Rating: 
Summary: Consumate Handbook
Review: I was required to buy the O'Reilly VI Editor book and Unix Unleashed for a Unix class that I am taking. I found this book onsale, and it looked like a handy quick reference, so I bought it as well. I think that if I wasn't forced to keep the other two, I would have returned the other two and just kept this one. I don't even bother to do my assignments from the other two, I do my assignments from this book. For those looking to get "bang for your buck" for a book to learn the basics from, look no further.
Rating:
Summary: UNIX Manual
Review: I'm using this book since many years. I'm happy they enhanced it for Solaris and also produced a LINUX version of it. It lists "all" UNIX commands, the different shell commands for scripting and also covers other topics up to RCS (Revision control system). It is easy to find things like special features of shell variables or default environment variables. It also compares different types of regular expressions of different UNIX commands. Earlier on I used it daily, but now rather as a refresher, for not forgeting seldomly used UNIX commands. What I do not understand, is why they increased the price of the book so much. The present edition costs at least double the price from what it cost six years ago. But the the book is still well worth the money. As a UNIX admin or regular user one ought to owe a copy of it. With every new edition I bought a new copy of it.
Rating:
Summary: Deserves 6 stars
Review: If you have to get only one Unix book, this should be it. It won't provide tutorials or a lot of background, but it does provide the most wide-ranging reference for Unix available.The section at the beginning of the shells section which lists standard operators is invaluable for writing scripts. It does have weak spots -- it limits its scope to relatively generic Unix commands, and doesn't deal with the often-proprietary command sets for LVM and networking, among other things -- but otherwise, it's a fine book.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Nutshell Book
Review: If you use Unix at your job or home (I understand Mac's O/S 10 uses BSD Unix), GET THIS BOOK! Having said that, be warned that this isn't a book it you are trying to learn Unix from scratch. However, this is THE bible for Unix users. Even beginners will benefit from owning this book (I did when I started). The reason this book is so great is that it contains all of the various Unix commands including those for the various shells (Korn Shell, C Shell, Bourne Shell). Various editors (VI, sed, ex, emacs), awk, macros, tracers, SCCS, RCS, and much more are included here so no matter what you do in Unix, you'll have the commands to use it. Also included is an Obsolete Command section. These are commands which current versions of Unix no longer use but older versions would (obviously). Intermediate and advanced Unix users benefit the most from this book. Sure, you could use the Unix "man" command to get the online manual, but if you are like me, you like having a book to consult. Beginners will benefit from this book as it gives the user a look at the depth of Unix and a source to look up commands. Since the book doesn't contain a lot of examples, beginners may find this troubling. However, as they learn, the book will become of greater value. Bottom line, all Unix users should get this book! It is a must have and you are only short-changing yourself if you don't have it on your bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Nutshell Book
Review: If you use Unix at your job or home (I understand Mac's O/S 10 uses BSD Unix), GET THIS BOOK! Having said that, be warned that this isn't a book it you are trying to learn Unix from scratch. However, this is THE bible for Unix users. Even beginners will benefit from owning this book (I did when I started). The reason this book is so great is that it contains all of the various Unix commands including those for the various shells (Korn Shell, C Shell, Bourne Shell). Various editors (VI, sed, ex, emacs), awk, macros, tracers, SCCS, RCS, and much more are included here so no matter what you do in Unix, you'll have the commands to use it. Also included is an Obsolete Command section. These are commands which current versions of Unix no longer use but older versions would (obviously). Intermediate and advanced Unix users benefit the most from this book. Sure, you could use the Unix "man" command to get the online manual, but if you are like me, you like having a book to consult. Beginners will benefit from this book as it gives the user a look at the depth of Unix and a source to look up commands. Since the book doesn't contain a lot of examples, beginners may find this troubling. However, as they learn, the book will become of greater value. Bottom line, all Unix users should get this book! It is a must have and you are only short-changing yourself if you don't have it on your bookshelf.
Rating: 
Summary: In a nutshell, surely
Review: If you're already comfortable with Unix, but need to have occasional reminders, this is a swell book. It's saved my bacon many times, and is sometimes nice to grab and read while I'm... um... away from the computer for biological reasons. I always come away thinking, "oh yeah! I'd forgotten about that. What a great idea!" Like any O'Reilly book, it looks good and feels good in the hands, but, c'mon, it's still just a computer book.
Rating:
Summary: It's a dictionary for UNIX
Review: It won't teach you UNIX, but it will provide quick answers to most questions about commands. It's pretty much a collection of man pages. The book is most useful for looking up information on the fly. It should be within arms reach whenever you're using UNIX.
Rating:
Summary: Without a doubt THE best Solaris reference guide.
Review: Let me just start out by saying that I have taught Solaris in the past to several international companies and highly respectable universities. I always provide each student with a copy of this book because I put that much value into it. There is no other Solaris book out there that covers the most often-used Solaris commands with such intricate detail and organization as this book does. The only drawback to this book is that the author stopped at Solaris 7. Considering that right now Solaris is up to version 9, I so very much wish that Mr. Robbins continued this book into Solaris 8 and 9. The beautiful part about Solaris, however, is that even Solaris 8 and 9 contain most if not all of the commands that are listed in this book, so it still becomes an absolute necessity for any Solaris administrator. The complete chapter on vi also will be a welcome sight to many as well the separate chapters on the different operating system shells. I must warn that this is NOT a book for those who are looking to get started in Solaris. This is purely a reference manual. In effect, this book is Solaris on-line help (man pages) in a beautifully organized compendium of the essential Solaris commands. If you are a Solaris administrator, regardless of whether you're a novice or an "expert", you need to have this book at your desk at all times. It's completely indispenable.
Rating:
Summary: Without a doubt THE best Solaris reference guide.
Review: Let me just start out by saying that I have taught Solaris in the past to several international companies and highly respectable universities. I always provide each student with a copy of this book because I put that much value into it. There is no other Solaris book out there that covers the most often-used Solaris commands with such intricate detail and organization as this book does. The only drawback to this book is that the author stopped at Solaris 7. Considering that right now Solaris is up to version 9, I so very much wish that Mr. Robbins continued this book into Solaris 8 and 9. The beautiful part about Solaris, however, is that even Solaris 8 and 9 contain most if not all of the commands that are listed in this book, so it still becomes an absolute necessity for any Solaris administrator. The complete chapter on vi also will be a welcome sight to many as well the separate chapters on the different operating system shells. I must warn that this is NOT a book for those who are looking to get started in Solaris. This is purely a reference manual. In effect, this book is Solaris on-line help (man pages) in a beautifully organized compendium of the essential Solaris commands. If you are a Solaris administrator, regardless of whether you're a novice or an "expert", you need to have this book at your desk at all times. It's completely indispenable.
Rating: 
Summary: Not helpful
Review: Maybe I expected too much from the book, but: It is not a tutorial - commands just listed with minimal explanation. It is not a good reference - you cannot search by functionality. it is not very detailed - lots of parameters are unexplained. I'd really recommend to use man and apropos - much more helpful.
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