Recommended books about Unix

With Leopard, Apple has unleashed the greatest version of Mac OS X yet, and David Pogue is back with another meticulous Missing Manual to cover the operating system with a wealth of detail. The new Mac OS X 10.5, better known as Leopard, is faster than its predecessors, but nothing's too fast for Pogue and this Missing Manual. It's just one of reasons this is the most popular computer book of all time. Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition is the authoritative book for Mac users of all technical levels and experience. If you're new to the Mac, this book gives you a crystal-clear, jargon-free introduction to the Dock, the Mac OS X folder structure, and the Mail application. There are also mini-manuals on iLife applications such as iMovie, iDVD, and iPhoto, and a tutorial for Safari, Mac's web browser. This Missing Manual book is amusing and fun to read, but Pogue doesn't take his subject lightly. Which new Leopard features work well and which do not? What should you look for? What should you avoid? Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition offers an objective and straightforward instruction for using: Leopard's totally revamped Finder Spaces to group your windows and organize your Mac tasks Quick Look to view files before you open them The Time Machine, Leopard's new backup feature Spotlight to search for and find anything in your Mac Front Row, a new way to enjoy music, photos, and videos Enhanced Parental Controls that come with Leopard Quick tips for setting up and configuring your Mac to make it your own There's something new on practically every page of this new edition, and David Pogue brings his celebrated wit and expertise to every one of them. Mac's brought a new catto town and Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition is a great new way to tame it.

This book is simply the best . . . whether you are an old Mac hand or just now transitioning from a PC. I love it!

This thick volume guides you to all sorts of short cuts and unknown features of the latest Mac operating system.
Easy to read and highly recommended.

Just purchased this book & find that it almost gives a full explanation. I am not sure if it is me or the book or OS X. Possibly a little bit of all. So many changes have been made by this time that I am not sure the book is able to be completely accurate.

Obviously a tremendous amount of work has gone into the book!

Just changed over to Apple after years of PCs. Quite a shock for an old dog to learn new tricks, but the Missing Manual books have made the change much less traumatic. I have found the Missing Manuals to be well written, easily understood, and a great help in mastering a new system.

I've relied on David Pogue to guide me through the ins and outs of Mac OSs since long before
they named them after wild felines. I've seldom come away from an index without locating the
subject I was looking for. He's at his best with the Leopard book. If you buy or upgrade to this
OS, I recommend you have it on hand.

Portable, powerful, and a breeze to use, Python is ideal for both standalone programs and scripting applications. With this hands-on book, you can master the fundamentals of the core Python language quickly and efficiently, whether you're new to programming or just new to Python. Once you finish, you will know enough about the language to use it in any application domain you choose. Learning Python is based on material from author Mark Lutz's popular training courses, which he's taught over the past decade. Each chapter is a self-contained lesson that helps you thoroughly understand a key component of Python before you continue. Along with plenty of annotated examples, illustrations, and chapter summaries, every chapter also contains Brain Builder, a unique section with practical exercises and review quizzes that let you practice new skills and test your understanding as you go. This book covers: Types and Operations -- Python's major built-in object types in depth: numbers, lists, dictionaries, and more Statements and Syntax -- the code you type to create and process objects in Python, along with Python's general syntax model Functions -- Python's basic procedural tool for structuring and reusing code Modules -- packages of statements, functions, and other tools organized into larger components Classes and OOP -- Python's optional object-oriented programming tool for structuring code for customization and reuse Exceptions and Tools -- exception handling model and statements, plus a look at development tools for writing larger programs. Learning Python gives you a deep and complete understanding of the language that will help you comprehend any application-level examples of Python that you later encounter. If you're ready to discover what Google and YouTube see in Python, this book is the best way to get started.

The authors of Learning Python show you enough essentials of the Python scripting language to enable you to begin solving problems right away, then reveal more powerful aspects of the language one at a time. This approach is sure to appeal to programmers and system administrators who have urgent problems and a preference for learning by semi-guided experimentation.

First off, Learning Python shows the relationships among Python scripts and their interpreter (in a mostly platform-neutral way). Then, the authors address the mechanics of the language itself, providing illustrations of how Python conceives of numbers, strings, and other objects as well as the operators you use to work with them. Dictionaries, lists, tuples, and other data structures specific to Python receive plenty of attention including complete examples.

Authors Mark Lutz and David Ascher build on that fundamental information in their discussions of functions and modules, which evolve into coverage of namespaces, classes, and the object-oriented aspects of Python programming. There's also information on creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for Python applications with Tkinter.

In addition to its careful expository prose, Learning Python includes exercises that both test your Python skills and help reveal more elusive truths about the language.

I just spent a few days going through this book and learned a lot. I've been working with PHP for years, but never did much complicated code. I studied Java about 8 years ago also and learned a lot about OOP from that. But never did any programming in Java. So it was all concept, no experience.

My reason for reading this book was to start using Python with Django. I wanted to learn Python first so I would understand the framework better.

This book covers in excruciating detail many of the finer qualities of just about everything you can imagine being in the language. I'm sure it doesn't cover everything the language can do. But somehow it spends 600 plus pages going over details that I wouldn't expect to find even if I was reading a 300 page book called "What I was thinking when I wrote this particular function on July 3rd 1991"

If something can be explained by 2 lines of example code and a three sentence paragraph about what's going on, the author does that -after 2 pages of explanation of how this code you are about to see might be a little like C, but it's a little different too, and how what you are going to learn is really powerful, and how some students might notice that the code is similar in structure to the code that you will see on page 400 later in the book.

