Customer Reviews

Red Hat Linux 6 Unleashed

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I purchased the book, read most of parts I & II andinstalled Linux on my PC using the CD ROM included. I had few problemsinstalling Red Hat Linux - Oracle 8i for Linux is another story... I agree that this book and Linux for that matter are not necessarily for nontechies. I am a techie with a background in programming, but a Linux newbie. I think some of the other reviewers need to lighten up. For this price I received a Linux distribution and more than enough information to get it installed and running. I am using the rest of the book as a reference for setting up services such as Samba file sharing and recompiling the kernel to accomodate Oracle's requirements.

If you can only afford one Linux book and you are running Redhat 6.0 or later, then this is definately the book to get. However, it still has a long way to go.

'Unleashed' is another one of those tomes that simply try to cover too much material in a single volume and don't seem to do any particular topic justice. I have a whole bookshelf of computer books that are each over 500 pages that I had to buy only because out of the entire book there was one sentence in one paragraph somewhere in the middle that had the tidbit of information that I needed.

These books simply have too much redundant and non-meaty stuff and too little of the really important stuff. For example, they cover installation, building the kernel, setting up NFS, the history of the internet and why you need DNS, how mail works and the different types of mail programs, how to connect to an ISP through PPP, how to write C, Perl, and Java programs, ... etc. Three things to consider here: (1) are all of those topics relative to me in the context of getting RH6.0 loaded and configured? (2) Are any of the relative topics covered in sufficient detail that I don't have to look further to complete my task? (3) Are there any glaring omissions or topics that are essential to cover in order to complete my installation and configuration?

The answer to the 1st question is absolutely not - there is no value whatsoever in including programing topics here. This is not the time nor place. I would rather buy a 2nd book on Linux programing and take about 2 lbs out of this one.

The 2nd question addresses the real meat of the problem: does the book address the relative topics in sufficient detail to get you up and running. This is where Unleashed stands above simular books (such as the O'Rielly version), but clearly doesn't go far enough. In general, I wish they would take the time and show you in detail how to use the X/GUI-version of Linuxconf - the primary configuration tool and single greatest strength of RH Linux, to demystify each major configuration evolution including building the Kernel. Here they are inconsitent and frustratingly vague. Sometimes they refer to the Linuxconf interface for a configuration evolution, sometimes they refer to the .conf files. Sometimes they simply print out a .conf file and don't offer any clarification.

Regarding question (3) they go into great detail about topics that you are not likely to encounter (such as setting up new user accounts or using command line mode to rebuild the kernel), but omit much needed information such as SAMBA troubleshooting checkpoints, potential NFS errors, an end-to-end example to configure the PPP daemon for dial-in support, or setting up a firewall via IPCHAINS or IP Masquerading.

In conlusion, I wanted to see a RH-specific book that focuses on how RH is distributed today as a GUI-oriented OS whose greatest features (if some author could please explain its use) is Linuxconf - a X/GUI application that is a single point COMPREHENSIVE configuration utility that can be run remotely. Specifically, I want a book that can walk me through these evolutions critical to getting a RH60 server or workstation up and running:

NETWORK CLIENT - configuring network adapters, multiple adapters, IP forwarding, routing (default gateway), DNS, mask, DHCP.

NETWORK SERVER - configuring a DNS server, mail (POP-3) server, dial-in PPP server, DHCP/BOOTP server, PXE server (important! ), SAMBA server. Provide insightful ways to debug or verify basic functionality - how to test that it is or is not working.

KERNEL BULDING - using the graphical 'make xconfig'. Special notes on building SMP (multi-processing) boxes. How to properly configure your LILO files, how to add SCSI support, how to add loadable modules, etc.

EXTRAS - Save the programing issues for another book!

In conclusion, Unleashed goes further and is more useful than other simular comprehensive Linux books. It does enter into using Linuxconf for system configuration but does not go into enough detail to be a true on-stop-source. It is unfortunate that the bulk of its content is redundant and not of importance to the system integrator who is likely to buy this book. I recommend that you do buy it, but you might have to buy others.

A great book. I just read all the reviews, and I'm guessing most are by people who have no idea what they're doing. Ppl saying the book is not for Newbies apparently never read the book "Running a Perfect Website with Linux". This book is very detailed in exactly how to set up your system and get things off the ground. It is filled with information specific to this distribution of linux also, further helping Redhat 6.x users get moving without having to make them learn that not every distribution is the same. I've read several complaints here about ppl not liking there being any programming info in the book. Why would a newbie be setting up Linux if they won't be doing programming anyway? The info is only there to help you out. If you want a book that will help you set up linux at home or work so you can do what you want it for in the first place, you will love this book. If you want to buy linux because you've never used it before and want to give it a whirl, you may want to read up on it a little BEFORE you delve into the land where only gods can tread. It isn't a toy, it is a programmer's OS. It is a design and development environment. If you don't know anything about Linux and Hardware Compatibility, for example, don't just jump in. Do some research. Then if you're interested, buy this book.

