Slashdot Mirror
The First Three Books Every Linux User Should Read
lessthan0 writes "Anyone proficient with Linux had to climb the steep learning curve. Part of getting over the top for me was reading a hundred different Linux and Unix related books. From that list, three books stand out as the most useful and influential. I can't promise easy sledding; it will take some work, but mastering this material will demystify Linux and make you appreciate it more."
Disclaimer: I have no financial or other motive of profit in recommending this book.
The recommended books are good choices, but the underlying principles guiding Linux originate from Unix. The first sea change influential Unix book for me was The Unix Programming Environment by Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike.
This book is a must read, and a must have. Unix at my office was a mere curiousity, an available "time share" (not kidding, that's what people at my office called it) that noone used (we were mostly a COBOL/mainframe shop).
I tinkered with this new and interesting world and immediately saw something unique(s). And, Kernighan/Pike lit the fire under me. By page 50 or so they've described Unix philosophy dead-on (they should know), and I couldn't start creating in the Unix environment fast enough.
The first thing I did was create an on-line self updating corporate documentation system (the old one was paper and microfiche), and I never looked back.
Add this book to your collection, read it! You won't be sorry.
...Though there are no illustrations...
...There is excellent coverage of the GNU utilities, a guide to TCP/IP and networking, Apache, DNS, NFS, email, databases and more...
...The one glaring omission is the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS)...
...Learning the BASH Shell...
...You need to understand shell scripting to understand the system...
...Learning BASH will make you more productive and at ease managing a system 1000 kilometers away...
... If you were not lucky enough to work with Ken Thompson, and didn't cut your teeth on Unix, the system may seem chaotic...
:-P
The author's conclusion?
Anyone can learn Linux
Me: "Here Grandma. These three books will make you an expert sysadmin so that you can use your own Linux box!"
Grandma: "What kind of idiot are you, boy? Your old grandma just needs something that works, not something that takes an associates degree from CalTech to use! You kids these days have it so easy that you think you can waste time on learning everything there is to know about a computer before you use it! Why, in my day we were too busy walking uphill both ways through a snowstorm to waste time with these neutered Enuich computers!"
Me: "But Grandma! Bash is so easy..."
Grandma: "BASH?! You want BASH?"
* Grandma whacks me over the head with her cane.
Grandma: "There's your BASH, boy! Now hurry up and get Grandma a computer she can use!"
Me: (sheepishly) "Like a Mac?"
Grandma "Yes, like a Mac, you dolt!" *mutters something about genes from the wrong side of the family*
(Disclaimer: The above is well-intentioned humor. Do not attempt to argue with it or grandma will bash you over the head with her cane.)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
I agree with these book selections though I think that it's wrong to say "these are must-haves for the Linux/Unix user" if they cost money. That's because Linux should be free, you shouldn't 'need' to drop $200 to be proficient in it. You need to invest time but not money.
Perhaps there are free resources out there.
My work here is dung.
but there's really no substitute for learning a new operating system like being 16, being in a special school for gifted kids that completely stiffles any socializing after 8PM, being without a lady friend, having the drive to learn new things, and having the intense desire to show that really annoying kid two floors up that he's got shit for brains.
Everyone has their own method, I suppose.
What if the entire Universe were a chrooted environment with everything symlinked from the host?
and you'll never be lost on any Unix-like system. Trust me.
I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
Once you understand what you've become a part of, you're more likely to contribute in some way.
While not every user has to be a zealot, and not everyone is willing or capable to participate, the opportunity to become a part of something that will last longer then yourself is something people should be aware of in using GNU/Linux and GPL'd software.
I don't think it's enough to just use it because it's free. You need to have some sort of understanding as to why it's important, how standards empower the consumer, and that free information is the only way to go to keep our technological advances moving forward instead of getting stuck in a freeze-frame induced by patent lawyers and litigation that explicitly deters education (DMCA).
Knowing the goals of Open Source has often made members more forgiving of its present-day shortcomings, because the notions of freedom to use, freedom to change, freedom to learn and freedom to share outweigh some little compatibility nuances that exist today, but continue to improve through the contribution of the community at large.
If you're half as beautiful naked, you'd be 4 times as beautiful with twice as many clothes on.
Not every Linux user needs to become a Unix guru to use Linux. For me, reading a bit in the Ubuntu wiki took care of what I needed to use Linux on a daily basis. For my less tech-savv friend all it took was a Mepis cd. It was a live/install combo, and I told her to mess around with it until I had the chance to install it for her. By the time I had the chance, she already had it installed and she was happily using OpenOffice/Firefox/Gaim (which is all she ever used Windows for). I taught her how to change themes and how to install programs, and now she has more puzzle games then she'll ever need and even stupid desktop pets.
Really, I fail to see how every Linux user needs to read complex sysadmin books and learn everything about the command line.
"What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
You're right, Windows XP is for dummies.
man, google and irc.
my password really is 'stinkypants'
Getting into Linux has been largely a joy for me, if not for any other reason that I don't have to feed Microsoft $2000 a year in its MSDN program just to have a clue. All of that info is free on the Internet, just a Google or two away.
I enjoy building the kernel, and do so regulary to put in the features I want (and eliminate the ones I don't want). Can't do that with Windows -- you buy the whole package or nothing at all.
I would say that today I am proficient at Linux, though I have a ways to go before I can claim true proficiency at the Kernel level. But Linux is already so powerful there is little need to have to do things at a low level unless I am writing a driver for something new.
For the end user, one does not really become proficient with the OS, but with the applications. The GUI is there to deliberately hide the details of the OS-level interface, to add a macro-metaphor on top of a deeper metaphor.
Ultimately, if you can get done what you need to get done, you are proficient at that level. I can get everything done in Linux what I used to do in Windows, and with much greater efficiency and lower cost. In Windows I feel like a peon, whereas in Linux I feel like the "Star Child" in 2001. And that, my friends, says it all.
Ruby Neural Evolution of Augmenting Topologies