There are lots of “How to Use Linux” books on the market and some may help you, but lots of these books just don’t work for someone new.
Linux Commands Training Tips: The Linux System Administration concepts and tasks covered here apply to ALL other Linux distributions, including: Red Hat, Fedora, Slackware, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Debian, SUSE and openSUSE.
5 Things to Consider When You Need to Get Linux Books:
1. Linux Books – In General
Linux books are often outdated as soon as they’re printed, due to the slow nature of the publishing and printing process.
Some look current, but only the cover and the “free” Linux CDs inside have changed. For example, there are some popular books that continually come out with a new cover and new CDs, for a “new” version, but the content in the book isn’t updated nearly as frequently as the cover!
If you are new to Linux, getting confused by outdated books is the last thing you want.
2. “Easy Linux” books or “Simple” books
Although promoted as “Easy Linux” books or “Simple” books, a lot of these books start training you at an intermediate or advanced level and never cover the basics that are required for new users.
These types of books can be extremely frustrating for someone trying to learn Linux. Many books are written at a very basic level, and not specifically for someone new – and these are often just a waste of time.
3. Free Linux Books Online, including eBooks
There are free books online at lots of web sites, but they are often written by highly technical people . . . for highly technical people – they are often far too advanced for people who are new.
Once you’ve short-listed a few books, try to find the table of contents and one or more sample chapters of each and read them. This will give you an idea of how well they describe the concepts and commands you need to learn.
4. “Vendor Neutral” Linux Books
There are over 130 Linux distributions (versions) and about 5 of these are the “major” (very popular) ones. And there are lots of Linux books for each of these, such as Red Hat and Ubuntu Linux. There are also books that are “vendor neutral” – they are general and not for a specific distro.
The best Linux administration books to get are ones that describe commands and spend little or no time on GUI (Graphical User Interface) utilities – and here’s why.
Linux GUI utilities can be used to do system administration tasks, but they are very slow and cumbersome to use, in comparison to using commands. Also, GUIs are usually different from one distro to another!
However, the way a Linux command works in one distribution is usually identical, or very similar, to the way the same command works on a different distribution. And the best way to do system administration is by running commands.
You need to get books to get training on how to use commands and in this way, you’re learning how to use Linux on all distros!
Linux Training Tips: Try to find books that are not written for just a single Linux distribution and that provide training on the use of commands.
Although rare, some will even compare the way various distributions work. This includes describing the minor differences between how a Linux command works in one distro and how the same command works in another.
5. Reviews of Books at Linux Forums
Linux book reviews may be able to help you in your selection, but you need to try to determine if the review is unbiased.
To get accurate, unbiased book reviews, try going to some forums and looking for a “Linux Books” category. Some forums even show ratings of and comments by the members of the forum.
Also, try posting a question at one or more forums describing the type of books you are looking for.
Linux Training Tips: Do an internet search for “linux forums reviews of books” to find what you need.
An excellent alternative to Linux books are Linux training videos (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
By Clyde Boom