Most of the books about specific GNU/Linux distributions that I've read tend to be either too advanced to comprehend or too elementary to stomach. Apress's Beginning Ubuntu Linux tends toward the latter, but doesn't totally ignore more advanced GNU/Linux topics. Despite its shortcomings, readers who are new to GNU/Linux and are decided on the Ubuntu distribution will find some benefit in it.

To put it optimistically, the quality of the writing in Beginning Ubuntu Linux hits as often as it misses. The instructions for installing various programs, plugins, and add-on software is excellent, as are the brief tutorials on how to use those programs. Everything else is sub-par. Specifically, most of the commentary and explanations for why things are the way they are are flawed. The author makes many statements of fact that are either oversimplified to the point of falsehood, or are patently false to begin with.

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