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Everything you need to know about Linux is in this book.
Written by Stephen Figgins, Ellen Siever, Robert Love, and
Arnold Robbins -- people with years of active participation in
the Linux community -- Linux in a Nutshell, Sixth
Edition, thoroughly covers programming tools, system and
network administration tools, the shell, editors, and LILO and
GRUB boot loaders.
This updated edition offers a tighter focus on Linux system
essentials, as well as more coverage of new capabilities such
as virtualization, wireless network management, and revision
control with git. It also highlights the most important options
for using the vast number of Linux commands. You'll find many
helpful new tips and techniques in this reference, whether
you're new to this operating system or have been using it for
years.
An extensive reference for any serious computer collectionReviewed by Midwest Book Review, 2010-01-18
Libraries strong in system administration or Linux programming will
find LINUX IN A NUTSHELL to be a powerful updated edition offering
a focus of Linux options and all the latest new options for
applying Linux commands. From learning hundreds of shell commands
and understanding the Bash shell interpreter to processing text
with expressions and using administrative tools, LINUX IN A
NUTSHELL provides an extensive reference for any serious computer
collection.
good book and now up to dateReviewed by Valerie Chau, 2009-11-15
I have purchased other O'Reily books and all are good. Just be sure you get the most up to date ones
I wore out my copy of an earlier edition. This one is better.Reviewed by M. Helmke, 2009-10-25
Years ago I purchased a copy of Linux in a Nutshell, fourth
edition. That book has been well used and is looking a bit shabby.
When O'Reilly offered me a free review copy of Linux in a Nutshell,
sixth edition, I jumped at the chance. Some of the thoughts that
follow will apply to either edition (as well as the not-reviewed
fifth edition, which I don't have), but I will point out some of
the more important or obvious updates to help others who also own
older editions to determine whether the changes are sufficient to
convince them to buy the new version.
This book is not intended as a tutorial, but rather as a quick
reference. While the irony of titling a 900+ page book "... in a
Nutshell" is not lost on me, like all of the books in O'Reilly's
Nutshell series, this book is a fabulous resource for finding out
the details of a specific command or concept rapidly.
Let me start with the foundation for my opinion that this book is
one of the most useful and important books for anyone who uses
Linux from the command line on a regular basis or wants to be able
to or plans to do so. Any command you should desire to use is
listed in chapter 3, with the command's syntax and options. This
gives you one place to look that does not require an internet
connection or the patience to scroll up and down reading man pages
for commands. This is a book about Linux as it was originally
conceived and intended: a powerful operating system based directly
upon and consistent with the philosophy and design of Unix, but
free for anyone to download, install, copy, modify, share and
use.
This book is not about how to use Linux on the desktop, and in
fact, the sixth edition does not cover the Linux desktop at all.
What you do find are discussions, descriptions, and definitions of
all of the main tools and tricks a person needs to get work
accomplished using Linux as a platform--not the specific
programming languages like C, Java or Python, but the underlying
tools such as commands from the GNU project and BSD, editors like
vi and emacs, using the bash shell, source code management using
subversion and git (both new to this edition, replacing a
discussion of CVS), and great introductions to Linux system and
network administration. In addition, we have a wonderful new
chapter on virtualization command line tools that covers all the
main options such as KVM, Xen and VMware.
I am amazed that my description thus far has only scratched the
surface of the book. I haven't yet mentioned the chapters covering
sed and gawk, the discussion of software package management, the
chapter detailing LILO and Grub boot loaders, or the lovely section
on pattern matching which should save a lot of people a good amount
of time.
My disappointments in the book are a bit niggly. While the book was
written and tested using each of the main Linux distributions
(Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and SUSE), there have been a couple of
updates to software covered in the book that were not available
when the book went to press. Since I know how long it takes to
write and prepare a manuscript for printing, it is kind of silly
for me to want a book that was published in September 2009 to cover
Windows 7 (although dual booting with earlier versions is covered),
ext4, or Grub2, even if these are all current in late October 2009
(the latter two being included in Ubuntu 9.10).
