Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding Linux book!
Review: * * * * *This book may have had Debian as its base, but, this book can easily be used with any distribution. I have been using Linux for six years now, and I was able to learn commands that I didn't know even existed. Don't pay any attention to those who will give this book only three stars simply because they didn't read the books discription and bought the wrong book. This one is a real winner. I antipipate that this book will be in my library for some time to come because most of the books contents go over stuff that will most likely not change very much over time. * * * * *
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Linux book!
Review: * * * * * This book may have had Debian as its base, but, this book can easily be used with any distribution. I have been using Linux for six years now, and I was able to learn commands that I didn't know even existed. Don't pay any attention to those who will give this book only three stars simply because they didn't read the books discription and bought the wrong book. This one is a real winner. I antipipate that this book will be in my library for some time to come because most of the books contents go over stuff that will most likely not change very much over time. * * * * *
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry I bought it
Review: Even though this book is written over the keyboard of a Debian system. There is a lot of good usable command line utilities and programs that would be usefull on, I can only imagine, any distribution. This book has, so far, been actually fun book to go through, and I have learned a lot of commands and other things that I didn't know existed before. This is really a great book for the linux user who is ready to make the step from the "newby" stage to the intermediate stage, and beyond. I am glad I got bought this book.!!!!!!!! .
Rating:
Summary: A lil geeky maybe...
Review: I had been using Linux for around two years when I came across this book. I was surprised there was so much more to know about Linux. After casually glancing through its pages I realised this was a treasure chest. If you are the shell user type, you will definitely enjoy this book. If you are GUI user, you will start appreciating the shell.There are easier ways to do what you have been doing and this book will show you how to do those things.
Rating:
Summary: Not really a cookbook
Review: If you are used to the O'Reilly cookbook formula you won't find that here. This is really and end-to-end user level walkthrough of Linux from the shell through the operating system and into applications. It's complete, but I found the text a little terse and stiff. Illustrations are sparse and underused.
This book covers the shell, X windows, text editing, text manipulation, file system commands, network access, configuration and other common Linux areas of interest. It has a wide range of coverage, which means that even though the book is quite thick the time spent on any one topic is fairly light. One exception is text manipulation, which is covered in significant depth.
This book is definitely worth the look, but you should also consider O'Reilly's "Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora".
Rating:
Summary: Cookbook approach to working with Linux
Review: Let me start with what this book is and is not. There is nothing on how to install, troubleshoot, or administer Linux and it is not supposed to have that information. This is a cookbook and is designed to be a resource when you have a specific goal in mind and want to know how to get there. The first several chapters focus on the very basic Linux information that everyone working in the operating system should know. This includes such common items as how to determine what processes are running and how to determine who you are logged in as. Of course anyone with even a minimum of Linux experience knows this stuff. For the more experienced Linux users the later chapters deal are a real treasure. It includes things like viewing and editing images, PostScript, working with sound, and cross-platform conversions. The recipe style layout really works well. Like a list of ingredients the author lists the program to be run, package manager name for the installation package, and the home page where the package can be found. This is one of the really nice features of the book. If you are looking for how to accomplish a specific task you can look it up, see if there is a program to accomplish it, locate and install the program if necessary, and follow through the specific directions to achieve your desired result. The Linux Cookbook, 2nd Edition is very highly recommended for the new Linux user, and recommended as a desk reference to keep available for the more experienced user who may just need to know how to convert that mp3 file to another format and burn the result to a CD.