If you think my review is way too verbose, read the book.

I give it 3 stars because it was in fact clear and well communicated information. It was just often hard to keep reading past all the unnecessary words to get to the useful content.

As a newcomer to Python, I find this book educational but somewhat inadequate for getting one's feet wet with a new programming language. Essentially all the sample code in the book is in the form of very short snippets run from the command line. There is almost nothing in the way of a full-blown sample Python program showing the reader what it's all supposed to look like in the end.

Python's strengths as a programming language are ostensibly its readability and ease of use, but you get no sense of that reading this book. All you get is bits and pieces that you have to glue together somehow. It's neither a complete technical manual nor a good introductory book for the novice programmer. The book is useful, but I would hope that there are better titles out there.

I wanted to like this book. As a general rule, I give the benefit of a doubt to O'Reilly books, and rarely am I mistaken. But this was one of the rare exceptions. In my experience, there are two trains of thought when it comes to learning a programming language:
1) Start right in with a book, using it to familiarize yourself with the language while you use the language to start fleshing out stuff that you learn in the book -- let's call this the "synergistic" or maybe "complementary" approach: using the book complements the coding you try, which, in turn, lets you put stuff you're learning into a workable framework.
2) Read the whole book through, and then apply what you've learned.

Personally, I don't know anyone with a good enough memory to really be able to pull off #2. But, honestly, it's more about patience than memory: people get excited about a language, and want to start using it. Having to (pretty much) read a whole book before you can start digging in is a bit of an anti-climax. The problem is that that's what you have to do with _Learning Python_. For example, one of the fundamentals of almost all programming languages is how looping is accomplished. In _Learning Python_, looping isn't discussed in detail until you're almost *250* pages into the book. Instead, the very, very fundamentals of the language are gone over in excruciating detail. Honestly, if you'd never programmed before, this might actually be a helpful, good thing. If, on the other hand, you've had pretty much any other programming experience, the pace is slow and tedious. I found myself yearning to be *doing* something, and instead was just plodding along.

If you have had previous programming experience, and are relatively well-versed with how languages work, I have to recommend _Python Essential Reference_ by David M. Beazley. Just read its first chapter in the bookstore, and you'll find yourself becoming quickly enlightened.

Like my title suggests, if you have programming experience and you do not mind or have little trouble reading the Python documentation in a online fashion then its probably not absolutely necessary that you have to buy the book.

However, the author is very good in instilling the nature of Python programming and he's good at getting you to think about the concepts but this book is definitely not a cookbook. Last thing is that it doesn't concentrate on the GUI nor library usage etc as it's mission is simply to teach you about the core of Python

This book is great! Good writing, good exercises. Good for people who have some experience in programming. If you have never had any contact to other languages or logic, consider studying some introdutory topics before reading this book.

Perl is a powerful programming language that has grown in popularity since it first appeared in 1988. The first edition of this book, "Programming Perl," hit the shelves in 1990, and was quickly adopted as the undisputed bible of the language. Since then, Perl has grown with the times, and so has this book.

"Programming Perl" is not just a book about Perl. It is also a unique introduction to the language and its culture, as one might expect only from its authors. Larry Wall is the inventor of Perl, and provides a unique perspective on the evolution of Perl and its future direction. Tom Christiansen was one of the first champions of the language, and lives and breathes the complexities of Perl internals as few other mortals do. Jon Orwant is the editor of

"The Perl Journal," which has brought together the Perl community as a common forum for new developments in Perl.

Any Perl book can show the syntax of Perl's functions, but only this one is a comprehensive guide to all the nooks and crannies of the language. Any Perl book can explain typeglobs, pseudohashes, and closures, but only this one shows how they really work. Any Perl book can say that "my" is faster than "local," but only this one explains why. Any Perl book can have a title, but only this book is affectionately known by all Perl programmers as "The Camel."

This third edition of "Programming Perl" has been expanded to cover version 5.6 of this maturing language. New topics include threading, the compiler, Unicode, and other new features that have been added since the previous edition.

Larry Wall wrote Perl and he wrote Programming Perl. Better yet, he writes amusingly and well--all of which comes across in this latest edition of the definitive guide to the language.

Like Topsy, Perl just grew, and as a result the need for a third edition came about. It's now over 1,000 pages, which it needs to be, as it performs several different duties. First, it's an introduction to the Perl language for those who are new to programming; also, it's a guide for those who are coming from other languages; and, finally, it's a Perl language reference.

Among Larry Wall's other pursuits is being a linguist, and it's perhaps for this reason that Perl is a peculiarly flexible language with many routes to achieving the same ends, as the authors ably demonstrate. It's also extensible in several ways, designed to work with many other languages. Also, as it's largely interpreted, programs written in Perl tend to run unmodified on a variety of platforms--although platform-specific Perl modules and programming practices are also discussed.

A major strength of Programming Perl is the way subject areas are approached from several directions. This constant shift of viewpoint eliminates blind spots in the reader's understanding and provides a pleasing echo of the way Perl itself can take many routes from here to there.

Because the Perl community is both knowledgeable and active, the language covers much more ground here than in the previous edition. Even if you have both previous editions, you'll want this latest version--if only for the new jokes. --Steve Patient, amazon.co.uk

If you are programming in Perl, this is a required book to have. It is the definitive manual on the language written by the author of the language, yet is very readable.

It is difficult to study perl using only this book.
Learning perl is the best way to study perl.
This book should be a reference of perl.

And there are many examples on the Net.
You can use these examples to modify for your purpose.
Sometimes, you should study how to debbug perl.

I decided to buy this book because I needed to learn Perl after having programmed in several other languages for my new job.

I was looking for a reference guide that pretty much outlined EVERYTHING that Perl can do. Proper syntax, short cuts, how to properly go about writing code in this language, how do write certain operations... etc

I was also looking for something that could be authoritative and set the STANDARD for how something should and should not be done... and not be written by some sloppy idiot who thinks he knows what he's doing.

And last but not least, I was looking for something that was funny and entertaining to read and not a dry boring textbook.

This book, as others call it "The Camel" or "The Camel Book", meets all those criteria. This is truly the BEST book on Perl out there, written by the inventor himself, Larry Wall, and some of his Perl-guru buddies. If you came to this page wondering if this is the book to get to learn to program in Perl, look no further.

Absolutely 5 stars on this one. And trust me, this book is pretty funny. It's almost as if it's written by your best friend or your roommate who you drink beers with, yet still goes into amazingly tidy and meticulous detail on how to do things properly. I couldn't have asked for a better book.
If you're like me and learning this for work, see if your boss will even buy it for the office. Mine did!

I hope you enjoyed my review. I've gone from knowing NOTHING about Perl to writing some pretty robust scripts in a matter of a few short weeks and I truly LOVE writing stuff in Perl because it is very easy once you get the idea of how the syntax is written in your brain. Anyways, I felt I had to share my experience with you so you can do the same. Enjoy.

PS: There is a correction I've found since there have been a few newer releases than the Perl 5 explained in this book. (As I write this, I'm using Perl 5.8.8).

pg. 513: At the very bottom should tell you that the period character "." will display the current position of the debugger.

pg. 514: The w command no longer lists a window of lines around your position. It is now the "v" as in [v]iew.

I program in C# almost exclusively. However, I needed some serious regex power and this kind of power can only be handled/performed with Perl.

Well, I have been learning Perl now for about 2 months and this book is uber invaluable to my book collection and has made it very easy to pick the syntax up quickly.

-- smerkdaddy

I would not recommend this book upfront if you don't know any Perl. Read up Beginning Perl by Simon Cozens and feel around a bit. Then pick this book up and put in the effort and you WILL appreciate the power, truth and beauty about PERL.

It is not a light read... certainly wasn't for me. But at the end of it, the effort was so worth it. The book will give you several Aha moments and by the end of it, thou shalt be rewarded!!

Written by members of the development team that maintains Subversion, this is the official guide and reference manual for the popular open source revision control technology. The new edition covers Subversion 1.5 with a complete introduction and guided tour of its capabilities, along with best practice recommendations.

Version Control with Subversion is useful for people from a wide variety of backgrounds, from those with no previous version control experience to experienced system administrators.

Subversion is the perfect tool to track individual changes when several people collaborate on documentation or, particularly, software development projects. As a more powerful and flexible successor to the CVS revision control system, Subversion makes life so much simpler, allowing each team member to work separately and then merge source code changes into a single repository that keeps a record of each separate version.

Inside the updated edition Version Control with Subversion, you'll find:

• An introduction to Subversion and basic concepts behind version control
• A guided tour of the capabilities and structure of Subversion 1.5
Guidelines for installing and configuring Subversion to manage programming, documentation, or any other team-based project
• Detailed coverage of complex topics such as branching and repository administration
• Advanced features such as properties, externals, and access control
• A guide to best practices
• Complete Subversion reference and troubleshooting guide

If you've never used version control, you'll find everything you need to get started. And if you're a seasoned CVS pro, this book will help you make a painless leap into Subversion.

Subversion, a successor to CVS is a widly used, novel approach to versioning of filesystems. Novelties to CVS are that versioning of the whole filesystem instead of single file, which made it possilble to have directories under version control, efficient storage of versioning meta-data, making it possible to have binary files under version control. The book itself introduces the basic concepts of version contol by focusing on the features of subversion. An extra chapter - in appendix - summerizes all the differences to CVS. This chapter is very welcome to people used to CVS who want to - or have to - get used to subversion. To me, as an assistant lecturer at the University of Miskolc, the book is going to be a textbook for stundents of software engineering to getting used to version control systems.

This is one of the only software books I've read cover to cover. It makes sense, it tells you thing in the right order: It gives you the big picture then goes into detail.

The authors are smart and this book makes you smart like them.

I went 15 years rarely using but not really understanding or trusting CVS. Now I run my own subversion server and love it.

Looking to convert your CVS to Subversion? Want to know what VCS/Subversion is all about? What to know how to admin a Subversion system? Want a reference guide of the Subversion man pages in "dead-tree edition?"

This is your book.

From beginner to expert in VCS, this view into the Subversion solution will be the only thing you need on your shelf (unless you need extremely advanced/complicated setups). The book covers the basics and general administrative techniques/skills required for your day-to-day needs. It also covers, quite well, the setup of the core system (daemon running, HTTP-cooperative running, tunneling, etc.).

Definitely recommended for everyone.

As a previous cvs user (without much experience in it) I found the book extremely useful. I've learnt a lot.

If you want to understand subversion, this book will take you through all aspects and it will give you the knowledge you need to plan your own implementation.

The online version is good and for things you would like to have a better solution than what the book describes, looking them up in the current online book may show that the feature you wanted has already been implemented. However, the value of having your own paperback version cannot be overstated if you need to know the product well or you're responsible for planning an implementation of it.

In order to thoroughly understand what makes Linux tick and why it works so well on a wide variety of systems, you need to delve deep into the heart of the kernel. The kernel handles all interactions between the CPU and the external world, and determines which programs will share processor time, in what order. It manages limited memory so well that hundreds of processes can share the system efficiently, and expertly organizes data transfers so that the CPU isn't kept waiting any longer than necessary for the relatively slow disks.

The third edition of "Understanding the Linux Kernel" takes you on a guided tour of the most significant data structures, algorithms, and programming tricks used in the kernel. Probing beyond superficial features, the authors offer valuable insights to people who want to know how things really work inside their machine. Important Intel-specific features are discussed. Relevant segments of code are dissected line by line. But the book covers more than just the functioning of the code; it explains the theoretical underpinnings of why Linux does things the way it does.

This edition of the book covers Version 2.6, which has seen significant changes to nearly every kernel subsystem, particularly in the areas of memory management and block devices. The book focuses on the following topics:

Memory management, including file buffering, process swapping, and Direct memory Access (DMA)

The Virtual Filesystem layer and the Second and Third Extended Filesystems

Process creation and scheduling

Signals, interrupts, and the essential interfaces to device drivers

Timing

Synchronization within the kernel

Interprocess Communication (IPC)

Program execution

"Understanding the Linux Kernel" will acquaint you with all the inner workings of Linux, but it's more than just an academic exercise. You'll learn what conditions bring out Linux's best performance, and you'll see how it meets the challenge of providing good system response during process scheduling, file access, and memory management in a wide variety of environments. This book will help you make the most of your Linux system.

These are the comments needed to understand Linux code, very helpful and thorough. The authors are knowledgeable, and explain the material well.

I had originally intended to read this book to knock out two birds with one stone. I wanted to learn Operating System theory and specifically how it was implemented in Linux. I quickly learned, however, that I would of been much better suited if I already had a good OS theory background. But I pressed on and finally couldn't take it anymore and had to put it down and pick up Linux Kernel Development by Robert Love. I began reading Linux Kernel Development concurrently with this book and it is definitely what I would recommend for those new to OS internals.

After using both of those books I started to get a good foothold on the kernel. And Understanding the Linux Kernel quickly becomes like a good novel you can't put down. I did like how it was x86-centric because abstract is nice and all but sometimes it helps to see how things actually are done. However some might not like that. I did not like how it threw a bunch of detail at you without completely unifying everything.. But thats why I read Linux Kernel Development concurrently. All and all this book is definitely worth it for those who want to know about the Linux kernel and now as I use my GNU/Linux operating system I can't help and point out to myself whats going on under the hood.

I purchased this book as a complimentary book for the regular OS text books, so far the coverage is very good and helpful.

Awesome book...things are very well explained and the subject-matter is covered well. Surely recommend this book to someone!!

ULK provides well structured and clear introduction to the 2.6 linux kernel. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get started on kernel code. ULK also provides an insight into the modularity present within the kernel (eg. doubly linked list macros). Thus, it should help amateur programmers to develop strong coding skills in addition to understanding OS kernel design.

This book offers Python programmers one place to look when they need help remembering or deciphering the syntax of this open source language and its many powerful but scantily documented modules. This comprehensive reference guide makes it easy to look up the most frequently needed information--not just about the Python language itself, but also the most frequently used parts of the standard library and the most important third-party extensions.

Ask any Python aficionado and you'll hear that Python programmers have it all: an elegant object-oriented language with readable and maintainable syntax, that allows for easy integration with components in C, C++, Java, or C#, and an enormous collection of precoded standard library and third-party extension modules. Moreover, Python is easy to learn, yet powerful enough to take on the most ambitious programming challenges. But what Python programmers used to lack is a concise and clear reference resource, with the appropriate measure of guidance in how best to use Python's great power. "Python in a Nutshell" fills this need.

"Python in a Nutshell," Second Edition covers more than the language itself; it also deals with the most frequently used parts of the standard library, and the most popular and important third party extensions. Revised and expanded for Python 2.5, this book now contains the gory details of Python's new subprocess module and breaking news about Microsoft's new IronPython project. Our "Nutshell" format fits Python perfectly by presenting the highlights of the most important modules and functions in its standard library, which cover over 90% of your practical programming needs. This book includes: A fast-pacedtutorial on the syntax of the Python language An explanation of object-oriented programming in Python Coverage of iterators, generators, exceptions, modules, packages, strings, and regular expressions A quick reference for Python's built-in types and functions and key modules Reference material on important third-party extensions, such as Numeric and Tkinter Information about extending and embedding Python

"Python in a Nutshell" provides a solid, no-nonsense quick reference to information that programmers rely on the most. This book will immediately earn its place in any Python programmer's library. Praise for the First Edition:

"In a nutshell, "Python in a Nutshell" serves one primary goal: to act as an immediately accessible goal for the Python language. True, you can get most of the same core information that is presented within the covers of this volume online, but this will invariably be broken into multiple files, and in all likelihood lacking the examples or the exact syntax description necessary to truly understand a command."
--Richard Cobbett, "Linux Format"

"O'Reilly has several good books, of which "Python in a Nutshell" by Alex Martelli is probably the best for giving you some idea of what Python is about and how to do useful things with it."
--Jerry Pournelle, "Byte Magazine"

I keep coming back to this book, either to clarify what other books needlessly complicate or simply don't include. As a nutshell book, I would say it is more of a fairly comprehensive reference. Its discussion and explanation of python elements, which tend to make it more of a comprehensive manual and less of a nutshell are very much appreciated. The book's well thought out layout and well self-sustained sections allow you to actually sit down and read this book to learn from and not just use as a passing reference from time to time. I pair this book with Beazley's Python, Essential Reference, which I think actually takes more of a 'nutshell spirit of presentation'. Between the two, they are my most often go-to books while in the coding process.

The documentation that comes with Python leaves a lot to be desired. Try understanding and using internationalisation, for example. Any help that comes along will be welcome, especially in the form of examples.
Alex Martelli really knows his stuff and it's very convenient to have the information by your side in this format, so even if it's a little condensed at times I would recommend this book as well as Python Cookbook, for advanced examples.
I do wish that Python 2.1 Bible would come out in a new edition: it was fantastic for basic sample code.

'Python In A Nutshell' is one of those de facto standard O'Reilly books that is required reading/owning for anyone that develops in said language. In this case it's the long time popular scripting language Python. Originally released in 1991, this language has grown and expanded into the juggernaut it is today. With around 700 pages of material, this book will show you the ins and outs of everything yummy that Python can do. From the basics of talking about to define variables and create conditional statements to object oriented programming, you are going to quickly see why Python is popular and USABLE.

This book goes further than just a teaching book and/or just a language reference. It's meant to bridge both necessities as you learn to progam in Python or want to improve your existing skillset. With this book you will achieve all your Python goalssssssssssssssssssssss (pathetic snake joke attempt here)

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This is simply the best reference book for Python.

As a reference book it not suitable for learning Python from scratch, even if there is a not-so-short introduction to the basic language features. The book is well organized and informations can be found quickly.

The only con is a bad index. It is really complete, but sub-topics are organized as a tree without any graphical feedback of the current indentation level, and often you do not understand wich topic they belong to.

The 2nd edition of the book was published on July 14, 2006 and is obviously highly recommended: Python in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

The author Alex Martelli is Uber Technical Lead at Google, Inc. Martelli holds a laurea in Ingegneria Elettronica from Bologna University. He wrote Python in a Nutshell two editions, and also co-edited the Python Cookbook. He's a member of the Python Software Foundation, and won the 2002 Activators' Choice Award. Martelli spent 8 years with IBM Research, earning three Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards, and on.

The book is a great reference and full of insights and good programming techniques. It moves pretty fast to make a good introductory book, but once one has a reasonable understanding of Python fundamentals, anyone wishing to advance their understanding and application of the language can benefit from Python in a Nutshell.

I found that this book has been able to cover every thing from fundamentals of the Python language to a comprehensive description of some of the more esoteric newer language features and at the same time address many of the applications of the language. The presentation style is clear and very readable with concise examples, and not full of extraneous fluff. The subjects are well laid out beginning with a swift comprehensive introduction to the language, and a good description of the basic elements including classes, methods exceptions, modules, decorators and built-ins. There are sections on the Python library and extension modules, Network and web programming including some discussion of some of the existing python web frame works and socket programming. There is material on extending and embedding Python and alternate ways to extend python beyond c-extensions. The book was released just prior to the final release of Python 2.5, but there is considerable material covering most if not all of the latest 2.5 features such as the with statement.

I have found Python in a nutshell 2nd edition a valuable learning tool and reference resource and would recommend it for anyone interested in using Python to its fullest.


Reviewed by Max Slimmer user and proponent of Python since release 1.3.

