Customer Reviews

Mastering Linux [With Contains the Complete Red Hat Linux Distributions]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I had much success with Sybex books(7 books) until this one. This book is missing key parts and it reads like an instruction that comes with cheap assemble-it-yourself furniture. You end up asking yourself, now what do I do with this part?

'Mastering Linux' is intended for those people who have never worked in Linux and require superficial overview of the operating system to get started. After this the book has no use.

Just like other general book on Linux, the first 5 chapters deal with the introduction and installation. Chapter 6-12 solely discuss the desktop environment, which is very strange considering that using the command shell is more powerful. Even after these chapters, 75% of the remaining book gives the configuration using GUI! Graphical interface is ok but if you actually have to use Linux you are better off with the text mode.

Chapter 13-35 are concerned with setting up various servers (SMTP, Web, Database) on Linux and using various graphical utilities. Again why were they added to a general book on Linux, only the author knows.

The book has too much information (in 1000+) pages, resulting in no in-depth coverage of any topic (except the desktop environment!) There is only one small chapter on using bash and on chapter on system administration.

The only good thing about it is the Appendix for the shell commands.

The book is good for giving a newbie a start off and that is all. But again with too much importance given to the GUI. No one can master Linux using this book. Once you have installed the operating system, try buying some other book.

I was starting to learn about Linux. This book gave a terrible experience that I thought I would stay away from Linux forever. Please do not follow the directions that author gave you. It would lead you to an dead end.

This is one of the few great books on linux I have ever seen. The auther does not just breeze over your head assuming you know certain things like most authors do, nor does he speak below you. Many books about linux just tell you to type commands, or do this or do that but dont tell you why you are doing it and principals behind it. This guy is a great teacher, and buy the time you are done reading this book, you will have a level of understanding of all aspects of linux, that you will feel confident enough to experiments on your own(and not get caught by the smallest snag) as well as move on to more advanced books and topics. I went from being able to do nearly nothing in Lunix, to feeling pretty confident using it. Thank You Mr. Danesh for opening up my eyes to the wounderful world of Linux!

Absolutely, this book is not supposed to be read by the audience it claims: novices, beginners, ordinary people trying to keep up with the trends in computer technology. One could rank it a 3-star book for administrators (I am not one) but not a book for novices (what for this level of readers deserves no stars). Mastering Linux fails in determining possible trouble-shooting from the beginning to the end of installation. You are left alone to discover that if you install Linux in expert mode (discover by yourself that a Genius Netmouse freezes the mouseconfig probing) there will be much less trouble to manage than if you decide to install packages separatedly as suggested. If you do install all the packages at once most chapters become useless since Linux do everything automatically and the book relies on the install-each-package-at-a-time-and-configure speech to be a book (that's what makes the book thicker, should I say "sicker"?). If you have two hard drives do not expect technical notes on installing Linux on a slave hard drive, you are obliged to have a computer with a c:\ drive solely and no other processor than Intel (There's no reference of AMD processors, what is scarry at first but never mind, no problems with my K6-II/300mhz until now, maybe there was no real testing on different platforms or the book indeed misses a "Sponsored by Intel" stamp). After you discover you should have bought your computer in the same store the author did and finnaly (phewww...) have Linux miraculously running, follow the instructions on how to get connected on the Internet and discover how lucky a guy can be if he gets connected to the Internet with that script in the book (My advice: go to the KDE Internet folder and run the Kppp. P.S.: It's not in the book how to do it and please do not e-mail me asking how, after spending nights on Linux I just don't have the time anymore). Another thing that might fry one's patience and self-esteem is the fact that the book spreads the information without considering much about category assortment, you learn things a little here, a little there. There is no such a thing like: "Internet with Linux!: From Modem Configuration to Chatting and Browsing plus Your Own Web Server!" or "Multimedia: From 0 to Sound, Video plus Editing", instead of it you get something like a Lou Bega's technical version of Mambo Number 5: "A little bit of modems in 15 or 12; a little bit of browsers only after "shell"; a little bit of servers in the end; a little bit of Netscape? 19, my friend!" Besides all odds, Mastering Linux, nonetheless it claims to be able to do that, fails to be effective when it comes to teaching such a OS in a way people may feel it can add something new to their computing lives. It misses illustrations and takes for granted many steps and concepts the advanced user can easily understand. It does not show the easiest way to configure multimedia, Internet, mail and servers (by experience I learnt Gnome is not that big thing the book says, try the KDE interface instead). If that's a book directed to newbies as it says it should be more learner-sensitive, it should impress people by telling them what they can do with it and how they can master it, rubbing the practicality of it on their face as Microsoft does with their OS and Office software. The more one reads these Linux manuals the more one gets to the conclusion that maybe writers are not guilty for the level of their books. Maybe Linux organizations are trying to convince the ordinary user it can do for them what they can not. My kingdom for a Linux book that may reverse my opinion.

