Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book - contains "must know" information
Review: The author says right off the bat that this isn't a book that will help you install Linux. He refers you elsewhere. This book contains information that, in my opinion, everyone needs to know if their goal is to be a master user in Linux.Other books concentrate on things that are specific to a certain distribution. This book concentrates mostly on things that should be done from the command-line, and different command-line programs. If you want to be good at Linux, or even aspire to be a Linux admin, you need to know this stuff. I would like to see the author make an updated version of this book, and cover things like ssh, and remote administration. This is an excellent book! I gave it a 4-star rating because I think it should have covered other info, like the kernel, and ways to tweak your system.
Rating:
Summary: Good book BUT no ISP hookup or X
Review: This book is good for learning linux and the first few months after. It covers a lot a the commands in a manner that you can understand. However Mr. Sobell seems to subscribe to the conspiracy to prevent new Linux users from going online, the book does not cover isp hookup focusing on Navigator and such like. He also misteps by using valuable real estate to give a history of Linux, cute but useless. The article on X is of little use, but X is very complex. He explains the parts of the windowing environment instead of how to configure X. Granted configuring X is difficult, but an effort should have been made. The best part of this book is the glossary which list a lot of linux commands and gives explanations, this is better than the man pages and worth the price of admission. In short this book covers all the important stuff except isp hookup and X. It also does not cover installation. All things considered this is the best Linux book I have read, and I can't see them getting much better.
Rating: 
Summary: bought it 6 months ago, STILL use it!
Review: This book is great! I don't care what anyone else says, this is the perfect book for Linux users. I own over 25 books on or related to UNIX/LINUX, and this one is the only one I really go back to (well, this one and Linux the Complete Reference, but that is more a collection of HOWTOs). It is the only book I refer to for an explanation of why something works such-a-such way in Linux. The book is serious enough to talk about shell programming, but also goes over access permissions, networking, and things like vi. It also has some pretty cool man-type pages in the back with examples. If you are looking for a book that specifically tells you how to set up you ISP connection or ethernet card, look for Linux, The Complete Reference. (A Walnut Creek CDROM book)
Rating:
Summary: The perfect combination!
Review: This book toes a very difficult line between being a textbook with tutorials and a reference guide, and it succeeds admirably. For the intermediate computer user who is new to Linux, the book provides excellent instructions, with relevant questions at the end of each section. For the seasoned Linux user, it provides a good reference. If you have Linux up and running but are looking for a well laid out format by which you can proceed, this is the book for you. It is not a compilation of man pages, nor is it an installation guide. It is a well structured means to aquire skills.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books on what & how with Linux
Review: This is one of the best books to learn the guts of how Linux works, and how you can use it. It takes you from beginner commands through advanced usage. It specifically does not include an install chapter however, because it is version independent. At first glance this could appear to be a weakness, but it is actually a strength as it can be combined with and used to learn to get more from ANY Linux operating system product.
Rating:
Summary: Best all around linux book
Review: This is the best linux book that i have picked up to date..In the book the author goes through the whole system, showing the reader how to compile the kernal, create a firewall, set security, setup hardware and many other apps.. I would like to find other books from this author as well..
Rating:
Summary: the best linux book around - i wish it came out yearly
Review: This is the best Linux tutorial/sys admin book around. Period.
My only wish is it were revised yearly to keep up with new features and commands. (it was published in 1997). Specifically it needs new material on secure shell and secure ftp.
Rating:
Summary: What more can I ask for?
