linux

This book is great! I don't care what anyone else says, this is the perfect book for Linux users. I own over 25 books on or related to UNIX/LINUX, and this one is the only one I really go back to (well, this one and Linux the Complete Reference, but that is more a collection of HOWTOs). It is the only book I refer to for an explanation of why something works such-a-such way in Linux. The book is serious enough to talk about shell programming, but also goes over access permissions, networking, and things like vi. It also has some pretty cool man-type pages in the back with examples.

If you are looking for a book that specifically tells you how to set up you ISP connection or ethernet card, look for Linux, The Complete Reference. (A Walnut Creek CDROM book)

I've been working on linux for more than a year, and this was a book assigned for a class. Since then, I've bought four other linux books. But this one is usually the first book I will consult regardless.

The problems with the book are: that the book is very old, and that it doesn't discuss newer versions of Netscape and Red Hat and other tools. Linux has gotten a lot more user friendly, and this book won't provide a lot of help about using the most modern window manager. The book does not discuss apache and possibly not even samba (i don't remember). It doesn't really adequately describe dual booting with windows (which is an important thing to discuss). On the other hand, it gives a more than adequate explanation of vi, emacs and cvs.

Also this book is unparalleled is discussing how to use the command line interface and explaining the underworkings of the linux/unix OS. The best thing about the book is that it gives an exceptional index to the bash commands and utility commands and it gives two or three pages of explanations and EXAMPLES for each one. At first glance, it may resemble a man page, but it gives much more than that. It gives actual situations, and prompts, user input and results. These examples easily explain the functions and the powers and the niceties of the command switches. Particularly helpful were the discussion of sed, awk, regular expressions and other low level commands. It doesn't discuss networking as much as it should, but its unwavering focus on the command line more than makes up for this deficiency.

Other books I would recommend include LINUX, Second Edition: Installation, Configuration, and Use and Oreilley's Running Linux or Network Administrator's Guide. But I still go back to this book more often than all three of these books combined. When this book comes out in a later edition (and I feel sure it will), it will undoubtedly be the best guide for newbies and pro's alike.

I have been looking for a beginner's book for Linux for a long time. This is the third book on Linux I have purchased. I wish I had bought this one first. This book has everything for someone who is new to Linux. It gives detailed descriptions of the utilities, the shells, how to use different text editors as well as networking. It doesn't go over the installation process; you can get instructions for your version on the web. I found this book to be very helpful for someone like myself who is new to Linux. I would recommend this nook to anyone who is new to Linux.