Linux·4,539 discussions

Tech Republic Linux Software Stinks

Locked

I just purchased the Fast Track Linux Network and System Administration CD-ROM for $100. All I can say is it’s a rip-off. The program gives you commands and asks you to enter them in a simulator, but it doesn’t tell you what they do or why you do it.

For example, in part 2 Working with the Linux File System – Maintain the File System, there is a demo. The demo at one point prompts you to switch to root, but doesn’t say why. It asks you to run fsck on the local filesystem, but doesn’t tell you what fsck is or why you’re doing it. It asks you to switch to single user mode, but doesn’t explain why. It asks you to create file and directories and then says “Observe the directories”. For what? What am I supposed to observe?

I would not recommend this to anyone trying to learn Linux. It’s more frustrating than anything.

Topic

TechRepublic Customer Support Response

In reply to Tech Republic Linux Software Stinks

We’re sorry that the Fast Track Linux product has not met your expectations. We have provided your feedback to the product development team for further review. As our site states, all of TechRepublic’s products, except for downloadable goods, come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
If you are dissatisfied with your purchase, you may return it within 30 days of the shipping date listed on the shipping receipt for a no-hassle refund. You will be refunded the purchase price of the product plus tax, GST, or VAT (if applicable). Please ensure that the product is in excellent condition, and include any bonus or multi-piece items that accompanied it. We encourage customers to request a delivery confirmation receipt from their carrier.

okay…

In reply to Tech Republic Linux Software Stinks

You found the documents lacking.
I have to ask though, why didn’t you ask in these discussion pages for information about linux to be able to gain some informaton and resources from those of us that do know linux?

almost everyone that uses linux, or any other open source operating system, will answer questions about it without hesitation.
most of us also have put into our TR links sites with information and resources for linux.

the two points you mention:
switching to root is done because a regular user does not have the permissions to do this task.

fsk is File System checK. this actually calls a different tool that has the needed filesystem data to check your filesystem. Linux has a large number of different filesystems, so the fsk command will call the tool that actually understands the filesystem you have used.
The standard linux native is e2fs, so fsk will call e2fsk if that is the filesystem used.

all system level checks and tools like this are only accessable as the system administrator, which is root. The common means of invoking them for a quick job is to use su.
At the command line, you enter su then hit the enter key
this will prompt you for the root password.
you now have root access and can do the quick task, then type exit and hit enter. this is faster than creating a full login session as root.

From the title alone I would expect this to be

In reply to Tech Republic Linux Software Stinks

a training disk for someone who already had a basic knowledge of Linux and now wanted to expand to a more advanced level. In that case the questions you ask would not be a problem as they would already know the answers from their basic studies.

I can simpathise with your frustrations as you probably expected it to be a full course on Linux and it is not. I suggets you first obtain and read a basic Linux book.

Jaqui & Deadly…

In reply to Tech Republic Linux Software Stinks

I appreciate your offering advice and opinion, but you both missed the point of my post. The software is not worth $100 and I tried to give examples of why I felt that way.

This is from the back of the package, “Every IT Pro has heard about the benefits and versatility of Linux. Now you can learn Linux from the ground up and leverage those benefits within your organization.”

No, you can’t. If you take this quote and the items I originally pointed out, I think you will find this to be untrue. Nobody is going to learn Linux from the ground up using this software. I am just hoping to save a few bucks for anyone considering this purchase.

I appreciate your points but still think the

In reply to Jaqui & Deadly…

title indicates it is for people with some Linux experience already. I hope you took up their offer for a refund. You should also remember that anything written by technical people still has to be advertised and sold by the faceless untrustworthy marketing people – I think it was marketing got you by not understanding what they had and what they were saying about it.

;-( marketting Rip Off

In reply to Jaqui & Deadly…

Brother I’m sorry to hear your story — the FACT is that there is NO quick and dirty way to learn Linux.

One reason it’s such an Almighty Powerful, Capable, and Secure OS is that it is *NOT* “idiot-ware” and in most cases one must tell it (from the command line) what to do, or it does NOT :-/

That much being said, I’m personally still severely Linux Challenged -=- it’s time consuming!

The GOOD news is there’s at least 100 sites with excellent tutorials and instructions and they are ALL FREE – no legitimate Linux / O.S. charges for HELP. It’s Free.

I could play with it for hours and my dogs would die of starvation 🙂

God Bless

Dogx

[Author]

Replies