I was seeking a source for info on Linux that was lacking in the ZDNet Intro to Unix course. This book includes the needed syntax of unix commands which are not included in most sources. The info included within this book is detailed enough to get the "job" done!

The Red Hat Linus V6.0 CD included with the book has several different install procedures - automatic (virtually) and expert. I would suggest the expert mode...a user learns more plus being in a position to solve possible hardware interaction problems, if they occur. The book walks one thru the expert install mode.

I've used the Red Hat Distro of Linux since about the 4.0 period. This book is an absolutely invaluable desktop resource. Very WELL written, and the best reference book on Linux I've seen yet. Fundamentaly...Linux as an O.S. is way more powerfull and flexible, than the home user needs. Hint...If you use AOL because it's "user friendly" Linux OR this book isn't for you. For those of us that THRIVE on challenge and adventure in the world of bits and bytes...GET IT!

I found this book really helpful in that it has just about everything you'd need to set up and administer a Linux system in one place. Some of the chapters are better than others, and I think the programming chapters would have been probably best published in a separate book, but for installation, set-up and troubleshooting, I found it invaluable.

I picked up this heavy tome hoping beyond hope that it would not be as nearly bad as all of the other "Unleashed" books I have had the misfortune of trying to rely on over the years. After all, I was in a unique position: I was relatively new to both Linux and Red Hat, perhaps even a really bad book would teach me something when I'm starting from close to nothing. I was wrong.

Like others before it, it is very very far from unleashing anything other than the anger of the reader. The authors, many of which are not qualified to write, manage to insult the beginner while still not giving enough information out to be useful to an intermediate or expert user. Each chapter is essentially a brief overview of a certain technology that is both unnecessarily beginner (e.g. what those crazy numbers in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx are for) and unnecessarily advanced (e.g. use of inheritance in Java after just explaining who created the language). Many of these chapters are fewer than 40 pages and yet could be boiled down to be a third their size. The chapter on Apache, roughly forty pages long, has a whopping 20 pages that is nothing but the config file, with no line-by-line explanation. (I remember pulling this kind of stunt in grade school in order to meet a page count requirement.) Their half-page of instructions on getting Apache installed didn't work on my system, and of course there was no help for what happens when things don't work.

As I progressed through the book, I noticed that there was a short chapter on Perl, a short chapter on Python, and a short chapter on C/C++. The sum of all these short, has-little-to-do-with-Red-Hat-6 takes up well over half the book, and anyone who has any business dealing with Linux on a professional basis will know that you can't get anything useful out of a 30-page overview of a language. As it turned out, the second-to-last chapter in the book was about Java. Jeez, I have over 20 books on Java, many which focus on specific parts such as beans and RMI, and here these people are going to pad this book on RH6 with 40 pages of fluffed instructions on how to write in Java.

I will give this consortium of author wanna-be's some credit -- this book fully met my expectations. After all, I had gotten used to such worthless Unleashed bombs, and this one matched the formula with great precision. It just didn't meet my hopes.

"...and since there ain't no zeros, I guess that makes you a one."

I recently purchased a dedicated server to host both xxx filth and videogame related sites. Unbeknownst to me, I was left with an entire server to configure, and I had no idea what I was doing. I have spent the last MONTH figuring out how to setup a pop3 server, DNS server, adding users, and general system administration. Yesterday, I purchased this book for the full price, and now sincerely wish that I would have seen this gem when I first started S.A.

Configuring your own server is an unholy pain, and now that I have this book, both my knowledge and expertise in the wacky world of System Administration has reached a new plateau. More than likely within a few hours after this review has been written, someone will come across it and ponder as to whether or not this is the book for them. Whether you are a newbie or a seasoned pro, the money spent on this great tome will be well worth it. The chapters on DNS configuration WILL be worth the price of the book alone! Extra features include great tutorials on shell, C, C++ programming. Thanks Sams!!!

We have the obligatory five-foot bookshelf of Linux how-to texts, and this one is used more than all the others combined. It is not perfect, but it comes closer than does anything else which we've used.

The book is described as intended for a user level of Intermediate-Advanced. Don't believe it: this book has been the salvation of our most dangerous neophytes on many occasions. Doubtless, the advanced types will also value it, albeit without as many of the "Wow, it worked!" exclamations.

I was rather disappointed by this book. It covers a lot of ground, and no doubt there is much in it of help to newbies and Linux vets alike. But the organization of the book is disconcerting, and in many places not even consistent with 6.0 release. The installation section was an utter mess. If you are new to Linux, I recommend buying the book, with the caveat that (although dated) the _Using Linux_ 4th edition book by Que is a much clearer, more concise, and generally more helpful book on Linux general issues.