Author/s : Mark G. Sobell
Publisher : Prentice Hall
Category :
Other
Review by : Jeanne Boyarsky
Rating : 10 horseshoes
"A Practical Guide to Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux" is a long and thorough book that manages to take you from beginner to advanced. It's both a great book to learn from and a great reference book - a rare combination.
For learning Linux, the book starts with basic commands and builds up to more complex utilities. There are hands on "jumpstarts" and tutorials so you can get started with advanced tools quickly. There are plenty of warnings and tips. And cross referencing - appreciated in a 1000+ page book.
For people who already know Linux, skimming/skipping the basic sections is fine. The book more than pays for itself with the advanced materials.
As a reference, there are multiple indices - file names, utility name, jumpstarts and the main index. Plus the glossary. Many chapters contain extensive tables. Also the left sidebar easily hones in on what you want to find.
I particular liked the use of both flowcharts, syntax guides and examples to teach concepts. Whether they were networking terms or how to write a script.
I think this book may replace my dog eared five year old UNIX one as the first book I grab when I want to look something up! My only caveat is that a third of the book is identical to Sobel's other title - A Practical Guide to Linux Commands...". But then you'd already have formed an opinion and not need this review.
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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in
exchange for writing this review on behalf of CodeRanch.
More info at Amazon.com 
