Linux Books

If you know nothing about Linux, little about computers and want info on the caldera distribution then this book is an okay starter. But it will not give you enough details to be the source you rely on when running/installing Linux. Not quite three months after purchasing, my copy of the Idiot's Guide looks brand new while my O'Reilly Linux books are painfully dog-eared.

I have several books on UNIX/Linux, but this is the one that helped me get up to speed! With the other books I got stuck several times, but this book is very easy to understand, and gives you all the necessary information to get started. If you are totally new to UNIX/Linux this book is a good place to start!

Way into late nineties, most books on Linux still read like this: Here is Linux, which is zillion times better than MS-DOS, and here is the command shell, which is so much more powerful than COMMAND.COM in MS-DOS, then here are X Windows, which are like MS Windows in DOS, only better... A reader less acquainted with the history of computing might have asked "Wow, that's cool, but what is this MS-DOS thing you keep mentioning?"

When the first edition of this book appeared in late 1998, Manuel Alberto Ricart was among the first authors to admit that Windows 95 and 98 actually *did* happen. Rather than comparing bare-bones Linux with a historic relic, he chose a decent peer for a modern Windows environment: Linux with a desktop environment KDE.

Mr. Ricart starts with the elements of the KDE desktop, spends considerable time explaining basic operations with it, then proceeds to the programs of KDE base suite: file manager, text editor etc. The inevitable command line only comes in in part two. After explaining the basic commands -- file utilities -- some Unix concepts like pipes and regular expressions are discussed, while the programming in command shell is omitted. The section on programming editors Vi and Emacs is probably too short to be useful. The last part, part three, deals with the system administration tasks. Installation of Linux is added as an appendix.

What is the advantage of using command shell despite the existance of graphical interface? Mr. Ricart unfortunately cannot give a convincing answer, although it is probably clear to every second reader -- command shell contains a powerful macro language, which is superb for performing repetitive tasks. This is a pity -- spending 30-40 more pages on the Bash programming would actually give a meaning for including the complete Part 2. But I guess there has to be something idiotic in each of the books of Complete Idiot's series, right?

Leaving this aside, the book is perhaps the best introduction to Linux for beginners. Of all the distributions, Caldera Open Linux that comes with the book allegedly has the most user-friendly installation program -- unless you have some unfortunate exotic hardware, with which it won't work. Bear in mind though that every Linux CD included in a book is likely to be one year old or more when it arrives in your hands, and one year is a long time in Linux development. So the system you have just installed is already outdated... Watch the Web to find out what is really going on.

XFree86 version 3.3.4 (free Open Source version of X Window System version 11) that came on the cd for some odd reason didn't work on my computer with a Sis 5597/5598 using either Lizard or LISA and kept freezing it. The book's first chapter does a very good job of describing the process of inventorying hardware, checking hardware compatibility, repartitioning your hard drive using Fips, if necessary, explaining the difference between primary, extended, and logical partitions, taking you step by step through a Lizard install with plenty of pictures, and explaining what happens at each stage of the install process. The second chapter introduces you to the KDE desktop. The appendix at the end of the books shows you how to install using LISA (text based installer), though if you want to try LISA make sure to go to Caldera's hardware compatibility list at www.caldera.com/support/hardware/2.3/. If you choose to install that way all modules for hardware must be loaded manually and it may be a long process, you've been warned. Unfortunately sometimes hardware compatibility issues may pop up with Lizard so it's good to know how to do it just in case Lizard doesn't work. I haven't finished this book yet, but it's very interesting and in my opinion worth the read. Overall a good book and the cheapest I was able to find. Be wary of the fact that OpenLinux 2.3 may not work with the latest hardware. Other than that your install should go quite smoothly and I'd say the older the hardware you use the better the chances of your being successful (I'd recommend a Pentium 233 with MMX or PII 300 or equivalent or earlier). Please note that my review only applies to the Second Edition of this book (not the First Edition).

Ok, If you are a windoze user and you want to upgrade to Linux, START here. Buy a copy of Red Hat 6.2, this book, and a more advanced book, like Learning Red Hat Visually (Includes a copy of Red Hat 6.2).

Read the idiots guide so you can start to4 move around and THEN use the Visual book that will show you screen shots of what you need to do for more advanced use. When you've mastered the visual book, get a book on hard core programming.

