Rating: 
Summary: Overall excellent book
Review: A very good book which succeeds at explaining Linux without focusing on any distribution (even if some distribution particularities are described) or any given detail of some specific version of the OS.Instead of the kind of fluff you can find in other Linux books such as : " select PPP connection from the menu if you have a PPP connection " Here you find an in-depth description of the OS structure and usual problems which allows you to *understand* and *keep control* of the situation in most cases. Just one more thing : the author of the book is a developer from the KDE team. As you may know GNOME and KDE compete for the Linux desktop environment. I had the feeling that the coverage of GNOME and GTK (the underlying widget toolkit) was a bit superficial compared to the coverage of KDE and Qt. But this was minor and concerned barely a few pages. Overall, the book is excellent, well-written and concise (a quite rare distinction in the world of Linux books).
Rating: 
Summary: Very good; perhaps newbies might look at other options too
Review: I recently migrated from win95 to linux. This is a very good reference book, typical of the high quality of O'Reilly publications. But I agree with the reader from Indiana: Michael Kofler's ``Linux: installation, configuration and use'' (2nd ed) is perhaps a better choice for installing and configuring linux, especially if you're migrating from Windows. I get the sense that a lot of people who praise this book highly already know linux well, and so find it easier to read. If O'Reilly books have a weakness, it's that they tend to be written for people who already know a good deal about the subject. (Their Perl books are a good example.) The really high praise often comes from advocates who already know the subject, and want you to love it as much as them. But the style can sometimes make it more difficult for a newbie to get a grip on the basic concepts . That said, though, this is still a great book. I get the feeling that as I get to know linux better I'll rely on this book more than Kofler's. But new users should be aware of Kofler's book -- it's better at getting you through the nuts and bolts of installation and the inevitable early teething problems.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL LINUX BOOK!
Review: Amazon - How can I give a book six stars? An exception should be made here. This book is truly excellent. If you are just starting out, you'll learn enough here to be WELL on your way to being a Linux pro. Matt Welsh et al write wonderfully. Everything is explained in the clearest manner imaginable. No, the book doesn't cover everything, and I don't believe that is the intention of this book. This book is a superb introduction to Linux and a wonderful reference. If you go through the entire book, you'll easily be an advanced user of Linux. The best part is that this book explains it all so well, you'll find nothing is very difficult at all. I've owned all three editions of this book. Each edition replaces the prior on the same location on the shelf - the closest shelf to my computer. O'Reilly is truly an amazing book publisher. It's very uncommon to pick up one of their books and find even one error or lack of coverage. This book is NO EXCEPTION. O'Reilly makes a durable book with a clever binding called a RepKover. That's very important, something you'll discover after referring to O'Reilly books over & over & over again. These books are kept on the desktop or very nearby and used continuously. This is a sure-fire winner! I doubt if Amazon ever sees one of these books show up as a return. It's truly among the very best computer books available today.
Rating:
Summary: Good Start for Intermediate Beginners
Review: This book in conjuction with "Linux : Installation, Configuration, and Use" by Michael Kofler brings an experienced computer user new to Linux up to the fork in the road regarding what exactly one wishes to do with Linux. The two books have a little of everything.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a Linux Bible to me!! --> You must get!!
Review: Wow, this book has everything. I setup my Linux box to my network at work and had FTP, HTTP, X Windows and a good understanding of the Linux OS in a couple days. I love this book and it will not sit on a shelf until I've mastered Linux.
Rating:
Summary: The best Linux book for most users
Review: Running Linux is a great addition to most any Linux user's bookshelf, whether you're a total newbie or have been using Linux for a while. Though, it might not be for hardcore Linux vets. Complemented by O'Reilly's "Linux in a Nutshell" book, you've got everything you need to effectively run Linux on your computer. O'Reilly continues to put out computer books of superior quality. Make sure you get the newest edition of each: 3rd ed. of "Running", 2nd ed. of "Nutshell". (as of August 1999)
Rating:
Summary: quite good - doesn't cover everything though
Review: This is a highly regarded book by most and I agree. The style is clean and to the point. It tells you what you need to know - gets you in and out and on to the next problem. Anybody comfortable with computers will not have a problem with the book. It doesn't have a lot of fluff and they don't spend half the book on a command reference (just use the man pages). They tell you the main issues in running linux and how to handle them. I would highly recommend getting a second book with this one "Linux : Installation, Configuration, and Use" by Michael Kofler It is in the exact same style and just as good. Kofler, however, covers many topics that "Running Linux" doesn't and vice-versa. For example, only one covers setting up Samba. Only one covers shell programming in detail, etc.. (sorry, I don't remember which). If you get both, you will have pretty much all you need.
Rating:
Summary: Great book - but get 3rd edition!
Review: DO NOT BUY THE 2nd EDITION. As usual, Amazon fails to make it clear that this book is obsolete. The 3rd edition of Running Linux is now available and may be purchased at Amazon. If enough people complain, perhaps Amazon will finally make it easy to spot when a new edition of a technical book has become available. By the way, Running Linux is THE best introduction to Linux, just be sure to get the 3rd edition!
Rating:
Summary: "Running Linux" is a great introduction and reference book.
Review: This book is much clearer and better written than other Linux books I've read. This is the handy reference I've been searching for. Finally I have found it!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book- MUST OWN!
Review: I waited for the third edition, and I am glad I did. It's exactly what I want. A newbie to Linux, but no "idiot", I wanted an intelligent and comprehensive book on making Linux do what I want...from the simple (setting up X windows), to the complex (compiling kernel, setting up a server), this book has it all. A LinuxPPC user, I was worried that LinuxPPC would not be mentioned in this book. Not so, a full appendix covers LinuxPPC, with more for SPARC, Alpha and other distributions. The language is consise and easy to read, and does get "deep into Linux" at times..which is great. I am really impressed, this is the first book I've bought by O'Reilly ("the animal people") and if all their books are of this calibre, I will definitely be acquiring more.
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