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39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for learning Linux, December 29, 2003
I've had the opportunity to review several Linux+ certification guides and they run the gamut from poor to excellent. Among these the "Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification" is one of the best. If you are a complete novice to Linux this is one of only two books that I could recommend. The primary reason that it is ranked as one of the best is because it starts from the absolute beginning and explains things in easy to understand terms. It includes a copy of RedHat Linux that can be installed so you can work through the lab exercises in the book on a real system if you have an extra computer available. This has the added advantage of giving the reader experience with one of the most popular distributions of Linux. Some of the other guides provide copies of Mandrake, Suse, Slackware or other distributions of Linux. I would prefer to learn on the same distribution that I would be most likely to be working with in the real world. This is not a real big problem for the exam because it deals primarily with text based administration and that is pretty much the same for all distributions. It is with the graphical interfaces that there can be a significant difference between them.This particular study guide is very strong on Linux installation, administration, X-Windows, networking, and most of the major areas where you really need to know what you are doing in order to pass the exam or work with a real world Linux system. On the other hand it is a little weak on the hardware side. While most people, including myself, feel that the book covers hardware sufficiently for learning Linux and using Linux in the real world, it is a Linux+ certification guide and so should cover hardware in the same detail required for the exam. The exam may include questions like showing four different interfaces and asking the test-taker to identify which one is a SCSI3 interface. This is not covered in that level of detail in the book. In my opinion that sort of question belongs on a hardware exam and not in a Linux+ exam, but the fact of the matter is that sort of question is on the exam and so should be covered in any exam preparation book. If this were a guide to learning and using Linux I would not treat this as a problem at all. When comparing the book to other Linux+ study guides I consider it to be one of the top choices. The other recommended guide (from Sybex) doesn't do any better of a job in dealing with the hardware problem. This is a problem consistent throughout all the study guide books. It does use RedHat and include a copy, which is a positive point. And finally, it has one of the best indexes of all the Linux+ study guides. This can be very important if you don't pass the exam the first time and need to study some specific areas. If you are looking for a keyword that you were unsure about on the exam then you need to be able to look it up. For example, when I took the exam there were some basic questions on Squid and iptables. All you really needed to know was that Squid is a proxy server and iptables is related to firewall services. This is the only book I've reviewed that actually had entries in the index for Squid and iptables. The others had the information but no index entry and so no knowledge of where to look for the information. There is really no excuse for a poor index in any book that seeks to help the reader become certified and this is the one with the best index. If you want to pass the exam on the first try you should add a hardware book like one of the certification guides for the CompTIA A+ hardware exam. "Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification" is a recommended purchase for people new to Linux seeking to learn the system and pass the exam.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Strongly Recommended, November 15, 2003
As I mentioned in my previous review, I have never been disappointed with books Thomson Learning/Course technology.And I finally bought the book. This is an excellent textbook for complete beginners who have no prior knowledge of Linux. The approach used in the book is really user friendly starting right from the 'birth'/history of Linux. One will have an enjoyable experience with the illustrative way of presenting clear concepts while slowly building from previously learnt concepts. Also, at the end of each chapters there is a summary of the core concepts presented, review Multiple Choice Questions, Practical Hands- On Projects and Short case Scenarios to ensure full mastery of theoritical concepts learnt. By the way, the book comes with two CD's(Disk 1 and Disk 2) of Red Hat Linux Publisher's Version 7.2. Thus, an excellent text book for Comptia's Linux+ Examiniation which gives users a rich and enjoyable journey through discovering Linux from its basic to detailed concepts. The first chapter provides a detailed introduction to Linux operating system (helping the reader to get acquainted to terminologies used in Linux), history of Linux, its distribution and common uses of Linux. The second Chapter prepares the user to Linux Installation by first understanding Hardware( CPU, Physical Memory, Disk Drives ,Mainboards and so on) and then gathering pre-installation Information for Hardware and Software, still accompanied by review questions and discovery exercises (Short Scenarios. Finally the third chapter actually deals with the practical installation and builds there on in subsequent chapters.The following hardware is required for the Hands-On Project (as Red Hat will have to be installed on your PC).
Also, check the Hardware compatibility List at www.redhat.com: Pentium II 200 or Higher CPU(most of the recent CPU should be compatible ) 4 GB hard Disk (which can be an existing free space on your hard disk) CD_ROM DRIve
3.5" floppy diskette Drive Network Interface Card(for the networking configurations but can do without one for the other chapters) Internet Connection for downloading software for
Hands- OnProject Throughout the book, where appropriate web site resources are provided for additional reading and a glossary of Web Resources on the Internet is provided at the end fo the book. The Linux+ Certification Objectives in Appendix A of the book provides a detailed table to identify where certification topics are covered in this book.Each table represents a seperate domain measured by the exam. That's all about the book!Hope you enjoy it the same way I am in case you decide to purchase it.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good overall, NO coverage of X configuration?, May 27, 2008
First, I have to say that I am not usually fond of computer books in the Thompson Course Technology series -- too many of them are NOT really written by knowledgeable people, and it shows in the errors and misguided opinions passed on to students and professors charged using these books.
So, I was pleasantly surprised at the content (of a Linux book in particular) by Thompson. Most of the information is relevant, useful, and introduces students to important skills and management practices when using Linux in a business environment.
