Ubuntu Secrets Guide?

[Avi Greenbury]

Amichai Rotman wrote:
> Back in the day, before I discovered the wonders of Linux, around the mid 90's,
> I used to read 1000 pages guides by IDG called "Windows 95 Secrets" - books
> that went deep into details on configuring and tweaking Windows, even in the
> registry.
> 
> I am looking for a similar guide for Ubuntu. A guide that explains the role of
> each configuration file, so I can tweak it to my needs. For example: to change
> the Update Manager interval, I need to edit the /etc/cron.daily/apt file. Where
> do I find tips like that?

The problem is that Windows is one large monolithic thing, whereas
Ubuntu is a collection of things. You'll not, then, find one book that
goes into great depth about Ubuntu since this will simply be a
concatenation of texts on all the components. Generally, the best way
to find out little tricks about things is to subscribe to mailing
lists about it and read all the questions and answers.

Some components (particularly the kernel and networking) do have good
texts explaining them, but for other things (like Gnome, perhaps) your
best bet is probably to listen in on its development and support.
That's another thing - by the time any book is released it's probably
already a little bit out-of-date. 

-- 
Avi