You will not find one book for newbies and old pro's. Stop looking for one. I started with the Visual book, big mistake. I got stuck and droped it for a few months. Do things in order and be patient. You won't learn how to edit your x11 files overnight, but if you can't seem to get your screen out of 648x480 at 60Hz eventually you will need to look there...Today, however, learn what PDW and LS really do before you start playing.

This book was recommended to me by my coworker who knew Unix pretty well that didn't come from a Unix background. After having taken a couple CBTs and owning some reference manuals, I still wasn't all "THAT" savvy with Unix. I'm nearly finished with the book and I can say that now while I don't completely understand all the inner workings of Unix. This book DEFINITELY succeeded where all the other resources I mentined above failed.

The strength in this book are the exercises that reinforce whats being discussed. If you're looking for a "hand-on" way to learn Unix, this is the book you need.

Being an absolute novice at UNIX/Linux I can work my way around vi, the directory system, permissions, basic utilities, shell programming and be comfortable discussing issues in the office with the Unix staff after using this book. After reading some of the other reviews it became evident that these people were looking for a reference book, well this isn't that book and the "About This Book" clearly states this, "If you are looking for a quick reference text, put this book back on the shelf." And to the people that felt that you were not able to learn from this book, you probably did not do all the exercises in the book. This book is not organized as a reference book, it is a text book. I for one benefited greatly from this book and higly recommend it to anyone that is intent on learning the UNIX/Linux system.

I used this book for a Unix class in my local community college. This is the worst text book ever written, I got lost many times. It was difficult to find related text and difficult to keep pace throughout the course. I am a seasoned Linux user and Linux certified, but I recieved no help through this book. If you want to learn Linux, I would reccommend any book by Michael Jang. He writes in an easy and detailed manner. John Muster may teach Unix, but he is a terrible author, go back to english prep John or take a lesson from Michael Jang.

This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to get comfortable with the UNIX commandline environment. The book is primarily geared toward the novice. And as such, it will show you the ropes -- by first explaining something, then having you actually perform a series of steps that demonstrate and reinforce what you've just learned. In a nutshell, this is a tutorial-based approach to learning UNIX. And I've long been an advocate of this approach to learning computers, especially when learning something unfamiliar. In my opinion, it is simply the very best approach to getting you up to speed quickly.

Most other books on the subject of UNIX seem to be references, rather than tutorials. While the reference books are essential for an intermediate to advanced user, a good tutorial-based book is much better for the novice student. In that regard, this book is perfect.

Lastly, the text printed on the pages is larger than you'll find in other books, but it's essential to how you will work with this book. You'll be looking back-and-forth between the book and the computer monitor, and the larger text will help you easily find where you last left the page.

I have been teaching with this book for many years, over 700 students. Class evaluations always rate the book very highly with comments about how clear explanations are. Students learn so much doing the exercises that class discussions are at a much higher level. We use this text in classroom and internet distance learning with great success. The few students over the years who had trouble in the class were trying to avoid doing the work by just looking up answers. That approach isnot effective because the book is built skill upon skill. Students must start at the beginning and actually do the work at the terminal. At first a few students tried to just read it. That approach did not work either. Now I make it very clear that the book is a detailed, hands-on, guide coupled with exact explanations. It must be worked through carefully, at the terminal. When students are willing to put in the effort and do that, they are well rewarded with knowledge and the ability to really do UNIX. I suspect the two reviewers who found the book difficult were not using it properly. My students love it.

I like the microkernel approach to implement a UNIX-like OS. It is simple and elegant although it does sacrifice a little performance. However, the book is not particularly well-written. It lacked clarity in its explanation of both theory and implementation.

There is a whiff of "what-might-have-been" about this book, using the benefit of hindsight. Minix is thoroughly described as a small and impressively documented operating system. It is small enough that if you took the time, you could understand every nook and cranny. From a pedagogic standpoint, it is of great help in nailing down abstract design concepts. Amazingly, the kernel spans only 4000 lines. Nothing at all, compared to linux or other operating systems.