The positives are that this is a clear, well written and edited
(disclosure: I worked with one of the editors, Andy Oram, on VMware
Cookbook), and filled with valuable information with an easy to use
index and table of contents with a tighter than previous focus on
the internal bits of Linux without the earlier distractions of
trying to mention GNOME and KDE or a wider variety of shell options
while only covering each with too little detail to be useful. This
edition expands the content on the things it does cover to a very
useful level of detail while making the hard decision of what to
omit to keep the book within a bindable number of pages.
In any edition, this book has a permanent place on my shelf for
reference. If you own an older version, the decision to buy the
latest edition will depend on whether you want or need the absolute
latest info on specific commands (this stuff doesn't change often,
but it does change) and whether you are interested in the new or
expanded material covered in this edition as outlined above. If you
never use the command line in Linux, the book might not interest
you. Otherwise, I can't imagine using Linux without having a copy
nearby.
Disclosures: I bought an earlier edition, but was given the sixth
edition free by O'Reilly as a review copy, I write for O'Reilly,
and I have worked with one of the editors who also worked on this
book.
New 6th edition appears to be a worthy update to its predecessorsReviewed by calvinnme, 2009-09-27
This book covers the administration of, usage of, and shell
programming on Linux systems. The book is an overview of Linux and
serves as an excellent reference, but doesn't come close to a
tutorial. This 6th edition continues to be a good extended man page
for the operating system's many commands, features, and utilities.
Linux has recently been extended, and most of those extensions
appear to be covered in this book. You should already have a basic
knowledge of Unix/Linux and just need a quick reference for when
you forget something. For example, you are not going to learn how
to program using gawk with the chapter included in this book.
Neither will you figure out the intracies of version control and
Git. The preface states that this new sixth edition has been
examined and checked against the most common Linux distributions
(Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and SUSE) so that it reflects the most
useful and popular commands.
Linux in a NutshellReviewed by I. D. Martin, 2009-06-14
Buying a book on the internet is like getting Christmas presents
from distant relatives at times. They rely on word-of-mouth to get
the choice right; occasionally you luck in, and sometimes you luck
out.
After installing Ubuntu on 2 systems in August 08, as the eldest
male in the house it tends to fall to me to fix all PC problems,
from "why isn't the mouse working?" (change the batteries AGAIN) to
"What does 'formatting c:' mean, Dad?" I bought this book to give
me a better look at Linux.
The help system on Linux is extensive, and the apropos, man and
info commands are familiar friends by now. However, documentation
in Linux is often more challenging to find, and I was looking for
something that pulled it all together. For my purposes, this book
wasn't it.
"Linux in a nutshell" is not designed for the prospective or brand
new user; the lack of anything in the title suggesting that was one
of the reasons I bought it. However, it lacks a systematic approach
to the topic. At 925 pages, it's a big nutshell too. However, fully
499 pages amount to a printout of the man pages, so there's a lot
of redundant information for anyone with access to a Linux
terminal. The other chapters are a mix of topics; 100 pages on
version control (no mention of bazaar), 50 on emacs and vi, a
worthwhile section on regex/awk/sed and bash, others on bootloaders
and package managers, and various others. However, many of these
pages are again a printout of the man pages.
My major complaint is that most of the book is a printout of man
pages. Linux, as a rule, is reasonably well documented. What is
missing is a metapackage that enables the user to know which
command to use; this book doesn't fill that gap. For example, sound
is only mentioned in the man page listings, and the directories to
find documentation for installed packages are not mentioned at
all.
It should also be mentioned that there are significant changes in
the Linux kernel since this version of the book(copyright 2005),
and understandably there is no mention of these- for instance, HAL
as the manager for input devices isn't listed in the index. Setting
up multiple displays- another common task in my experience- doesn't
get a mention at all.
In summary, this book would help if the PC was completely messed
up. With access to a terminal, it provides little benefit, although
the chapters on bash, sed and gawk have excellent introductions.
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