This book is a perfect example of how publishers get a handle of an under achiver to fill pages of three inch paper waist. 10% of the pages are section boundries, another 10% is "where do we go from here" sections, 10% is Linux supported font names, video card manufacturers. Covered subjects are totally out of focus. It sticks to safe heaven of generality, and talks about how computers work and repeats linux installtion guide. Do not waste your money

If you're looking for a in-depth review of how to perform system administration via the Linux command line, then this definitely isn't the book for you...but that's not what it's intended for. For me, it was absolutely indispensible for getting you through the first few days as a Linux user. Installing, setting up, running X Windows, Samba, etc. It's one of those books that you never refer to again after you've read it because you're already past its knowledge level. But this book will at least get you to that point, easily and gracefully, which a lot of other books can't seem to do because they get you bogged down in the details before they walk you through how to install and operate the system. Buy this book to get you started (which is its purpose), then plan on buying a 2nd comprehensive Linux system administration book later after you're up and running. That's the perfect combination. Again, as a "get you started" book, this one was absolutely indispensible, but buy it knowing that you're going to need an industrial strength sysadmin book a few weeks later.

This book will by no means answer all questions, but it will get you going. It does a good job of explaining what the important files do, what happens during startup, important network concepts, ethernet, Samba, router concepts, Apache web server, sendmail. I rail on X windows in a second, but the author does as decent job as I've seen. Both xf86config and Xconfigurator are well covered as well as the evil XF86Config file.

I do disagree with the author's early reliance on X windows and then delving into the command line. On my two Linux computers, configuring X windows was a great hassle and I spent those early days only in the command line.

To his credit, the author makes some kind of statement along the lines that hard core users would disagree with showing X windows before the command line. I'm not hard core, but I agree with them. You need to get around the line command to FIX X windows if it does not configure properly during set-up, of which I'm 0 for 2.

X windows is a hassle (not the author's fault) and I believe most new users of Linux will experience difficulty configuring the X windows system. I needed info on where to find and how to install files from the Internet and how to upgrade parts (xfree86) of the system. Linux updates every couple of months, so not covering update methodology (theory and practice) is a bit shortsighted. I had to get pretty crafty trying to update the X server from 3.3.2 to 3.3.3. Looking back, it was easy. That was not my impression before I figured out what I was doing. The author is a bit optimistic on this front.

Overall, it served my needs of helping me decipher what's under the Red Hat hood. A good book for one that claims to be the "Linux Resource for the Non-Unix user." Not too heavy, not too lite.

I bought this book because it was on sale and I picked it up for next to nothing. I didn't get what I paid for. This book seems geared towards people with little computer experience (anyone running GNOME or KDE does not need chapters on e-mail or netscape; any user with half a mind could find e-mail clients in their 'K' or GNOME menu or on the net and people who can't use a web browser shouldn't be starting with a book like this). The installation description is no help whatsoever; I eventually stumbled across Usenet where I found instant solutions for the problems I was having. This book takes a "cross your fingers and pray that the installation works properly, and if it doesn't, you're stuck on your own". This book covers too many topics and not in enough depth. I recommend buying "Running Linux" by O'Reilly & Associates for beginners, or "Essential System Administration" by the same company for people who want a little more in depth coverage.

Hello, I'm the reader from Edmotnon Canada and I would like to make a second comment if I may.

"Mastering Linux" is a book that was a waste of time to write and it is a waste of time to the reader. If anyone is filing charges against the author, I would love to participate.

The book states on the back cover: Whatever you want to achieve with Linux, MAstering Linux Premium Edition makes it easy, providing the clear instruction and unique insights of a Linux expert who understands the needs of the non-Unix world.

That does sound good, doesn't it? It was the reason why I bought the book.

Mr. Arman Danesh, you suck and so does your book!