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View Full Version : I'm looking for a good book on linux (and Ubuntu if possible)...



batholith
May 22nd, 2006, 05:08 AM
As I'm trying to forget my former Windows way-of-life, I'm realizing that I'm struggling a bit with the basics of Linux...

I've been a Ubuntu user for about 1.5 years now and I love it! As I've run into problems, this community has been great sharing the knowledge! However, as I've corrected the various problems on my machine (with much help from these forums), I have realized that I either; 1)didn't understand the problem, or 2)didn't understand how the solution worked to fix my problem. I was basically just following a step by step solution without "learning" anything.

I've been trying to find an all-encompassing book on how linux "works"... basics of the file structure, standard command line basics, kernel basics, etc. I've looked into the major bookstore chains, but most only have books on Redhat, SuSe, or others...And to be honest, having never tried them, I don't have any clue on how they're different (or similar) to Ubuntu.

I know the Ubuntu team was working on a User's Guide book, but I'm not sure of the status, or of it's content... Can any of you point me to a good source for information about linux in general, one that's preferably up to date and has a strong link to Ubuntu?

Thanks in advance!

aysiu
May 22nd, 2006, 05:11 AM
The only book out for Ubuntu right now is Beginning Ubuntu Linux: From Novice to Professional. I have some strong reservations about it, but it's not a terrible book to begin with.

It probably won't go in-depth enough for you if you've already had problems and solved them (yes, even if you don't know how the solution worked).

Probably an O'Reilly book would be better, but I don't know which one.

fuscia
May 22nd, 2006, 05:15 AM
here's a link to a tutorial site that i found most helpful with learning commands - http://www.linuxsurvival.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=1&meid=-1

i also found the linux pocket guide, published by o'reilly, to be very helpful (even though it centers around fedora).

glotz
May 22nd, 2006, 05:22 AM
I have no idea if this is good or bad, Linux for dummies (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764579371/qid=1148271528/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-0903159-9951146?s=books&v=glance&n=283155). (no offence intended!)

Sef
May 22nd, 2006, 05:23 AM
Linux in a Nutshell by O'Reilly Press. It is a great reference book.

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxnut5/index.html

Bragador
May 22nd, 2006, 05:48 AM
Funny I checked that out for fun today.

Go on amazon.com and do a search for ubuntu in the books category. You could refine it by typing ubuntu linux.

Tons of books will be shown. Just look at the descriptions, the reviews, what others bought with that kind of book, etc.

Good hunt !

confused57
May 22nd, 2006, 06:02 AM
The only book out for Ubuntu right now is Beginning Ubuntu Linux: From Novice to Professional. I have some strong reservations about it, but it's not a terrible book to begin with.

It probably won't go in-depth enough for you if you've already had problems and solved them (yes, even if you don't know how the solution worked).

Probably an O'Reilly book would be better, but I don't know which one.

batholith,
I have this book, but it's probably too basic for somebody at your level of Linux expertise. I believe if you type "Ubuntu Linux" into the Amazon.com search, a Linux "Bible" book is listed, which covers Ubuntu and various other distros

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EHQ61G/qid=1148274042/sr=8-13/ref=sr_1_13/002-9700132-9339229?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=551440

RAV TUX
May 22nd, 2006, 07:53 AM
The only book out for Ubuntu right now is Beginning Ubuntu Linux: From Novice to Professional. I have some strong reservations about it, but it's not a terrible book to begin with.

It probably won't go in-depth enough for you if you've already had problems and solved them (yes, even if you don't know how the solution worked).

Probably an O'Reilly book would be better, but I don't know which one.

I have this book and would strongly NOT recommend it to anyone. IMHO

matthew
May 22nd, 2006, 12:25 PM
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=93376

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=61162

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=155329

batholith
May 22nd, 2006, 02:12 PM
Everyone, thanks for the suggestions! Although it's unfortunate that the Unbuntu Linux book is getting "bad" reviews... But, I probably would have loved it 1.5 years ago!

Thanks again.

confused57
May 22nd, 2006, 04:42 PM
Everyone, thanks for the suggestions! Although it's unfortunate that the Unbuntu Linux book is getting "bad" reviews... But, I probably would have loved it 1.5 years ago!

Thanks again.

I agree, I believe it would be very helpful to the "Absolute Beginner", most everything you need to get started and learn a little about Ubuntu & Linux is covered in this book. The main advantage is that everything someone needs to know to get started is in this one resource "manual" rather than doing forum searches, googling, etc. I've found it has answered several questions that I wasn't able to find by doing forum searches. The forum is great for more advanced or system specific solutions...there's usually always someone here that has the answer.
I wish I had the book when I was just beginning Ubuntu & Linux, it would have saved a lot of time & effort; and in my opinion, I think it would have made my learning curve a little "less steep". If someone has the resources to purchase it, I recommend it for the novice; if you've been using Linux for awhile, maybe not...
Note: It is written for Breezy, I think you may be able to extrapolate a lot of the material to Dapper?

The book does mention Windows crashing and anyone who's used Win98 will have experiences with that; WinXP has been rock-solid for me...most answers to questions in the forums still give instructions with "sudo apt-get" this or that, but by reading through the forums I've realized "gksudo aptitude" is a much better method. My point is that the book should give the beginner a pretty good overview of how to setup & configure Ubuntu, introduction to commands, troubleshooting,etc...but the forums are indispensible for learning more advanced or better methods not covered in the book...just my opinion.

glotz
May 22nd, 2006, 07:12 PM
See this slashdot article The first three books every Linux user should read (http://linux.slashdot.org/linux/06/05/22/1349253.shtml)

Topsiho
May 22nd, 2006, 08:04 PM
To my (humble :) ) opinion a good online book is the Rute tutorial by Paul Sheer. Googling a bit I found it on:

http://www.chongluo.com/books/rute/

Have a good time studying it, it might probably not be quite up to date, but the main and indestructible facts are there ....
It's not about Ubuntu though, but a generic text on Linux. For Ubuntu I think you should get advice on forums like this one :)
I am sure no books exist on Dapper...

