Linux The Complete Reference (Paperback)

by Richard Petersen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In Linux: The Complete Reference, Richard Petersen has created a modern Linux text that's remarkably neutral with regard to its users' computing backgrounds. He hasn't written specifically for people with experience in Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, other versions of Unix, or any other operating system. He's just written an easy-to-follow, comprehensive book on the Linux kernel (version 2.2), the K Desktop Environment (KDE), Gnome, and the most popular commercial distributions (Red Hat Linux 6.0 and Caldera OpenLinux 2.2).

A side effect of this approach is that this book sometimes seems a bit simplistic, particularly in the passages that deal with issues you've already figured out. Still, it's generally better for a technical book to be too deliberate in its explanations than not clear enough.

Coverage of the KDE and Gnome environments is commendable, as is the information on XFree86 and window managers (though there's no information on setting up dual monitors). The file system section comes after a great introduction to the bash shell and goes into some detail on the file-management commands bash, like most other shells, provides.

Internet coverage is strong too, with comparative information on tools for mail, FTP, news, and other services on both the client and server sides. More information on setting up a Domain Name System (DNS) server would make this book better, but extensive reporting on the Apache Web server helps compensate. --David Wall

Topics covered: Installing Red Hat Linux, installing Caldera OpenLinux, configuring KDE and Gnome, shell commands, file management, Internet servers and client software, system and network administration, and applications.

Review
Linux: The Complete Reference, Third Edition provides an excellent resource for new and experienced users, as well as administrators. -- Elizabeth Zinkann, Sys Admin Magazine, April 2000

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Product Details

• Paperback: 929 pages
• Publisher: Osborne Publishing; 3rd edition (August 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072121645
• ISBN-13: 978-0072121643
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,464,027 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars If you must buy this book, buy the second edition, March 15, 2000

By	L. RAIDERS (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book for an introductory UNIX course even though the second edition was recommended. I thought the third edition would be more detailed and up to date. I was wrong. Much of the detail on shell scripting and programming was lost with the new edition. Too much of the text in either edition is dedicated to installing Linux rather than administering it, a task better handled in a smaller user's manual than a textbook. The CD's are awful. There are only a few slightly useful applications included on them. If you want to install Linux on your PC, buy a complete commercial version off the shelf, along with a better book. Most commercial versions of Linux come with many useful applications for a reasonable price. If you must buy "Linux: TCR", buy the second edition, otherwise, O'Reilly's "Running Linux", although also heavy on installation detail, is a much better option. If you're looking for a Linux admin guide, try Steve Shah's "Linux Administration: A Beginner's Guide."

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Book -- Get it if you are new to Linux, October 31, 1999

By A Customer

Much of what I know about Linux today I got from this book. I have read other books about Linux but none of them were so "complete". It is an excellent reference.

I was however a bit disappointed that SAMBA was not covered in more detail. Even if it was only just to help me set up a simple "peer to peer" network between a "linux-windows" box and a "linux-linux" box. Networking is covered in great detail and connecting to the Internet is one of the first things discussed in this book.(didn't we all want to get on the internet the first time we installed Linux? :-> )

This book is an absolute goldmine if you are looking to master al those Linux commands.

All in all I think that this book should be rated as one of the best Linux books(for it's scope) and should be on every Linux user's desk.

Get It...NOW

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars NOT good enough, January 21, 2000

By	bong sabolboro "bongf" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

The book is really for those wishing to delve into Linux and is looking for a reference that is understandable. Someone who has a working knowledge of other OS like MS Windows. The title is quite misleading because it claims to be complete but is NNNOOOTTT.

And most of all it contains a lot of errors or incomplete discussions like the four sets of 3-digit numbers in an IP address that consists of the first three sets being the network address and the last the host address. Although true on some networks, this is not true for all networks. I could name a lot of others but this should be enough to ward off possible buyers of this book who already have experience using Linux and need a good reference. If you are new into Linux, this book simplifies a lot of the new things that you have to learn but on the other had if that it your intent go ahead. The two stars is for this reason otherwise only one star would be given.

The discussion on file systems should have included disk quotas but was missing. The chapter on network administration alone could be the subject of another book but was treated quite lamely and contained less pages than the discussion on file systems. And there was no discussion on the three major groupings on file/device accessors - root/system, user, others.