Date: 8 Nov 93 14:36 -0600 From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Fantastic LANtastic" by Talbott/Raker BKFANLAN.RVW 931027 OnWord Press 1580 Center Drive Santa Fe, NM 87505 "Fantastic LANtastic", Talbott/Raker, 1992, $US29.95, 0-934605-68-8 However you feel about LANtastic itself, this book has one very major point going for it: it is written for everyone. There are four well-defined sections for users, advanced users, administrators and installers. The ordering (as listed) is very helpful. Novice users will find their material first, whereas those wanting more advanced functions will be those who are used to computer documentation. One minor quibble in this regard is that the table of contents, at more than twenty pages, may scare off the newcomer before he or she gets to the opening chapter (forty-four pages in). The text is light and informal, and well supported by screen illustrations from both the DOS and Windows versions of the network operating system interface. The informality may go too far at times. (The material contains many helpful troubleshooting hints. An early one recommends abusing the network installer, and then asking for help. I'd think it would work much better the other way around.) Also, some of the hints may not be the best approach to a problem. Using an "external" editor for mail requires that the file be saved in ASCII or DOS text format. It is recommended in Word, to print to a file using the TTY format. Word, however, does have a feature to save to a text file built in. Part four, dealing with network installation, is a valuable resource often left out of LAN-related books. Unfortunately it is long on very detailed product specific information, and short on generic advice for the novice installer. Since LANtastic is very attractive to those wanting to network a few machines to share simple resources, this latter omission could be important. Chapter nineteen (the first chapter in part four) supposedly deals with designing a network. While it asks all the right questions, it doesn't tell you how to deal with the answers. There are other omissions. Security is given a reasonable amount of space. However, while password setting, changing and aging are discussed, selection of good passwords is not. There is a brief section on viral programs. If I understand it correctly, the authors have a good grasp of the realities of the situation. Unfortunately, this is one area where their humour has been granted too much leeway, and it is difficult to interpret what has been written. Altogether, this book is a very useful "one stop" reference for LANtastic networks. Given the preference for LANtastic in situations that are either very limited or highly technical, the shortcomings of the work may be either unimportant or easily covered. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKFANLAN.RVW 931027 Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of TELECOM Digest and associated mailing lists/newsgroups. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca