Linux in a Nutshell - A Desktop Quick Reference

ISBN  0-596-00025-1   Price  approximately £25  UK
Ellen Siever, Stephen Spainbour, Stephen Figgins & Jessica P. Hekman                17 Chapters and index in 796 pages
 

Chapter List

               xi   Preface
            1  Introduction
            2  System and Network Administration Commands
            3  Linux Commands
            4  Boot Methods
            5  Red Hat and Debian Package Managers
            6  The Linux Shells: An Overview
            7  bash: The Bourne Again Shell
            8  csh and tcsh
            9  Patterm Making
            10  The Emacs Editor
            11  The vi Editor
            12  The sed Editor
            13  The gawk scripting Language
            14  CVS and RCS
            15  GNOME
            16  KDE
            17  An Alternative Window Manager: fvwm2

Synopsis

        There are many books about Linux.  If this book is used with Running Linux then you can be assured that you will get to know how to use Linux properly.  The third edition has a bit more than the first and second editions.

Review

          The preface begins with the following....

"This book will not tell you how to install and maintain a Linux system.  For that, you will probably want O'Reilly's Learning Red Hat Linux or Learning Debian GNU/Linux, by Bill McCarty, which contain Linux distributions on CD-ROM and provide help with installation and configuration..  Alternatively, Running Linux by Matt Welsh, Matthias Kalle Dalheimer and Lar Kaufman is an in-depth guide suitable for all major distributions.  For networking information, check out Linux Network Administrator's Guide by Olaf Kirch and Terry Dawson. "

One of the nicer things about Linux in a Nutshell is that you don't get the religious war to do with editors that you get from internet discussion groups.  Both vi and Emacs are explained as well as some others.  This is a bonus for Linux users who are new to these editors.  So often they are faced with an "expert" who knows it all and only uses Emacs or vi.  I use Joe because of their activities.

Linux in a Nutshell is well thought out by the authors and by Ellen Seiver who is also well known for her contribution to her Perl books which are also easy to understand.  It wasn't really written to teach Linux but there a lot of things that both the novice and experienced user will find to be useful.  Typographic conventions are used throughout the book so that a quick glance at a page will quickly point the reader in the appropriate direction.  BOLD is used for commands, programs, and options.  Italic  is used to show arguments, options and variables.  Constant Width  is used in examples and tables to show commands. Constant Italic  is used in examples and tables to show text that should be replaced with user supplied values.

The meat of the book is based around two sets of tables which are Linux User Commands and Sys Admin Commands.  Some of the other chapters follow the same format.  This is very useful for people who are new to sed or Gawk (for example).  The usual thing is for the authors to provide a longish text with many confusing ideas.  None of which can be understood by even the most experienced users.

So, in a few words the format is very helpful and you can find things quickly.  The examples always work.  It's a great book for anyone who uses Linux.  Worth buying so that you can keep it on the shelf :)

All O'Reilly books have a colophon hidden away somewhere at the back of the book.  I've seen many people standing around in bookshops reading the colophons as if they are a modern form of poetry.  Could it be that present day poets are not producing poetry but just some sort of advertising gimmick ?
 

"The animal featured on the front cover of Linux in a Nutshell is an Arabian horse.  Known for its grace and intelligence, the Arabian horse is one of the oldest breeds of horse, with evidence of its existance dating back 5000 years.  The Arabian was very instrumental as an ancestor to other popular breeds, most notably the Thoroughbred in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Possible one of the more characteristic horse breeds, the typical Arabian has large expressive eyes and nostrils, small ears, and a short, sturdy back.  Its stamina suits it particularly well for endurance riding, where the breed dominates the sport.  Its wonderful temperament makes the Arabian an all-round favourite riding horse in North America, though it also can be found in more specialised competitions such as dressage, jumping and reining."

Review by  Richard Ibbotson