How Linux Works : What Every Superuser Should Know

Linux Pocket Guide

Linux for Non-Geeks : A Hands-On, Project-Based, Take-It-Slow Guidebook

Linux Cookbook

General

The Linux Cookbook, Second Edition

Format: Paperback
Author: Michael Stutz
ReleaseDate: August, 2004
Publisher: No Starch Press
Rating:

Not for the fairly initiated
That said, I'd have to say that this book fell short of providing me any really useful information. I AM NOT A GEEK. I've been a Linux user for about 5 years now, and I still find some aspects of it frustrating, but this book didn't really help me much. And, it certainly doesn't live up to the O'Reilley "Cookbook" series (not that it is pretending to be, just shares the name), which I always find helpful. There are numerous Linux books out there that are better than this one. To me, the hints provided don't help much. And, when I'm stumped about what's going on with my system, this book doesn't help either.

If I were just starting out, maybe it would be OK. But I think I would probably spring for something else, "Unix Power Tools" comes to mind.

Cookbook approach to working with Linux
There is nothing on how to install, troubleshoot, or administer Linux and it is not supposed to have that information. Let me start with what this book is and is not. This is a cookbook and is designed to be a resource when you have a specific goal in mind and want to know how to get there. The first several chapters focus on the very basic Linux information that everyone working in the operating system should know. This includes such common items as how to determine what processes are running and how to determine who you are logged in as. Of course anyone with even a minimum of Linux experience knows this stuff. For the more experienced Linux users the later chapters deal are a real treasure. It includes things like viewing and editing images, PostScript, working with sound, and cross-platform conversions. The recipe style layout really works well. Like a list of ingredients the author lists the program to be run, package manager name for the installation package, and the home page where the package can be found. This is one of the really nice features of the book. If you are looking for how to accomplish a specific task you can look it up, see if there is a program to accomplish it, locate and install the program if necessary, and follow through the specific directions to achieve your desired result. The Linux Cookbook, 2nd Edition is very highly recommended for the new Linux user, and recommended as a desk reference to keep available for the more experienced user who may just need to know how to convert that mp3 file to another format and burn the result to a CD.

Thorough Coverage
No wonder: at almost 800 pages, this is quite a chunk of reading material. When this book fell out of its shipping envelope, it made quite a thunk as it hit my desk.

I had been impressed by the first edition. The only real complaint I had about that was its exclusive focus on Debian Linux; that's been corrected here. The first edition was available on-line in its entirety; this is not, although you can see a sample chapter and the table of contents at (. . . ).

Unlike the first edition, this covers a lot more basic material. Don't let that turn you off if you have outgrown the beginner books - unless you are expert at everything, you'll find helpful material here. There are pointers to esoteric utilities you probably have never heard of mixed in with the "getting started" stuff.

I was interested that Amazon reviews were luke-warm. I think it deserves better. I would have liked to see less attention to the real basics, but that does make this useful to the beginner also. One Amazon review didn't like it because it was too geeky, a complaint I can't sympathise with. Another didn't like the concentration on command line tools - I hope that isn't a sign of things to come where Linux users join their Windows brethren in disdain of character based interfaces. .