignored. These two books not only need to be reviewed together, they need to be purchased and read together. Allow me to expand on my reasoning.

Fedora Core is, in my experience, the first Linux distribution to include setting up SELinux (Security Enhanced Linux) as part of its installation routine. Even though SELinux is supported by Debian and Gentoo, Fedora is the only OS I’ve encountered that presents the opportunity to setup SELinux during installation. Having both these books at hand while setting up Fedora Core 5 will leave you with no unanswered questions.

Red Hat Fedora 5 Unleashed is a massive book. To look at it, someone unfamiliar with Linux might think that Fedora is a very complicated system. Actually Fedora is one of the easier distributions to install. The reason the book is so large is that it covers every aspect of the Fedora Core 5 operating system in exquisite detail.

The first several chapters deal with the usual topics; an introduction to Fedora, preparing to install your new operating system (hardware requirements, partitioning, etc.) and the actual installation process. If you elected to enable SELinux during the installation, this is the time to set aside Red Hat Fedora 5 Unleashed and crack open your copy of SELinux by Example.

If you’re new to Linux or if the phrase “policy language” means nothing to you, then you’ll want to follow the author’s suggestions on how to use this book.

“Thoroughly read and understand Part 1 (Chapters 1-3); this part provides you with the necessary background and conceptual insights to understand SELinux. In particular, carefully read and study Chapter 2. You may want to skim Part II (Chapters 4-10) to get a sense of the content of these chapters. These chapters are loaded with the details of the SELinux policy language. For most people, there are too many details to absorb as part of a strategy to first learn about SELinux.”

You don’t really need to fully grasp all the functionality of SELinux before you start using your Fedora installation. Eventually you’ll want to read SELinux by Example completely through and establish your own policies to meet your needs. SELinux allows you to construct a secure operating system from the ground up. It gives you control over kernal resources, allows you to write policy statements for type enforcement, roles, users and constraints. Using SELinux you can define, manage and maintain security policies as well as develop and write new policy modules. After reading this book, you’ll be able to effectively administer any SELinux system.

Now you’ve installed Fedora Core 5 and gained a bit of enlightenment about SELinux. It’s time to pick up Red Hat Fedora 5 Unleashed again and dig deeper into this system.

Because so many applications come pre-installed in nearly all modern Linux distributions, perhaps the hardest task facing any new user is trying to decide what they want to do first. Should you set up your peripherals, get your network up and running, play around with the user interface? There’s a chapter to help you do all of those. Fedora 5 Unleashed will also help you to manage services, set up and administer your computer as a web server using Apache, learn about shell scripts, play games, share files with a Windows user via Samba, create databases with MySQL or PostgreSQL, watch TV on your computer (providing you have a TV tuner card installed), or build a new Linux kernal. You can even create publications using Open Office, the application I’m using to write this review. Fedora 5 Unleashed will walk you through every step of accomplishing these tasks and many more with clear examples and easy-to-understand writing.

Once you advance beyond the basics and want to really dig into the guts of Fedora, keep this book handy. It will tell you how to manage the X window system, teach you about Linux programming, administering a web server and a network, all from within Fedora Core 5. You’ll even be able to set up a DNS server if you wish. Fedora Core is the step-child of the Red Hat Enterprise version of Linux, and shares a lot of the Enterprise functionality. Red Hat Enterprise is the operating system of choice on many servers, perhaps the only serious challenge to Microsoft’s Windows Server system. The Enterprise edition is a rock solid and fully featured operating system, and Fedora Core has inherited those characteristics. If functionality means more to you than a flashy interface, Fedora Core may be the right operating system for you.

I can’t imagine anything you might want to do in Fedora Core 5 that isn’t explained in Fedora 5 Unleashed. If you want to run a server, have a functional not flashy OS or just want to install one of the most mature Linux distributions available, buy a copy of Fedora Core 5 Unleashed, put the DVD into your DVD-ROM drive and get started. The DVD contains hundreds of applications that will have you being productive within minutes of installation.

And if security concerns you, and it should, you’ll want to have a copy of SELinux by Example handy to refer to as you set up your policies. Combined, these two books will make you a master of your new operating system.

Red Hat Fedora 5 Unleashed
Paul Hudson & Andrew Hudson
Sams Publishing 2006
ISBN 0-672-32847-x
1069 pgs. DVD-ROM
$49.99 USA/$66.99 CAN/
£35.99 Net UK (inc. of VAT)

SELinux by Example
Frank Mayer, Karl Macmillan, David Caplan
Pearson Education, Inc. 2007
ISBN 0-13-196369-4
425 pgs.
$44.99 USA/$55.99 CAN

[tags]Fedora, SELinux, Pearson Education, Sams Publishing[/tags]