Tanenbaum criticises those, for a lack of modularity. With millions of lines of code put into one monolithic build running in kernel mode. But you might seriously wonder about this, especially where linux is concerned. In general, it is stable. Yes, with bugs that are inevitable with large code bases. But bugs that are severe enough to crash the OS are rare. Certainly rarer than Microsoft Windows. Anyhow, the book demonstrates the use of a microkernel. While linux uses a monolithic kernel.

But the "what-might-have-been" arises from how linux was inspired by minix. The marketplace has overwhelmingly preferred linux to minix. Industry giants like IBM and HP have now standardised on linux. No major company has done this for minix. It suggests a major design flaw in minix. Not a flaw in terms of not working. But a flaw at a higher level. Perhaps in extensibility or licensing. Tanenbaum must surely wonder that had he taken a different route with minix, it would have become what is linux today. Linus Torvalds is now far better known than him, and there is an entire industry of startups built using linux. Minix is something obscure, even amongst many computer programmers.

While this book is good explaining theory and demonstrating it in the author's operating system, MINIX, MINIX is an insanely small OS. Now there's nothing wrong with that by default, just keep in mind that any OS you were to write in industry, etc would be way more complex.

Also, beware, of the 1000+ pages, at least a quarter of that is a print out, line by line, of the MINIX 3 source code. (Approximately 30,000 lines...)

Bottom line: Good for basic theory and understanding, but you would need to know much more to write a friendly OS.

This was the text for an OS course that I took for my Masters. We had to implement 11 significant OS features for Minix (e.g. floppy disk cache, VGA driver, interprocess communication server,...) -- bugs were unacceptable (i.e. fail), as OSs must work. This class was 4 times more work that an other class I took for my Masters but I learned so much. I was already a very experienced Unix programmer when I took this, so I found it facinating to finally see what was under the hood (Minix/Unix is surprisingly small an compact -- very elegant). Tanenbaum is a real authority on the subject of operating systems and has a very engaging style. Probably the best computer science text book that I have read (I read this cover to cover, not just scanning but really reading). There is room for improvement though: the format could benefit from being updated, I had to use a lot of high-lighter. Clearer separation and indexing of key theories and sections would help. The OS basics are still relevant today (and could perhaps benefit from some expansion/clarification). I believe Tanenbaum has brought out new books since that go into some more contemporary / more advance areas.

This book is written by Tanenbaum, the main guy behind Minix, which is what Linux was based on. It provides good overviews for basic OS concepts like memory management, file systems, processes, etc. The concepts in this book book are intimately tied to examples of the Minix OS, which is a good thing.

To those who would rather see examples from Linux: Minix is a compact and modular OS, which is why it's a good choice for examples. The book contains the entire source code at the back for easy reference. Yes, the OS is that small. That's a good thing when you're trying to figure out how virtual memory works or what have you. You'd be lost trying to learn this stuff from Linux. Above everything else, the code is ***well-commented*** compared to Linux, a major plus. You won't find any "/* major hack */" comments, either. ;) Minix leaves out all the crap that Microsoft and Linux throw into the kernel that make it unstable in the first place. Learn about the bells and whistles later when you can do the basics.

I encountered two instances where the book wasn't updated to reflect changes in the OS, which were annoying to deal with. Also, I found a spelling or punctuation error about every ten pages, which was annoying for such a pricey book. Overall, however, the book is extremely usable and understandable. It's easy to pick up concepts from this text.

Perl is probably one of the best languages to learn if you just want to have a programming language in your toolkit and this book is a great resource for learning Perl.
If you're new to programming Perl introduces many of the concepts that you'll need to master while allowing a lot of flexibility.
I don't know if 24 hours is quite enough to complete this book, but the short focused lessons make learning fun.

I spent about 2000 hours learning Perl. I think PERL is a great scripting language which can teach you advanced programming techniques versus what you may have learned in basic or visual basic. It is easier than other languages like C to make simple or complex scripts which accomplish something useful without getting bogged down in writing a lot of extra code that might be the case in C.