Topsiho

firezip
May 26th, 2006, 02:29 AM
Here's a good E-Book to help you. It has a section for Ubuntu and many other distros.

Linux Bible 2006 (9mb) - http://www.savefile.com/files/1383729

jdong
May 26th, 2006, 02:41 AM
If you're looking for a good book on getting all kinds of stuff done in Ubuntu, I recommend one of the Debian 3.1 books, like Debian GNU/Linux Bible 3.1. Almost everything discussed there also directly applies to Ubuntu. The tech level is medium, I'd say... not brain-dead easy that'll bore you, and not so technical that you'd get lost.


Other than that, O'Reilly's Running Linux is a good classic read, but not always as pertinent to Ubuntu or broad as the Debian Bible.

matthew
May 26th, 2006, 09:57 AM
Other than that, O'Reilly's Running Linux is a good classic read, but not always as pertinent to Ubuntu or broad as the Debian Bible.That is (IMHO) one of the best books for a beginner to learn from. Excellent recommendation. I second it.

elijahclarity
May 26th, 2006, 11:36 AM
Don't know why Begiining Ubuntu Linux is getting not-so-reat reviews here! I've donr reading 3 chapters and I must say THIS IS THE BEST LINUX BOOK I'VE EVER READ!! The first few chapters give u such a beautiful introduction to the world of linux and how it compares to windows that I'd recommend ths book to EVERY newbie Linux user....HIGHLY RECOMMENDED from my side:)

aysiu
May 26th, 2006, 04:42 PM
Don't know why Begiining Ubuntu Linux is getting not-so-reat reviews here! I've donr reading 3 chapters and I must say THIS IS THE BEST LINUX BOOK I'VE EVER READ!! The first few chapters give u such a beautiful introduction to the world of linux and how it compares to windows that I'd recommend ths book to EVERY newbie Linux user....HIGHLY RECOMMENDED from my side:) I'll give you my reasons for not recommending it:

1. False advertising: it's not for novice to professional--it's for absolute novice only. If you've been using Ubuntu for two weeks, you won't learn much from this book.

2. False information/propaganda: I love Ubuntu as much as anyone, but claiming that Windows is unstable and will freeze your mouse cursor for no reason and Ubuntu is stable and will never do that... BS.

3. Bad practice: sudo in front of graphical commands--that's a no-no.

But... for absolute beginners who know nothing about Ubuntu or Linux, it may not be such a terrible thing.

Lovechild
May 26th, 2006, 10:50 PM
Linux Quick Fix Notebook (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131861506/qid%3D1147821226/203-4759203-4751938) is a really good reference book geared towards newcomers but it's still usable once you get your feet wet.

RAV TUX
May 27th, 2006, 02:42 AM
You should just order


The Official Ubuntu Book (Paperback)
by Benjamin Mako Hill (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Benjamin%20Mako%20Hill&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/104-6800404-0739117), Jono Bacon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Jono%20Bacon&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/104-6800404-0739117), Corey Burger (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Corey%20Burger&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/104-6800404-0739117), Jonathan Jesse (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Jonathan%20Jesse&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/104-6800404-0739117), Ivan Krstic (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Ivan%20Krstic&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/104-6800404-0739117)

About the Authors
Benjamin Mako Hill serves on Ubuntu's Community Council governance board and helps direct the Ubuntu Foundation. He is also lead author of the Debian Linux Bible (Wiley, 2005).

Jono Bacon works as a professional Open Source consultant in the UK, teaches organizations how to use Open Source, and speaks about OS around the world. Jono is also co-author of Linux Desktop Hacks (O'Reilly).

Corey Burger is a member of the Ubuntu Documentation Team, Laptop Testing Team and has been involved with Ubuntu since the first release.



Availability: This item has not yet been released. You may order it now and we will ship it to you when it arrives.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0132435942/qid=1148693733/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/104-6800404-0739117?n=283155



http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3210/013243594201ss500sclzzzzzzz0ua.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=013243594201ss500sclzzzzzzz0ua.jpg)


also keep an eye out for these new releases:

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2301/032142722x01ss500sclzzzzzzz2nz.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=032142722x01ss500sclzzzzzzz2nz.jpg)


http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7472/059652720901ss500sclzzzzzzz6ke.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=059652720901ss500sclzzzzzzz6ke.jpg)


http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8279/067232909301ss500sclzzzzzzzv50.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=067232909301ss500sclzzzzzzzv50.jpg)


http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/3828/047003899301ss500sclzzzzzzzv54.th.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=047003899301ss500sclzzzzzzzv54.jpg)


Also here is a great online blog about Ubuntu:
http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/

About

Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/) is, in my humble opinion the easiest and best way to switch from Windows to a free/open-source operating system. In order to make your transition easier, and to help those that have started using ubuntu, this weblog will feature a series of articles with tips and tricks. What better way to bring you these treats that by using a powerful open-source blogging platform (http://wordpress.org/)?
I look forward to trawling mailing list and forum posts (so you don’t have to), and the www to bring you little snippets of helpful information. Some of these tips may also be useful for users of other flavors of Linux, and users of the Gnome desktop.


also for some interesting interviews of Ubuntu Staff go here:
http://behindubuntu.org/


.