Linux Bible 8th Edition

I recently took a Linux class and bought this book as an aid for the class. I've bought many of the bible books from Wiley & Sons and felt like this was my best option to learn Linux. The book starts off with some basic history of Linux and where you can go to and download versions of the Linux Operating System to use. I recommend doing this. The best way to learn from this book is to have the OS running as you read so you can follow long with the examples. For example, in chapter 2 you will learn where to download the OS and how to go about installing it on your computer. There where many examples in the book on how to go about doing this. Personally, I keep the OS installed on my flash drive. This way if I mess up the OS all I have to do is reboot from the flash drive and a my mistakes are erased.Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to get in to Linux, studying Linux, or if you just need reference material.

The first couple chapters are, what is linux, what are the different distro's and desktop environments. (GNOME/KDE/UNITY, etc)All of these I already knew, but if you are new to Linux, they give you a good idea of how it is different. Then it goes into power user, bash scripting/terminal use, then systems network admin topics are covered. If you are 100% new to Linux than this book will be over your head past the second or third chapter. You will basic Shell scripting, editors such as Vi, setting up Red Hat/CentOS server's and securing them with SELinux. (Secure Linux) The Scripting, Secure Linux, and setup of servers on Red Hat directly link to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux certification exams. This is great, but should have been more clear on the name of the book. If you want a more general Linux book, look for Linux Fundamentals, I also have that and it not distro specific.

I think this book is solid. The book covers every major area of Linux administration from configuring the UI to installing Linux, to all the various other tasks you might need to do as a sysadmin or a power user. It also does this assuming that you know nothing about Linux, and so it provides a good working foundation for further study, and most of the tasks presented can prepare someone for taking the RHCSA or RHEL exams, although the author does stress that this book isn't SPECIFICALLY geared to passing the tests, so I would get other source materials before trying to pass those tests! The chapters are tabbed so it's easy to navigate to the subject you want to review, and so it works as a nice reference book as well.So, why did I give it 4 stars instead of 5? Well, there are 2 reasons, and NEITHER are the authors fault.1) While this book does give you a window into every major area of system administration, you have to understand that there are something like 50,000 commands in Linux (including modifiers) so even a book like this can't teach you EVERYTHING about Linux. This is just a good starting platform for further study, but don't worry, it does give you enough to get going and accomplish the major tasks you'll face on a job site! I does stand on it's own, and I'm enjoying going through it.2) The second gripe I have is a bit more serious, and that's the fact the author chose to focus on Fedora v21 (because it is upstream from Red Hat, and thus it is the "bleeding edge" of Red Hat technology), but I actually ended up using CentOS with it (which is downstream from Red Hat, free and stable) because Fedora v21 had SO many problems working inside a Virtual Machine that I just couldn't get everything to work. Fedora just plain didn't work right under Parallels 10 for Mac, so I decided to run it under VMWare Fusion, and while it did work better under VMWare, I spent about 4 hours just trying to get it to work like the book, and without luck, and I'm not a slouch when it comes to googling things and trying to fix linux problems. The fixes didn't work either! *Faceplam*.Yes, I tried going on the Internet, reading technical fixes, adding repositories, etc. but after fighting with a "bleeding edge" OS for several hours just so I could get it to work with the book, I gave up. I fell back to CentOS (which is based almost entirely on the Red Hat source code) and although the book isn't totally geared for CentOS, CentOS is essentially the "freeware" version of Red Hat, so it works just FINE with that OS. The UI is different, but since most of the book is focused on the command line, it's easy to work with the book.So, the moral of the story is: Use CentOS 7.0 with this book if you don't want major headaches to deal with, and as long as you do that, this book will be a great resource!. No, Using CentOS won't teach you how to fix the Fedora problems, but if you are just LEARNING Linux for the first time, save yourself the headaches with Fedora v21!Solid 4 stars.

I already know Linux, but I bought this book as a desk reference. It was well worth it and has saved me grief more than once. Excellent info on setting up web servers, etc. However, its got pretty much NOTHING on MySQL which is odd because what website in todays world doesn't require a db? The info on SELinux, web servers, file servers (SAMBA) and email alone made it worth buying. Easy enough for the rank amateur, but meaty enough for the pro as well. Seems to be mostly Redhat / Centos oriented but has some Ubuntu stuff as well. I give it five well deserved stars. Suffice it to say - when I had to fly out to do some onsite work, this thick and heavy book came with me. (Which is why I will buy the kindle edition next time!)

I am using this book as a supplement to another book that I am using to study for the RHCSA/RHCE. I'm only 130+ pages into this & I'm glad I purchased it. This book takes you from scratch, assuming you know nothing about Linux, and takes you all the way through RHCE knowledge. The author is RHCE certified & used to administer RHCE exams; he also teaches RHCE courses.The book contains clearly written examples & explanations. The sequence of material is very well chosen & you get an intuitive understanding of Linux. (I have skimmed ahead.) The biggest advantage to this book over other Linux books is that the Chris Negus has a teaching background & so his explanations & overall presentation feels more flowing & intuitive than what you'll see in other books. I chose this book over another Linux book for that reason.

You're better off getting the Unix and Linux System Administration handbook. The only thing this offers is some good detail on SELinux. The paper is so cheap the wind will rip easily with a strong gust of wind.