I looked at this and other similar 24 hour computer books. I already knew how to program in basic so I understood the basics. My problem with this book is a false idea that a person with little or no programming ability could pick this book and learn the basics of Perl or any other advanced programming language in just 24 hours. Programming requires understanding and time and a great deal of practice. I think a book like this sets the reader up for failure by trying to achieve a realistic goal in an unrealistic time frame . I myself settled on a different book by Simon Cozens called Beginning Perl. The book uses PERL to teach programming basics chapter by chapter letting the reader set their own pace. If you want to learn programming know that it takes a lot of time and is very intimidating at times. The knowledge comes from a little reading and a tons of practice. If you want to learn programming do it for the love of the subject and not with the idea of making a lot of money as a programmer which is a long shot these days.

As someone that knew very little about computer programming bar some Fortran classes about 15 years ago, this is a great book. It takes you step by step through the aspects of Perl and explains the different computer language terminology to idiots like myself (e.g. arrays, scalers etc).
However, one thing I would say is that each chapter is not one hour.
If you work on each one properly (take notes, do the exercises etc) its more like 2 hours per chapter.

As with the other titles in the Sam's Teach Yourself xxx in 24 Hours series, this book aims at quickly arming you with enough knowledge of Perl to start programming in the language in no time. If you are a complete newbie to programming, this book is not for you, because it takes a "focus on the trees, ignore the forest" approach. In other words, you are thrown into coding right away. There's no high-level discussion of data structures and programming gotchas, etc. There's a lot of stuff crammed into each lesson, and some of the lessons will likely take more than an hour (and more than one pass) to understand. While this is not a reference at all, and many subtle details are omitted (which is actually a bad thing in the long run because Perl is such a complicated language), the book does get you started quickly. A lot of practical examples are given to show you how the language works, and many of the snippets included can be used in your actual programming endeavors. For example, you can take the code to find unique elements in a list as is and use it without any modification (save for using your own variable names).

If you already have some programming background and need just one book to learn Perl quickly, this is the book for you. After this, I'd recommend the "camel book", i.e., "Programming Perl" published by O'Reilly, which gives a forest-over-trees treatment to the language, plus it contains a useful reference on the language.

[A review of the 3RD EDITION 2005.]

Pierce gives an updated introduction for Perl, describing the latest version 5.8. Though realistically, if you are new to Perl, you'd be doing fine even if the book didn't reach up to that version. Perl is a very stable, mature language, which is probably what you want.

If you already know another language, then many or all of the concepts in this book will be familiar. It just becomes a question of plowing through the chapters, to learn the Perl syntax.

In Pierce's presentation, he quickly takes you to what Perl calls a "hash". In Java, the corresponding class is a Hashtable. Regardless of terminology, the idea is a very useful one, and if you intend to be a proficient Perl programmer, you need to have this down pat. Earlier material in the text, like scalars and arrays, are pretty trivial to understand and use. The hash table is trickier, but Pierce does a good job in conveying its usage. He avoids the maths theory behind this, but points out that it gives you quick access to a value associated with a key, where this access is not proportional [ie. linear] to the number of keys in the table. He doesn't actually say it's logarithmic, which it is. [For the theory, Cf. Knuth "Art of Computer Programming" vol 3.]

Learn the hash. Experienced programmers [in any language] already know its value. In all of the book, it is the best glimpse into advanced algorithmic coding.

I passed the exam using this book. It provides a nice study guide to cover all subjects for the test. I used this along with the man pages. The provided CD is defective, but the Publisher was more than happy to replace it! The CD exam provided is weak and too easy. However, the style of the exam mimicked the exam format and tricks. It prepared me for the real exam that was sometimes hard to understand exactly what the correct answer they are looking for. There are so many ways to do something in Unix. The book has some nice study tables (they could of done more of these) and provided some syntax/commands not used too often which are on the exam. I also recommend the book for a novice just learning Solaris.

First time I took the exam I winged it and failed, bought this book then passed. The subject matter doesn't hold up by itself, it is a good starting point to head onto Answerbooks & man pages. The sample questions were very useful, it tells you the correct answer when you get one wrong (something you really don't get from a Sylvan test). The big problem with the questions were what was missing - no questions on either lp or CDE, both heavily focussed on in my tests (10-15 questions.

If you're an experienced Solaris administrator, you really don't need this book to pass the examination. The information presented at this book is just far too basic. If you're new to Solaris, you need much more than this to pass the examination. Buy another one. I just don't understand why this book gets 4 to 5 stars.

