Rating: 
Summary: A load of nauseating phoney cutsy kiddie-talking bull
Review: A bunch of senseless pap produced by clueless scribble-for-a-living JOURNALISTS - that is to say, professional A-HOLES reselling second-hand bs after having stirred in a kiloton of annoying cliches. Phoney baby talk galore, failing attempts at humour married with zero understanding of the topic + plus an obligatory GNU licence text at the end - oh, not again. Also, someone please pass onto the authors that the word "hobbiest" actually spells "hobbyist". First class puke this "book" is. Make sure none of your hard-earned money gets wasted as royalties for these scribble-a-buck nogoodniks.
Rating: 
Summary: Good introduction to open source and the Linux community
Review: As a newbie to the Linux world (and a sociologist by training), I'm interested in getting my hands on pretty much anything having to do with (a) how/where to use Linux and (b) the Linux community/culture. This book offers a little of both in a very easy-to-read package. Maybe it's because I've been reading too many of the dry technical manuals that another reviewer alluded to, but I was initially a bit put off by the writing style (what is this business about Spanish Anarcho-Syndicalist collectives?). I got through the introduction and put the book down for a day. Finally, curiosity got the better of me, I got used to the writing style, and I read the rest of it over the weekend -- I'm glad I did! Mostly, Hall and Proffitt talk about the open source movement, where Linux is being used (and where it's headed), and provide a light-hearted guide to the politics and economics of Linux. For a couple of chapters in the middle they try to explain Windows-users' discomfort with the transition to Linux (what do you mean we have to mount a disk? recompile a kernel?). Parts of these chapters devolve into a slightly washed-out how-to, which I found mildly distracting. They did, however, illustrate the fears that Windows-users face when trying to migrate to Linux and how they're largely unjustified. The list of resources for further reading is excellent for Linux newbies (like me!) who want to find out more about this fascinating operating system and its culture. Overall, The Joy of Linux provides a good introduction to open source, where Linux has been, where Linux might be headed, and what the Linux community is like. Highly recommended for newbies, not so much for Linux veterans.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining
Review: Enough trolling. The first few reviewers must be irc regulars, maybe even Slack users (don't flame, I use Slack myself, but I do have people skills and I do answer questions that I know the answer to, rather than shelling out the all-to-common RTFM). The book is rather funny. Some of the anecdotal stuff is amusing. It has been said before, but it's worth mentioning again: THIS IS NOT A HOW-TO/GUIDE/TUTORIAL. It's entertainment, and (I believe) best read after you've had at least a few months experience with Linux. There is one thing that I do have to gripe about, and it's a big one (there was a hint at it earlier). The spelling/grammar/editing in this book is absolutely atrocious. The editor at Muska & Lipman Publishing ought to be shot. If you can get past that, it's an entertaining read.
Rating: 
Summary: history + novel = The Joy of Linux
Review: Here is a book that the author has patterened somewhat after the book entitled, "The Joy of Sex."
It is a definite reader that gives insight into who made who. The last time I read a computer novel of
this magnitude was entitled, "The Mac Bathroom Reader" that delved into the many emails between
Microsoft and Apple. This book is very enjoyable to read. The web site is down which is a bitter disappointment. The authors
have a writing style very close to Toni Morrison's style, a nice touch in a computer world.
Rating:
Summary: history + novel = The Joy of Linux
Review: Here is a book that the author has patterened somewhat after the book entitled, "The Joy of Sex."
It is a definite reader that gives insight into who made who. The last time I read a computer novel of
this magnitude was entitled, "The Mac Bathroom Reader" that delved into the many emails between
Microsoft and Apple. This book is very enjoyable to read. The web site is down which is a bitter disappointment. The authors
have a writing style very close to Toni Morrison's style, a nice touch in a computer world.
Rating:
Summary: history + novel = The Joy of Linux
Review: Here is a book that the author has patterened somewhat after the book entitled, "The Joy of Sex."
It is a definite reader that gives insight into who made who. The last time I read a computer novel of
this magnitude was entitled, "The Mac Bathroom Reader" that delved into the many emails between
Microsoft and Apple. This book is very enjoyable to read. The web site is down which is a bitter disappointment. The authors
have a writing style very close to Toni Morrison's style, a nice touch in a computer world.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!
Review: I picked up this book at... and before I knew it I was on page 40. At that point I knew I had to buy it even though I thought the price was a little steep. I'm a non-programmer linux user so I have not been exposed to the "hacker" side of Linux except for my daily rambles through Slashdot- anyway, I found the background info and lingo very interesting and entertaining as the author sprinkles a fair share of hunour throughout the book. I've been using Linux for 2 years now and have been intending to learn programming- this book finally convinced me to try. It really got me enthused and excited about it. The author really pushes the theme of the Linux "community" throughout the book, he also shows the mentality differences between Linux and the Borg (MS). I'm quite sure some experienced Linux user/programmers may trash the book as it is meant as an introduction to the world of Linux-not the technical side. If you're someone like me who is learning Linux then I highly recommend it- if you're an old hat with it then you might find it boring. I plan on getting several friends who use wondows to read it then I'll try to convince them to try Linux itself.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!
Review: I picked up this book at... and before I knew it I was on page 40. At that point I knew I had to buy it even though I thought the price was a little steep. I'm a non-programmer linux user so I have not been exposed to the "hacker" side of Linux except for my daily rambles through Slashdot- anyway, I found the background info and lingo very interesting and entertaining as the author sprinkles a fair share of hunour throughout the book. I've been using Linux for 2 years now and have been intending to learn programming- this book finally convinced me to try. It really got me enthused and excited about it. The author really pushes the theme of the Linux "community" throughout the book, he also shows the mentality differences between Linux and the Borg (MS). I'm quite sure some experienced Linux user/programmers may trash the book as it is meant as an introduction to the world of Linux-not the technical side. If you're someone like me who is learning Linux then I highly recommend it- if you're an old hat with it then you might find it boring. I plan on getting several friends who use wondows to read it then I'll try to convince them to try Linux itself.
Rating:
Summary: A fun history and outlook for Linux
Review: If you've read many technical books you've probably gotten used to the rather dry monotone sounding books that walk you through fifteen different dialogs, or a long series of command lines that make you wonder how you're supposed to remember how to do that again when the book isn't in front of you... you'll appreciate the lighthearted approach to the history of Linux and the outlook on where it's going. The cartoons aren't bad either.
Rating:
Summary: The culture, nothing but the culture?
Review: This is a bit different from most books about Linux, and other books about the open source movement. You won't learn much about using or administering Linux, but will get a feel for (parts of) the culture of Linux and get introduced to some of the communities in the open source movement. It's fun to read, although the extended metaphor (think other book named "The Joy of ... A Gourmet Guide to ....") gets a bit tired after a couple of hundred pages. It's not a balanced book: it concentrates on the common characture "Linux guru" and there are other types of people using Linux now, but does suceed in capturing the fun, excitment and "cool" of Linux.
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