Customer Reviews

Red Hat Linux 9 Unleashed

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

 

 

Alright, this book has some strong points and some weak points. The weak points are: There are only general guidlines to troubleshooting but nothing else. The reference links work, but some are expired. The coverage is "hasty" and kind of sloppy, but in a book like this that is to be expected.
The strong points are: It virtually covers all the areas. It gives you a solid idea on how Linux works and lets you take it from there. It offers enough support to specialized issues such as networking, scripting, and kernel managing. (Again don't expect any in depth troubleshooting, if any at all).

The message is clear: If you want a most general introduction to ALL areas of Linux, buy this book.
If you want the newbie's guide to Linux, this is not it! Chances are that you'll get stuck booting for the first time with weird messages appearing on your screen and this book will not care less! Stay clear in that case and buy someting more limited to its scope but more embracing to troubleshooting.

On the other hand if you are not experienced yet and you want a thick book on your shelf as a guick reference to kernel compilation let's say, then buy this book. As your experience grows your references to this book will diminish.

When I had purchased Red Hat Linux 9 Unleashed I had already dived head first into Linux, so I knew some things about the subject. This book is still really good reference when I get stuck trying to do something Red Hat, the sections on the kernel is very well written, but this book isn't a good tutorial on Linux in general. A book I would recommed to the novice and also the power user is "Linux: Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition -- by Paul Sheer" its old, but its a classic.

Alright, this book has some strong points and some weak points. The weak points are: There are only general guidlines to troubleshooting but nothing else. The reference links work, but some are expired. The coverage is "hasty" and kind of sloppy, but in a book like this that is to be expected.
The strong points are: It virtually covers all the areas. It gives you a solid idea on how Linux works and lets you take it from there. It offers enough support to specialized issues such as networking, scripting, and kernel managing. (Again don't expect any in depth troubleshooting, if any at all).

The message is clear: If you want a most general introduction to ALL areas of Linux, buy this book.
If you want the newbie's guide to Linux, this is not it! Chances are that you'll get stuck booting for the first time with weird messages appearing on your screen and this book will not care less! Stay clear in that case and buy someting more limited to its scope but more embracing to troubleshooting.

On the other hand if you are not experienced yet and you want a thick book on your shelf as a guick reference to kernel compilation let's say, then buy this book. As your experience grows your references to this book will diminish. Mind you there are AMAZING online resources about anything you might need in Linux. Some other popular company in PCs and workstations should be ashamed by its database poverty and limited information sharing ;-)

I have been using Linux for over 3 years, so I cannot honestly review Red Hat 9 Linux Unleashed from the standpoint of a complete beginner.

However, this book is the first reference I consult when I have a question. There is so much software available for Linux that no book can cover every topic in depth.

On the other hand, Red Hat Linux 9 Unleashed seems to explain more material than the other "thick" Linux books in the same class. There's a good list of references, in the form of web addresses, at the end of each chapter so you can research topics in even greater detail.

I used Ball & Duff's earlier book, Red Hat Linux 8 Unleashed when I ran Red Hat Linux 8 and thought highly of it. Their later RH9 book is even better.

Regarding one reviewer's complaint about the book failing to tell how to configure the almost impenetrable sendmail command, I followed Ball & Duff's advice (pg. 634) to use Donncha O Caoimh's free install-sendmail script, which worked great.

Book seems to be a usable introduction to Linux, but don't buy it to get the software. The second CD seems to have a production problem. Both the original and the replacement sent to me hang up the install process and result in an unbootable PC.

Red Hat Linux can be something of a mystery when first starting out, and I found this book in my predecessor's office when I took the plunge. There are some computer books out there that really nail a topic and make all other books superfluous in the process. This is not such a book, but Red Hat Linux 9 Unleashed does provide helpful knowledge when using the distribution. I would first read the official documentation and the man pages before considering purchase. Some of the content is a verbatim copy of the official Red Hat documentation.

The layout and design of the book is very clean and easy on the eyes. I read this book when I didn't know much of anything about Linux, and the installation walkthrough was very helpful. The explanation of user accounts, permissions, and groups was also well done. I occasionally reference this book when I have a question about shell scripting, the file structure, or the general workings of Linux. This book is very broad and generalized, which is good enough to partially answer any question.

The only real criticism I have for Red Hat Linux 9 Unleashed stems from that generality. There are some Linux topics that deserve and require a really thorough study - like the IP Tables firewall. Several hundred pages have been dedicated to that service, so if security is a factor for your Linux machine, expect to look for other resources. Perhaps sensing the need for this sort of thing, the text lists some helpful links at the end of each section. Services like Apache and Samba are highlighted here, but I would choose a book dedicated soley to the service in question over a jack of all trades text.

I was extremely disappointed in this book. I upgraded from 7.2 to 9.0 and some things have changed with Redhat 9.0 such as sendmail. I can except mail but can't send mail. This book tells you absolutely nothing on how to setup sendmail. As I go over the book it tells you nothing about any of the programs.

Don't waste your money.

Finally... an awesome resource for advanced users. The coverage on kernel rebuilding was definitely the most valuable reading I've done in years. Loved it.