A very good book through which to prepare. The chapters are laid out as per syllabus, concise but precise and well-explained. However, there are printing errors and in rare cases author points out difficult facts without going into an explanation. However, the basic materials are all very well contained. I would suggest reading Curt Freeland's book as a terrific supplement to understand some points made. The CD contains exam material which I found to be vry simple. Real exam has a lot of fill-in-the-blanks which were sadly missing in the CD. Do not base on the samples in the CD to pass. Good work by author. His recommended site www.learnsolaris.com is also very good.

I, and four other experienced Solaris admins read this book, took the test, and failed. All five of us. This book does NOT fully prepare you for the exam. Not alone anyways. We then obtained a java tutor (can't recall the name right now) and passed with high scores.

This book does come with a sample exam, and I did pass it multiple times, as did my colleagues. This book, as well as Calkins' Admin II book, is just not thorough & detailed enough.

Very detailed and well written descriptions. The book is funny and an enjoyable read. The book is also easy to use as a reference as the major topics of each paragraph are listed in the margins.

I bought this book for my Intro to Digital Circuits course. So, far, I have found this book highly useful. Its contents are easy to understand and it has a lot of examples to explain any particular content in detail. This book is self-explanatory. Even if I miss my class one day, I don't have much trouble catching up as long as I have this book.

The book came to me severly damaged before it was even packaged. The first 313 pages were severly gouged out of the bottom pages about 1/4" deep x 1/2" x 1/2" (inches), close to the spine. I did not have time to return it because my course started Jan. 10, 2006 and the Delivery estimate was: January 6, 2006 - January 10, 2006.

I am very disappointed with this product and purchase.

First and foremost, this book is definitely not a good introductory course book. It is a reference book because of how it covers the conceptual material.

This book provides an extreme amount of detail in the many aspects of the field. If you have basic knowledge of circuitry, you should be fine in understanding this book. If you do not have any experience at all, however, this book will be difficult to manage.

On the positive side, as a reference, this book is superior. The book starts with introductory concepts such as working with number systems and how to perform arithmetic (simple and complex) in binary. I was confused by the placement of Chapter 3. Immediately following number systems, the author jumps to electrical behavior and layout of transistors to comprise CMOS logic. While a necessary topic, I felt that it could have been delayed to a future chapter.

Afterward, standard topics are covered amidst advanced topics. I felt it would have been easier for the reader to master the simple, ideal designs before having to worry about timing characteristics and other non-ideal concepts.

The book discusses simple logic gates all the way through sequential logic design, which is a nice touch. It is good to have all of the material in this book in one place and definitely recommend the book to anyone in logic design. While not the most advanced book, its wide array of topics and coverage will help to fill in the gaps that other books create.

This book was the reason i enjoyed my undergrad logic design class (which used another [bad] textbook): this is a strong book with strong explanations, thinking reasonings, nice examples, thorough VHDL and Verilog sections, lots of 'real-world' information. The author is precise, logical, goes deep but very straightforward, and funny (!). Where our textbook had gabs, where my professor's lectures were vague, where all other explanations seemed cheesy to me - Wakerly just filled me up.

This was a good intro book in 2004, but now it's hopelessly out of date. If you intend to use any of the modern versions of Linux, this book will be of very little help.

I had tremendous prior difficulty when I tried to use Linux because I could not configure essential components like my modem nor could I figure out how to run essential programs to expand and install programs. Rickford Grant's book was amazingly easy to follow and within 1/2 hour, I had installed Linux and was actually using the internet and email. I have been using the system for 3 hours sofar, setting up Palm, opening and editing all kinds of Microsoft Office documents, downloading my Yahoo mail, etc. No crashes. No glitches, and faster speed. I was so impressed I wanted to write this review to encourage other seasoned and disgruntled Windows XP users to take the plunge.

Updated 3-6-06. To date, Linux has NEVER crashed or frozen to the point necessitating reboot. There have been some trouble spots including inability to configure my old (but not new) flatbed scanner. I like Linux so much I got a laptop to be a dedicated Linux machine. My first attempt was to convert my old Presario 1240, but it was so dreadfully slow that it was useless. I am now going to try to convert a Dell laptop. More to come....