Praise for Mark Sobell's Books "I keep searching for books that collect everything you want to know about a subject in one place, and keep getting disappointed. Usually the books leave out some important topic, while others go too deep in some areas and must skim lightly over the others. A Practical Guide to Red Hat(R) Linux(R) is one of those rare books that actually pulls it off. Mark G. Sobell has created a single reference for Red Hat Linux that cannot be beat! This marvelous text (with a 4-CD set of Linux Fedora Core 2 included) is well worth the price. This is as close to an 'everything you ever needed to know' book that I've seen. It's just that good and rates 5 out of 5." --Ray Lodato, Slashdot contributor"Mark Sobell has written a book as approachable as it is authoritative." --Jeffrey Bianchine, Advocate, Author, Journalist"Excellent reference book, well suited for the sysadmin of a linux cluster, or the owner of a PC contemplating installing a recent stable linux. Don't be put off by the daunting heft of the book. Sobell has striven to be as inclusive as possible, in trying to anticipate your system administration needs."--Wes Boudville, Inventor"A Practical Guide to Red Hat(R) Linux(R) is a brilliant book. Thank you Mark Sobell." --C. Pozrikidis, University of California at San Diego"This book presents the best overview of the Linux operating system that I have found...It should be very helpful and understandable no matter what the reader's background is: traditional UNIX user, new Linux devotee, or even Windows user. Each topic is presented in a clear, complete fashion and very few assumptions are made about what the reader knows...The book is extremely useful as a reference, as it contains a 70-page glossary of terms and is very well indexed. It is organized in such a way that the reader can focus on simple tasks without having to wade through more advanced topics until they are ready." --Cam Marshall, Marshall Information Service LLC, Member of Front Range UNIX Users Group FRUUG, Boulder, Colorado"Conclusively, this is THE book to get if you are a new Linux user and you just got into RH/Fedora world. There's no other book that discusses so many different topics and in such depth." --Eugenia Loli-Queru, Editor in Chief, OSNews.comThe Most Useful Linux Tutorial and Reference Ever, with Hundreds of High-Quality Examples Covering Every Linux Distribution!To be truly productive with Linux, you need to thoroughly master the shells and the command line. Until now, you had to buy two books to gain that mastery: a tutorial on fundamental Linux concepts and techniques, plus a separate reference. Worse, most Linux references offer little more than prettied-up man pages. Now, there's a far better solution. Renowned Linux expert Mark Sobell has brought together comprehensive, insightful guidance on the tools system administrators, developers, and power users need most, and an outstanding day-to-day reference, both in the same book. This book is 100 percent distribution and release agnostic: You can use it on any Linux system, now and for years to come. What's more, it's packed with hundreds of high-quality examples: better examples than you'll find in any other Linux guidebook. This is Linux from the ground up: the clearest explanations and most useful knowledge about everything from filesystems to shells, editors to utilities, and programming tools to regular expressions. And when you need instant answers, you'll constantly turn to Sobell's comprehensive command reference section--organized and tabbed for easy, fast access!Don't settle for yesterday's Linux guidebook. Get the one book that meets today's challenges--and tomorrow's! A Practical Guide to Linux(R) Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming is the most useful, most comprehensive Linux tutorial and reference you can find.It's the only book to deliver *Better, more realistic examples covering tasks you'll actually need to perform *Deeper insight, based on Sobell's immense knowledge of every Linux nook and cranny *More practical explanations of more than eighty core utilities, from aspell to xargs *Techniques for implementing secure communications using ssh and scp--plus dozens of tips for making your system more secure *A superior introduction to the Linux programming environment, including make, gcc, gdb, CVS, and much more *Expert guidance on basic and advanced shell programming using bash and tcsh *Tips and tricks for customizing the shell and using it interactively from the command line *Thorough guides to vim and emacs, designed to help you get productive fast and maximize your editing efficiency *Dozens of exercises to help you practice and gain confidence *Instructions for using Apt, yum, and BitTorrent for keeping your system up to date automatically *And much more, including coverage of gawk, sed, find, sort, bzip2, and regular expressions

This is a good Linux command-line reference for those who just started in this domain. It has full description of the commands and their possible syntaxes.

However, for those who have medium to advance hands-on, you feel that this book lacks providing tricks and shortcut pathways. In another word, it would be beneficial if this book provided advanced real-life examples.

Overall, I found this book helpful and the only one of its kind.

This is a book that I have been looking for for a long time. I have been looking for a book that takes me into the command line world of Linux but in a methodical way describing all the little options, tips, tricks but also the principles that make Linux shell so powerful.

Book begins with a brief history of Linux and very informative, relevant overview of the system architecture.
It proceeds with the in depth, hands on walkthrogugh the environment, shells, and command line utilities.
There is a very useful and every-day practical exercise at the end of the each chapter.

Book continues with in depth chapters on Linux filesystem, the shell, editors (emacs and vi) and the programming environment including (g)awk and sed.

Book concludes with excellend command reference section (300 pages) and Appendix on regular expressions (superb),
getting help with Linux and keeping the system up to date (using yum and bit torrent).

I could go on at length to describe what this book is but trust me, a promotion for the book that you see on Amazon is accurate. This book is as good as it sounds. It is reviewed by 42 reviewers on Amazon and average score is 4.5 stars out of 5. I give it 5.

The claim that this is a "practical guide to Linux commands . . ." is an overstatement. The coverage of commands is relatively minimal. This volume doesn't really get into any depth or go beyond basic commands. The Command Reference (Part V of the book) is incomplete. It definitely is not a guide to using Linux.

Several editors and a bit of programming are covered , though again the coverage is cursory.

Overall, this is probably an okay reference for experienced Linux users. For people like me who don't use Linux often or in-depth, it is frankly not of very much use.

Jerry

I found this book to be just ok - it covers the basics of Linux and many important/frequently used commands but I am remotely satisfied with this book because the author focuses on stuff that many users probably will find less useful.

The learning curve is quite steep if you're relatively new to Linux - the author is describing very basic stuff like GNU, Linux file systems, simple shell commands and such, and then suddenly rushes into complicated shell programming and scripts.

Few examples from this book that I know I will never use but who knows, other users may find that:

-This book is great if you're into emacs and vi(m) since it dedicates over 100 pages on these two text editors but I prefer using nano so for me these chapters were more or less wasted.
-This book is great if you're into shell programming.

