This book is very thorough in its details for the current line of Unix/Linux systems, including Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Red Hat, Solaris, HP-UX and IBM AIX. It is well written, often entertaining and always informative. The amount of detail the authors go into for the various operating systems is impressive. If one looks at the definition for "absolute and relative paths" (page 142), they can get a pretty good idea of the approach this book takes;
"The list of directories that must be traversed to locate a particular file plus that file's filename form a pathname. Pathnames can be either absolute (/tmp/foo) or relative (book4/filesystem). Relative pathnames are interpreted starting at the current directory. You might be accustomed to thinking of the current directory as a feature of the shell, but every process has one."
Now the definition from "A Practical Guide to Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux" (page 193) by Mark Sobell:
"Every file has a pathname. An absolute pathname always starts with a slash(/), the name of the root directory. You can then build the absolute pathname of a file by tracing a path from the root directory through all the intermediate directories to the file. A relative pathname traces a path from the working directory to a file"
Of the two I felt the explanation from Sobell's book was more straightforward, but the "The Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook" integrate the philosophy of the Unix/Linux world much more into the text than others I have read.
If you are a beginner, you might not be able to rely ONLY on this book, you will almost certainly need something a little more elementary; "Linux in Easy Steps" by Mike McGrath is good for those who are visually oriented. "Administration Handbook" book is good at is covering the breadth of Unix/Linux system administration duties across multiple versions. It makes it relatively clear and easy. It sticks to principles rather than a "cookbook" approach. The section on shell and bash scripting is a very good primer, but you will need to build out from there. There is also a good chapter on virtualization and particularity Amazon Web services. If you thought Amazon was just about books and music, well, that is the tip of the iceberg.
Students and professionals alike will find this a valuable reference. If you are a previous owner, it is worth it to get the new edition. I would think this book will cover at least 90% of what you are likely to run into as you administer systems.
Beginning Linux books only go so far. Books that focus on one area such as writing shell scripts won't be general enough. This book covers a lot and covers it well. It is the one I kept in my backpack to lug to class.
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To be honest I did not know where I was purchasing book from but know that I know I would buy again. The book arrived faster than anticipated and it was packed with so much care. It arrived in perfect condition and with a thank you note from the seller. The seller has a noble cause but the product and service itself are both outstanding too. Highly recommend.
Top reviews from other countries
T. M. Rezende
Ótima escolha em sus princípios
Reviewed in Brazil on August 11, 2022
Amazon Customer
Great book for Linux and Unix Administrators
Reviewed in India on August 22, 2016