If you want to learn to use Linux for your desktop computer but are not intested in indepth technical jargon then this is the book for you. It is written in simple, easy to understand "non-geek" English so that the average computer user can understand what is going on. Anyone should be up and running Linux in a short time. And by running Linux I mean doing all the things you want to do on the computer. This book focuses on teaching the average home user how to do the things you want to do like customizing your desktop and icons, surfing the net, playing your CD's and mp3's, downloading and installing games and software (all for free), and much more. Even after using Linux for a few years I still use this book for reference if I need to look something up.

I would like to say one thing. I bought this book right after it was released in 2004. Since then Linux has come a long way. This book comes with Fedora Core 1 and Fedora Core is now up to release 5 (at the time of this writing). Now there is really no reason to feel like you have to have the newest release because there are lots of people still running 1 (or older versions) but if you are running a newer computer with new hardware there might be a chance that Fedora Core 1 will not have drivers for the newest stuff. I say this not to discourage anyone from buying this book, but rather to let people know that if the CD this book comes with does not work with your computer you did not waste your money. Your next best option would be to find the newest release of Fedora by either free download or buying it cheaply somewhere online. This may well solve your problem and if not check out the many forums for Linux as people are always willing to help and are very friendly. This book is still great and I highly recommend it, but it would be really nice if a new updated edition would be released.

Edit 2/6/07: I felt the need to edit this review. Everything I have said still stands, but this book along with the software it walks you through is dated. Fedora Core 1 is no longer supported. I said that it would be really nice if a new updated edition would be released and it looks like there has been, though as another book. I have not read this new book but it might be a better place to start since it uses more up to date software. The book is called Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks by the same author. I would advice you to look into it before purchasing this book.

I have Linspire 5.0 and I wanted to learn more about Linux command line. The book is good if you are using Fedora Core and it was a good start for command line. I enjoyed it but it could be a little more in depth.

The book is very helpful in setting up a Fedora Linux installation if the accomopaning disks were complete. The insturctions in the book were clear and concise.

My problem was that I have only one hard drive and needed to repartition it using a partition program. (I used Partition Magic.) When it came time to load the linux supplied with the book onto the machine, it had difficulty recognizing the partions and did not load properly. it froze up upon being loaded onto the machine for its first boot. I was forced to download Fedora 4 in order to install it properly (Fedora 4 worked just fine.). I also downloaded the documentation including installation instructions which were clear although much broader then I needed them. I am still working my way through the projects in Linux for Non-Geeks.

This is very very usefull book for those, who have some knowledge in basic Linux or Win32 programming. It is very clear style of explanation, very usefull examples and detail review on key concepts. The authors try to learn us to write good, professional code and do not make some dummy faults.
If you want to be profi - this stuff is for you.

Vadim Kataev

this book is not doing its job for the beginners nor serving for the advanced programmers

See this link where you can download the whole book and decide for yourself!:

http://www.advancedlinuxprogramming.com/alp-folder

Don't judge this book by its title. If you know how to program, but are a servant of the Microsoft Lord (we don't speak his name), this book is the pathway to learn Linux programming. It is very well written. If one has the discipline to work through the numerous examples, they will become proficient at Linux programming, e.g., fork new processes, implement pthreads, understand common system calls, and perhaps best of all benefit from the experience of the these Linux programmers. It is a fine book at the intermediate level.

Try it out. This book is available free of charge at http://www.advancedlinuxprogramming.com. Having an electronic copy is useful for searching, and it can be printed. A thank you is in order for a quality book made available to the public, free of charge. Thank you authors! I look forward to other books these fellows write. Don't be surprised if you find yourself valuing the book enough to purchase a copy from Amazon, but that is a personal decision.

As a critical SOB (so says my wife), I do have some negative comments. The book has some errata, so be sure to download corrections from the web site. Also, the book is five years old, and a second edition would be wonderful. All considered, this book must be rated 5 stars, period.