Why spend 100+ pages on vim and emacs when at least some pages could've been dedicated to a Security Section that this book doesn't have?
Perhaps emacs and vim are important because programming requires a good set of text editors..?

The Appendix is great though - there's an extensive collection of commands that can be useful for all newbies and intermediate users.

Someone will probably flame me for this review, saying I should've read the book's title before purchasing it. Yes, you are right - I should've.
But then again, if this book clearly was written for intermediate users, why mention GNU, basics of Linux and its file systems and so forth to begin with?

Practical Guide to Linux Commands, Editors, and Shell Programming

The book give a solution to one of the most biggest problem of a Linux junior Sys Admin:
How to automate tasks and decrease the amount of time that "waste" for
Regular operations.
Although from first look, the book content look like a "Boring Staff", after reading
It, the reader would improve his theoretical and practical capabilities -
And may help to itself to focus it the real job.
The book give a lots of useful examples that provide a good background
To the theoretical fields.
The only disadvantage from my point of view is that this book don't
Cover Perl and Python (and Optional PHP).
Although one book may not cover all, I hope that the author will write
A second volume that will cover this nice script languages.

The Best Fully Integrated Study System Available

With hundreds of practice questions and hands-on exercises, RHCE Red Hat Certified Engineer Linux Study Guide, Fifth Edition covers what you need to know--and shows you how to prepare--for this challenging exam.

• 100% complete coverage of all objectives for exam RH302
• Exam Readiness Checklist at the front of the book--you're ready for the exam when all objectives on the list are checked off
• Inside the Exam sections in every chapter highlight key exam topics covered
• Real-world exercises modeled after hands-on exam scenarios
• Two complete lab-based exams simulate the format, tone, topics, and difficulty of the real exam
• Bonus content (available for download) includes installation screen review, basic instructions for using VMware and Xen as testbeds, and paper and pencil versions of the lab exams

Covers all RH302 exam topics, including:

• Hardware installation and configuration
• The boot process
• Linux filesystem administration
• Package management and Kickstart
• User and group administration
• System administration tools
• Kernel services and configuration
• Apache and Squid
• Network file sharing services (NFS, FTP, and Samba)
• Domain Name System (DNS)
• E-mail (servers and clients)
• Extended Internet Services Daemon (xinetd), the Secure package, and DHCP
• The X Window System
• Firewalls, SELinux, and troubleshooting

im not in the habit of writing reviews but i got my rhce certification
and a lot of my study time was with this book i did took the red hat course with it so my recomendation is if u want the rhce cert take the course & read the book this book is a great study tool to acompany u thurgth the couse not as a replacement but it can really sharpen your knowlege and get ready to the exam . but dont pass on the course
& good luck on the exam thogter it will be a pice of cake

This isn't a book for Linux beginners for sure but for those who have a bit of experience with Linux you'll hit the ground running. Some areas such as NIS server set up I wish it would go into and the first couple chapters seem like a waste of space since there is no depth, but the later content is A+. I give it a good recommendation to jump start your RHCE studies. Just don't forget to supplement with labs of your own afterwords!

I can say without a doubt that this book is what put me over the top in gaining my RHEL5 RHCE.

Without divulging any details of the test, let me just say that for anyone who has administered RHEL in a production environment for a couple of years, the test isn't hard. It is mostly a test of your experience.

This book gives you the guideline for everything you need to know to pass the test. This means that along with this book, those things you may not administer on an everyday basis like NIS, NFS, ACLs, etc.; you will need other sources for in-depth information like the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation and Deployment Guides from Redhat, Redhat Enterprise Linux 5 Administration Unleashed, and the various O'Reilly books. Read the RHCE Prep Guide and understand what they want, and you will, along with this book, pass the test.

I plan to take the example later next year. Great resource overall. Would be nice if there is a soft copy on cd.

I found this book very helpful in preparation for RHCE. It is really easy to pass the test if you follow the book carefully.

O'Reilly's Pocket Guides have earned a reputation as inexpensive, comprehensive, and compact guides that have the stuff but not the fluff. Every page of Linux Pocket Guide lives up to this billing. It clearly explains how to get up to speed quickly on day-to-day Linux use. Once you're up and running, Linux Pocket Guide provides an easy-to-use reference that you can keep by your keyboard for those times when you want a fast, useful answer, not hours in the man pages. Linux Pocket Guide is organized the way you use Linux: by function, not just alphabetically. It's not the 'bible of Linux; it's a practical and concise guide to the options and commands you need most. It starts with general concepts like files and directories, the shell, and X windows, and then presents detailed overviews of the most essential commands, with clear examples. You'll learn each command's purpose, usage, options, location on disk, and even the RPM package that installed it. The Linux Pocket Guide is tailored to Fedora Linux--the latest spin-off of Red Hat Linux--but most of the information applies to any Linux system. Throw in a host of valuable power user tips and a friendly and accessible style, and you'll quickly find this practical, to-the-point book a small but mighty resource for Linux users.

Might be confusing for some who don't realize that various flavours of UNINX and Linux abound but so what! This book is not supposed to teach that kind of thing anyway.

I was looking for a small form linux for dummies. This manual was too technical for me. It may be of use for me down the road.

While this may be an excellent reference for experienced Linux users, it will be of very limited use for beginners or those who use Linux through a graphical interface. It is also specifically directed towards Fedora. It would be helpful if your descriptive blurb on the book revealed these two facts.