I do have some issues with the orders of the chapters -- for example, file and folder permissions vs. users and groups chapters should be back-to-back, and there are a couple errors in laboratory exercises. For example, a couple of the exercises, done in order, are intended to demonstrate the effect of one user assuming another's UID. But the point to be demonstrated doesn't actually happen. New Linux users won't realize there was an error in the thought process of the text, and will think they "just missed the point" due to their own imagined ineptness. There are a few typos but they are minor -- if teachers (and even casual users Linux users) don't catch them outright, shame on them, they are so simple.
I actually have a *couple* of not-so-minor gripes, and struggled with whether to give the book 3 or 4 stars, but then it is so much better than other Linux books in some areas that I couldn't give it a 3.
My first big gripe is that the chapter on so-called "X Configuration" is *NOT* about *configuring* *X*! It is actually about *customizing* the *desktop*, using the desktop utilities, for personal use/preferences (the way you change your desktop properties in Windows). The topic of *X CONFIGURATION* -- one of the first tasks most new Linux users must learn, usually necessary since Linux is not OEM (preinstalled) on most computers -- is actually NOT COVERED AT ALL!
Along the same lines, the *obvious* flow of post-install activities in the book should include taking a Linux distro that boots non-GUI by default, an introduction to the format of an X configuration file, how to research your computer hardware, and how to edit the default X configuration file for all users per hardware requirements and to start the login manager and desktop of choice.
Even in network environments, this is a common task because X can be run as a network application, or for other reasons. Unlike Windows, the OS is more modular; the underlying kernel, the "window server" (X) and the "desktop" (GUI look-and-feel and utilities) are 3 very seperate things and allow freedom of choice.
My second gripe is there is no coverage of package installation! Very, very bad! How can you be certified in Linux without learning to install software on it? One or two chapters need to be added here, covering RPM and TGZ installs at a minimum. Users need background on what is done when software is installed on Linux, the most common ways in which software install locations and config tend to differ among distros, and the most popular package managers out there (brief contrast of strengths and weaknesses).
Ideally, students would actually perform both RPM and TGZ installs, would uninstall them afterwards, would use one or more command-line tools to update a package or two, would use a popular package manager to install a new package and look for updates, and would download source code manually and compile at least one package from scratch, just to get a feel for it. An example is OpenOffice.org, because it is easy to install (few steps needed), and new OO versions tend to change folder names and locataions, (students must deal with this and uninstall the old version and delete remnant folders to avoid confusion before installing the new, then edit desktop shortcuts to point to new executable in new location).
My third gripe is the use of an outdated OS, and one with such a poor installer. I think the author was thinking that Red Hat is popular with commercial enterprises (certainly) and so it would be a good choice. But Fedora Core 3??? C'mon, that's the stone age (at least in PC years)! Plus, this OS boots to a GUI (not a good for newbies to Linux sysadmin who need to learn to manually configure X). Most books will make a better choice of distro or at least customize their own "release" of the distro to match the purpose of the book.
Also, the menu-based installer on Fedora Core 3 is really crap. Though I am a seasoned Linux user who habitually changes partition schemes and multi-boot environments, the menu logic and layout/alignment of selections was so poor that I became confused and had to backtrack/start over several times during my install.
However, complaints aside, this is generally an excellent book. It gives some excellent lessons and examples on using the "vi" editor and using various text-manipulation, file-manipulation, and search tools. The vast majority of non-newbies in this book's audience will learn new tricks for example, grep, dmesg, cat, top. The chapter on boot loaders is excellent, contrasting the functionality of LILO and GRUB, and the optional parameters which can be used in their config files. While this book assumes no Linux knowledge at all on the part of the user, it is in some ways almost a "power users" cookbook. I learned much from this book and use it as a reference.
Some of this book's major strengths are the clarity of the writing, the usefulness of the lessons, and the extensive number of exercises which can be used both in a college course and on your own.
I strongly feel this text is overdue for a revision -- below are some recommendations summing the above points and adding some things that need less explanation:
1) X CONFIGURATION NEEDS A CHAPTER, and soon after install and intro to the file system. (Desktop customization should just be deleted because it's not an administration topic and anyone who's used any OS before can figure it out all by themselves.)
2)PACKAGE INSTALLATION, COMPILATION, AND UPDATING NEEDS A CHAPTER OR TWO.
3) CHAPTERS ON USERS/GROUPS AND FILE/FOLDER PERMISSIONS NEED TO BE CONSECUTIVE. (Chapter 11 is too late to be giving this info.)
4) THE BOOK NEEDS TO USE AN RPM/TGZ-COMPATIBLE DISTRO WITH A DECENT INSTALLER AND MORE APPROPRIATE CONFIG -- either switch distros or customize it for the book, and definitely use something newer. (Why not switch to kernel 2.6 while they're at it?)
5) IDEALLY, THE BOOK AND THE DISTRO WOULD INCLUDE TWO DESKTOPS. At least introduce students to two, even if the majority of the book will use one in particular. I don't even necessarily mean KDE vs. GNOME, could be one of those vs. a much more stripped-down desktop to really contrast. Assuming the text already taught basic X config, including login manager and desktop loading, now teach them the main benefit -- users can tweak their own config, and the first way to do so is choose a desktop other than the default for all users. Which brings us to #6...
6) GIVE A USEFUL EXAMPLE OF WHAT THE "SKELETON DIRECTORY" IS USED FOR, NOT JUST A VAGUE EXPLANATION. Have an exercise where users place a couple default folders and organizational document in here and a copy of the X config, create a new user, log in as that user and view the doc, customize X to start a different desktop, copy the edited config to the correct location, reboot, log in as that new user again -- tada! Skeleton directories are even useful on a home system, but they are mostly used in organizations with many users.
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