Review: When I buy a book I want the Best one out there... By golly, I think I got it! What is the most valued part of a book? The ability to refer back to it when you get stuck! This book is perfect for that. Mark does an excellent job showing people how to navigate their new Linux system. After going through the chapters there is a Part II which covers all those handy commands (syntax, and examples). If there was one thing to be more complete, I would have to say the networking section. ISP hookup? What is that? This book doesn't hit the howto hookup to your ISP at all. Out of ten I'd give this book a nine. But out of five, a five. Great Book! Well worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book after you have installed Linux
Review: With the assistance of a friend who is more familiar with computer hardware than I am, I installed Linux on my PC several months ago. After that I downloaded a whole bunch of How-Tos and started exploring the Linux System. While the How-To's were extremely useful, they were a little obscure at times. Also they didn't always answer my questions. A month later I purchased 2 Books on Linux - Running Linux by Welsh & Kaufman and A Practical Guide to Linux by Mark Sobell. Welsh & Kaufman's book deals more with Systems Programming and Hardware Issues. In fact, the two books complement each other quite well. Running Linux is also somewhat "chattier" than Sobell's book which basically just "tells it like it is". Sobell's book, although it covers Systems Administration, mainly deals with issues like shell programming, editors, utility programs and programming tools. There are chapters on the Linux utilities, the filesystem, the Shell, X-Windows, the vi and Emacs Editors. Most importantly for me, there are 2 chapters on the Bourne Shell and Bourne shell scripts. Although there is an O'Reilly book on Bash which I have not seen and which presumably deals with Bash programming even more comprehensively, Sobell's book was the most useful and useable source of information on Shell programming that I have found so far. The Command summary at the back is also well presented and useful. Sobell does make extensive use of internal references, presumably because he did not want to restate the same material. While this does lead to a bit of page turning to get an answer sometimes, it leaves more room for other material, so I can readily accept it. Given the enormous amount of possible material that could be covered in any book attempting to deal with Linux comprehensively this is probably the wisest course. If you want a book on Linux and Hardware, then buy Running Linux by Welsh & Kaufman or download the appropriate How-To's (or both). Sobell's book is for use after you have your hardware problems largely solved and want to get on with customizing your system, using X-Windows, utilizing the various compilers, learning about the the Linux/Unix filesystem and basically getting the system to do useful things. There are several small quibbles I have with the book though. Firstly, there is the overlarge Typeface on the Table of Contents starting on Page xvii and running through to xlvii (that's 30 pages for the Roman Numeral illiterate) which is FAR too many. It appears to me that the Table of Contents is also meant to be used as a sort of Reference Guide. This is fair enough but the typeface is way too big. Secondly, as I said above, any comprehensive book on Linux/Unix will have to make decisions on what to put in and what to leave out and this is fair enough. However, it would be nice if the book included an appendix saying where one can obtain information on the topics not dealt with in the book. In fact, I would go further than that. A comprehensive Bibliography of Linux/Unix in general would be a worthwhile addition. One notable Linux utility program not mentioned is Perl. A brief discussion of it in the Linux Utility Programs section would have been nice or alternatively an appendix like that for regular expressions. Admittedly Perl is a vast topic, and doing justice to it in 6 pages is possibly a bit much but some sort of reference would have been nice. The book is an adaptation of the author's two other books on using Unix. Given the nature of the Linux community, Linux users tend to be fairly knowledgeable about Mice and Keyboards already, so pictures of them are probably not necessary. Given the overall quality of the book, these are relatively minor criticisms. All in all, in my opinion, Sobell's Practical Guide to Linux is the best book available on the market, bar none, for quickly and effectively getting to use the Linux editors, X-Windows, shells and Linux Utility Programs If you have a copy of A Practical Guide to Linux and Running Linux you should be able to solve most Linux problems.
Rating:
Summary: Learning to the Advanced user, YOU NEED THIS BOOK!
Review: WOW! Its not often that you get to read a book that flows along with the learning curve, that is why I have made this book part of my learning curriculum, my students are learning in two ways one is by the wonderful knowledge contained in this book and two is by interactive classes. I had the great distinction to be able to speak with Mr. Sobell and from the brief conversation with him; I have found him to be a sincere and genuine person. People like that are hard to find and then when they offer their wisdom in print well that is a blessing! So if your not sure that you want to get into Linux, buy his book read it cover to cover if you don't sit back and say WOW then you need to read it again! Thank you Mr. Mark G. Sobell Hal Baumgardner Senior Systems Analyst
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