I'm relatively new to linux and this is a great book to have handy. Very small and tightly packed with easy to find commands and examples. Great tool and good price.

A pocket sized guide to the essential commands of Linux. While specific to an older version of Fedora, this is still a very handy reference. All the essential commands are covered and explained.

This is a small book with a limited purpose and it acheives its goals. More or less indispensable for the Linux user.

Jerry

Shell scripting skills never go out of style. It's the shell that unlocks the real potential of Unix. Shell scripting is essential for Unix users and system administrators-a way to quickly harness and customize the full power of any Unix system. With shell scripts, you can combine the fundamental Unix text and file processing commands to crunch data and automate repetitive tasks. But beneath this simple promise lies a treacherous ocean of variations in Unix commands and standards. "Classic Shell Scripting" is written to help you reliably navigate these tricky waters.

Writing shell scripts requires more than just a knowledge of the shell language, it also requires familiarity with the individual Unix programs: why each one is there, how to use them by themselves, and in combination with the other programs. The authors are intimately familiar with the tips and tricks that can be used to create excellent scripts, as well as the traps that can make your best effort a bad shell script. With "Classic Shell Scripting" you'll avoid hours of wasted effort. You'll learn not only write useful shell scripts, but how to do it properly and portably.

The ability to program and customize the shell quickly, reliably, and portably to get the best out of any individual system is an important skill for anyone operating and maintaining Unix or Linux systems. "Classic Shell Scripting" gives you everything you need to master these essential skills.

I've scrolled through lots of books, there is so much information out there, but this book has a tendency to keep it simple and to the point. It has good illustrative examples that not only are useful but also serve as a good practice guide.

The purpose of this handy little book is to help someone who is working with Unix through the labyrinth of tools available and learn how and when to use them. It is important to note what is mentioned in the preface - "Throughout this book, we use the term Unix to mean not only commercial variants of the original Unix system, such as Solaris, Mac OS X, and HP-UX, but also the freely available workalike systems, such as GNU/Linux and the various BSD systems: BSD/OS, NetBSD, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD." I quote the book because the word "Unix" is about as descriptive as the word "car". The intended audience is anyone who is computer literate, already knows how to program, and is regularly faced with diverse problems in the workplace that must be solved with Unix tools. This book should give you a taste of which tool to turn to and when.

This book can be divided basically into two halves. The first half is a tutorial on writing Unix scripts. The book starts with a brief history of the Unix language and the philosophy behind Unix tools. Slowly, each chapter builds up your skill at script writing. You are shown how to differentiate between shells, how to work with text extensively, how to use loops, pipelines, variables, and decision statements, and how to work with files. There are detailed example scripts at every step along the way. By the end of chapter seven, you should know enough about basic shell scripting to be dangerous.

Starting in chapter 8, you are showed more application-related information. First, Chapter 8 shows and discusses some ready-made scripts for some tasks for which there is no out-of-the-box Unix solution. Some of the handy solutions shown are for path searching and automating software builds. Chapter 9 is a crash course on awk, and is aptly named. It is just enough to be dangerous. You learn how to solve common text processing problems with awk, but you'll need more resources to be really knowledgable. Chapter 10 explains the usage of common commands for listing files, modifying their timestamps, creating temporary files, finding files in a directory hierarchy, applying commands to a list of files, determining the amount of filesystem space used, and comparing files. Next there are two applied chapters showing you how to merge several databases and how to perform spellchecking by using scripting. Chapter 13 changes the subject a bit and talks about the concept of processes in Unix and how you can use their statistics to accomplish a number of monitoring and control tasks. Chapter 14 talks about problems you may run into if you try to take advantage of shell-language extensions, while Chapter 15 addresses the issue of writing secure scripts to the extent it is possible to do so. Writing man pages, and the basics of the Unix filesystem are the subjects of the last two chapters of the book.

I would say it is a good modern introduction to the subject of shell scripting and Unix tools and how to use them. It doesn't dive deeply into any particular topic, but it will get you started by broadly introducing you to the problems most Unix script writers and system admins face regularly and how to get started solving those problems. I highly recommend it for that purpose.

This book provides a nice overview of the Bourne/sh shell's commands. I wish there were more examples with complete scripts. Korn shell users might want to consider "Korn Shell: Programs for Your Survival at Work" by Larry L. Smith. Bash users might want to consider "Bash Shell: Essential Programs for Your Survival at Work" by Larry L. Smith. Some of the examples in Randal K. Michael's "Mastering UNIX Shell Scripting" are also helpful.

I would say this is a pretty good book that covers it's subject very well, buti didn't use it much because i had also bought Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition, which covered the basics and differences between the shells briefly, which was all i needed at the time. but i looked through this and read some stuff that helped and it is a good book if you plan on doing extended shell scripting. it was just a little more than i actually needed

Great book. The emphasis is nicely split between actually using the shell itself and the whole supporting cast of unix tools (sed, awk, cut, join, sort etc.) The idea of carefully crafting solutions using the unix toolbox mindset is key. I also like the fact he doesn't try to teach to multiple shells, but first tries to emphasize portability by sticking mainly to a POSIX standard, and only later adds info about non standard shell topics. If I could only have one book on shell scripting, this would be it. The best description is 'Practical'.