Reviews for Linux in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

1. A printed collection of manpages

   Rated 2 out of 5 stars, November 12th, 2007

   80% of this book is a collection of printed man-pages, ordered alphabetically, with no major improvements or added value. The only useful informations on this book is the index of commonly used commands, sorted by topic; and a few introductory chapters.
   
   If you prefer reading on paper and have a few bucks to spend, buy this book. Otherwise, stick on the good old man pages; often more accurate, up-to-date, and "grep-able"... And conveniently located on your screen, where you need it the most. Typing man is always faster than getting the book from the bookshelf, open the index and finally find the page.
   
   Believe me, I own the book, I never use it. Internet + man are your best friends.

2. Probably more suited to Intermediate/Advanced users

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, September 12th, 2007

   I've just started using Linux (Fedora 7) and I was looking for a book that would help me learn the commands and how to do the more tricky things in Linux. The commands in the book are arranged alphabetically, which is not much good if you do no know the command in the first place i.e. if you want to know how to delete a directory you are going to have to know the 'rm' command before being able to jump to the right page in the book. For beginners this isn't recommended (get the Linux Essential Commands Pocket Guide instead) but if you're intermediate/advanced then this is a good book. I've no doubt that I'll refer back to this book in 3/4 months or so but at the moment I won't be using it much.

3. A Quick Reference For Linux Users

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, May 12th, 2005

   Ok so what if you can find the man pages of a certain command on the internet....wouldn't it be easier if you could find it on a book much quicker?? Then this book is for you.....this book not only gives you commands to perform certain tasks, it also shows you other functions to that particular command as well..there are also short tutorials on how to use vi emacs etc.....so this book is a really good book if you use linux all the time...

4. A starter for all

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, October 12th, 2004

   I found this book to be extremely useful. It greatly improved my understanding of how Linux works and, more importantly, how to use the command line - which is very powerful. It also helped me understand the directory structuring, enabling me to find files that I needed to configure, and these files have been consistantly in the same place with the Distros I have used to date.

   Excellent!

5. Linux in a Nutshell

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, November 12th, 2003

   For anyone who wants to get into the 'nitty-gritty' of Linux, this is ESSENTIAL!!!!

   More of a book for those who already have an idea of what Linux is all about!