Slashdot Mirror
Linux Book Recommendations, for 2004?
An anonymous reader asks: "LinuxDevices.com editor Henry Kingman has reviewed O'Reilly's new Pocket Linux Guide, a 191-page guide to Linux, asking whether a book that short can tell you what you need to know to get started working on a Linux system. Apparently this book cannot, to believe Kingman, who also dismisses O'Reilly's Linux in a Nutshell as 'dry.' Can anyone recommend a good book for smart but inexperienced Linux users, something that conveys a little of the magic of Linux without being too chatty, or too esoteric, or just too overwhelming?"
I'll admit I haven't read it, and therefore can't vouch for its quality, but Linux for Non-Geeks sounds like it may fit the bill.
If you want an OS that rides on top of Linux that provides you with a slick gui, get one. You won't then need a book.
Otherwise, this '2004' stuff implies that the gui slickness is 'progress' and that the old ways are 'backward.'
I find that offensive. If you want a good Linux reference, 'Running Linux' by Matt Welsch, in the second edition published by O'Reilly back in about 1994 is entirely filled with material that you really should have a thorough exposure to. And I saw a copy of it at Half-Price books not long ago for a dollar.
---
Just read the man pages!
</guru>
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
that, and use a junk computer and/or live cd to experiment.
this is IMO important
After experiencing the quality of the documentation of systems like Solaris and OpenBSD, perhaps it is better to do most learning there and then apply it to Linux. Linux is the "Windows" of UNIX, where there are so many third parties involved and so many similar software packages available that learning can be very frustrating. The "Cathedral" approach of traditional UNIX can be much more coherent and satisfying for newbies and old farts alike.
I don't intend to sound like a troll, but I'm pretty convinced that a person can learn more in one week of using OpenBSD than in a month of using Linux. For example, even after years of using computers, I still fear Red Hat's install partitioning tools. Will my DOS partition get formatted as Ext3, place your bets now! Such uncertainty is not good for the learning mind.
Vote in November. You won't regret it.
I think the best introduction to Linux (or any *nix for that matter) is Think Unix by Jon Lasser. It is written for competent Windows (or pre-OS X) Mac users who don't need words like "disk" explained to them, but aren't exactly comfortable at a command line and have trouble conceptualizing linking together several different programs to produce a result. Chapter one is about nothing but man pages, and X doesn't appear until the end.
My favorite reference book is O'Reilly's LPI Certification in a Nutshell; it covers the same material as Running Linux, and is just as dry, but I prefer the layout and organization.
So how does our newbie get from point A to point B? The same way most of us did: with the distro manual, man pages, HOW-TOs, online support, and so on. I love computer books, but there's definitely something to be said for figuring stuff out for yourself.
Vanya's Law: "In any culture without irony, fart jokes will be the highest form of humor."
I started back in the 2.0 days with a debian install, getting X up and-running took three days for a newbie back then. I learned SO MUCH though, from the basic filesystem layout to text editors, the init system, building and installing a kernel, and package management.
I'd suggest starting with Gentoo, you'll learn a lot about how and where things are in Linux if you follow the installation instructions well. Gentoo installs today somewhat resemble that Debian install I did backintheday.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
I recommend "A Practical Guide to Linux" by Mark G. Sobell for a very good distro neutral book. Although it might be a little light on admin specific stuff.
http://www.sobell.com/LINUX/linux/html
Here's an online Linux admin guide I stumbled across awhile back-
http://rute.sourceforge.net/
For Linux specific security, I recommend "Real World Linux Security - Intrusion Prevention, Detection, and Recovery" by Bob Toxen (Prentice
Hall ISBN 0-13-028187-5).
http://www.realworldlinuxsecurity.com/
All "smart but inexperienced Linux users" should follow the guidelines Toxen presents before ever connecting an ethernet cable (or modem) to the machine.
SIGLOST && SIGUNUSED && SIGQUIT
Wow, a new paradox!
2004 and books!
Who could have guessed!
"The Complete FreeBSD", 4th Edition, Greg Lehey, O'Reilly and Associates.
Heck, I have karma to burn...
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
6 years ago I used redhat because I heard about this linux thing. Then 4 years ago I switched up to Mandrake, because it supported my hardware, came with a newer version of KDE (2 instead of 1) and I needed a *nix to do CS homework. Even after many years I still really didn't know much about linux. I mean I'm not a complete moron, so I could use it, and I knew how to use some of the tools, but I had no clue on most of it. After installing numerous gentoo systems I've come to learn everyting about linux through experience.
If you want to learn about linux, just grab any x86 computer and install one of the "real" distributions on it like gentoo or debian. Then configure all the services and things like X and alsa. Simply doing this process will teach you everythign you need to know, no book necessary.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
- use Gnome or KDE (how to add icons, how to add menus, how to add context sensitive menus, where are they defined internally...)
- how to burn CDs
- how to configure sound cards if they aren't recognized at once (I'm lucky, mine was)
- how to deal with advanced X-windows. For instance on installation Mandrake guessed my 2 monitor setup. On second boot, X wouldn't work anymore and I had to manually delete all references to the 2nd monitor in the X config file...
In other words, a "How to use a Linux Desktop for command line admins" type of book.Non-Linux Penguins ?
One of the things I hate about "newbie" computer books, is that it's great when I'm first learning the stuff, but after I've read it once, I almost never go back to that book.
I try to stay with reference material like " * in a nutshell" whenever possible, so that it will always be useful to me, and then just google for newbie tutorials.
Any books that actually are offically printed by linux companys are really good resources for noob's to advanced placed linux users I use Red hat 9's assortment of guides to be pretty helpful in a stick situation...