Rating:
Summary: Good for command line junkies
Review: Target Audience
Command line Linux users who want practical examples of how to do things. Contents
This is a detailed book on how to accomplish a number of tasks using the command line interface of a Debian Linux distribution. The book is divided into seven parts and the following chapters: Part 1 - Working With Linux - Introduction; What Every Linux User Knows; The Shell; The X Window System
Part 2 - Files - Files and Directories; Sharing Files; Finding Files; Managing Files
Part 3 - Text - Viewing Text; Text Editing; Grammar and Reference; Analyzing Text; Formatting Text; Searching Text; Typesetting and Word Processing; Fonts
Part 4 - Images - Viewing Images; Editing Images; Importing Images; PostScript
Part 5 - Sound - Sound Files; Audio Compact Discs; Editing Sound Files
Part 6 - Productivity - Disk Storage; Printing; Cross-Platform Conversions; Reminders; Mathematics
Part 7 - Networking - Communications; Email; The World Wide Web; Other Internet Services; Appendices - Administrative Issues; Linux Resources on the Web; License Review
The true Unix geek and guru seems to be addicted to the command line interface of their system. Why use a mouse and a graphical interface if you can do it all via the keyboard and arcane system commands? If that appeals to you and describes your world, then this book will appeal to you. Now, before I say anything else, there's one thing that the reader should know. This book was written in 2001, and I'll assume that the richness of the desktop graphical interfaces was not available back then. The book seems to be written from the assumption that the command line is the only game in town. The author makes a statement in the opening where he says this book will show "everyday users - artists, designers, businessmen, scholars, or scientists" how to use the tools and applications. I'm here to tell you... the average "user" he targets isn't in this group. You show me a typical accounting supervisor who will use a command line interface, and I'll admit I'm in error. But it isn't going to happen... The book is written in "recipe" format. Each example is numbered, and any other special handling instructions are included up front (like additional packages to download). The command syntax is listed along with a "to get this type of result, do this:" list of command parameters. If you are interested in trying to accomplish a task as part of a shell script or to avoid using an interface with unnecessary features, this format will help you zero in on the specific information you're after. Another thing to keep in mind is that the author is targeting the Debian Linux distribution. You may find a few variations you'll need to accommodate if you are running something different, but overall you should find value regardless of what Linux distribution you are running. It's all solid information if this is the type of Linux work you are doing. Conclusion
A good title for Linux geeks or wanna-be geeks who want to learn how to use the command line interface to accomplish tasks. Definitely not a title for typical desktop users of Linux.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended!
Review: The Linux Cookbook is exactly what I was looking
for as someone just getting into Linux. I tried
others but none showed me how to use Linux for
daily use. That is where this book excels. It's
packed with information that you can actually USE!
It wins on best value for the price, hands down.
Rating:
Summary: OK for beginners
Review: This book didn't quite go as far as I'd wanted. I was expecting something more for the intermediate Unix user, but this was more for the beginner. People considering this book should compare it with "UNIX for the Impatient (2nd Edition)". This book spends a lot of time on simple operations (like formatting text and piping tools together), reiterating man pages (like giving command line options), or discussing in-depth tools that people aren't likely to use much (like lynx and not Netscape or Mozilla). The "Networking" section was also a joke. It spent just a few pages on PPP, and nothing on anything else. I was really interested in learning about Samba, DNS, firewalls, Web servers, etc., but I guess I'll have to find another book for that. On the plus side, I *did* learn some things (for instance, I'd never used lynx before, and find it handy now that I've been exposed to it), and the author provides many links to interesting sites full of additional information and tools to download. All in all, a mixed bag.
Rating:
Summary: The Extreme View
Review: This book offers an extremist view of Linux.
It shows you how to do your everyday computer
work using ONLY open source software - many
Linux books take a much less "pure" view of
the system. But that's not all. It can also
claim what others can't. The dirty little
secret of Linux books is most authors use M$
to write and publish them! But Stutz is a
GNU/Linux fanatic, and he wrote and produced
the whole thing with ONLY Open Source software!
This in effect means that the book itself is
an example of the kind of things you can do
with Linux. And if that wasn't enough this book
is also Open Source! If he is right that the
Open Source movement is about to transform book
publishing like it transformed software, then
this book is a glimpse at the future. And by the way, Linux Cookbook is packed with
lots great tips! It is a thorough guide for
learning how to use any Linux system, regardless
of your distro or hardware. It is refreshing to
see such an extreme view brought to the everyday
user. Dare I suggest that it may one day be
regarded as a "classic for the masses".
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