I don't think this is considered as an advanced linux since it doesn't cover anything new, in depth, new techniques or tricks . I bought the beginning linux programming and it's much better in covering many topics with excellent examples. Check out yourself.
T.T

Although the book is dated, it can still serve a useful purpose in helping the person whose only experience is with Windows to examine Linux in a safe mode. The package includes a CD that will boot "Knoppix" Linux directly from the CD drive. This means you can test it out without having to do any complicated install of Linux, which is an excellent approach for people with limited technical means. There are many images and the writing style is very chatty and informal. The general user areas covered are:

*) Navigating through the file system
*) Customizing the desktop
*) Installing new software
*) Working with peripheral devices
*) Interacting with the Internet
*) Using e-mail
*) Using the various OpenOffice applications.
*) Working with graphics and multimedia
*) The all-important playing of games

If you are curious about Linux and are a lifelong user of Windows, this is still a very gentle and effective way to put your toe deeply into the Linux waters.

This was a very disappointing purchase. Gagne breezes through any areas where Linux is actually difficult, focussing instead on the stuff that any competent computer user will have no trouble using. I don't need to have my hand held by an expert to figure out OpenOffice. What I do need is a lot more detail about installing the OS and configuring my system.

Gagne claims "A modern Linux installation is easy... easier than Windows... you boot from your CD-ROM drive, click NEXT a few times and you are running Linux." This is true if absolutely everything goes exactly as expected. If anything goes wrong, however, you are left to your own devices to figure it out. In my case, the GRUB installation needed serious attention, neither my dial-up or highspeed modem were recognized by the OS... and there is nothing in this book to help solve my problems. Check out the help forums for any Linux distribution and you'll see that these sorts of things come up regularly.

I'm very frustrated with Gagne's approach - basically he tells us to follow the instructions on the screen, and if anything goes wrong check the internet for solutions. You don't need to buy a book to tell you that.

The book went over things that work very similar to the way windows works. I was hoping for a through explination on the install which was not there. The book focuses on how to use the kde desktop (which works alot like windows). I read about half the book when I put it down and just jumped in and tried what worked in windows. Like right clicking on the desktop to custimize it and it brought up a menu with a configure desktop as an option that brought up what I was looking for. I found the jumping in and playing option got me up and running alot quicker than reading the book and following along.

I don't think this book would help the prior windows user much. But would be good for a person just starting out with linux without any windows background as it gives basic functons of a few programs usually included with linux.

This is a good book for instalation and setup.
But I feel not enough betail was givin on some topics.
The best Book I read for newbies is sam`s teach yourself
unix in 24 hours.
It teaches you how to use the shell. That to me is the true power of linux

This book has an oversimplified installation explanation(20pages), and then jumps right into KDE. I prefer GNOME so this book was a waste of money for me. I have been working towards switching to Linux for a few years, switching to a browser and office program available for both Windoz and Linux to simplify the transition, and playing with Linux on an old computer. I had hoped this book would help with the final step, but it didn't. Installation is a tedious process, even the "pros" don't get it right om the first try. I bought a new computer with Linux preinstalled, and it didn't work, and had to be reinstalled. A beginners book as this claims to be needs a thorough installation section, but less for the desktop which has many similarities to windoz.

This is a pretty decent book for begining Solaris Admins, BUT, it only covers up to Solaris 2.6. If you are administrating Solaris 7 or 8 I would look elsewhere or wait for the next edition.

Fantastic material! There's everything one needs to know/understand about Solaris, be it novice or exp. admins. I found this an invaluable tool for exam prep. also. Everything is detailed & explained giving live snapshots. The biggest asset is the pain author took in explaining materials. Chapters are well-organised and topics finely laid out. Great work. It's an investment.

If you are in the market for some technical information about Solaris, this book is not for you. It is a very general beginners guide and does not come close to discussing the "real world" issues that are faced in administering Solaris in an Enterprise environment.

To top it all off, there are numerous typos and just plain wrong information that the somewhat experienced reader will notice. This bothers me since the author of a book should be a subject matter expert before writing it! Other books are better... buy them instead.

This book can be really frustrating at times. Let's say that you're trying to get a Sun box on a network, and you forget to edit /etc/nsswitch.conf to specify dns lookup for hosts. You'll have a tough time with this book as your only reference - as far as I can tell this isn't discussed in this book at all. Why not?

There are other examples. I often end up searching for additional information elsewhere. Your mileage may vary.

Very well organized book. To-the-point and explains everything a "new" System Administrator would need. But, remember, this books skims the surface. It's not for intermediate or advanced users. I rate this book for the beginning user.