Introductory Linux book?

blorg

Hi,

I’m new to Linux but an experienced Windows user. I’m also perfectly comfortable with DOS which I used for many years before, and a number of other operating systems. I’m now working on a project that requires me to develop on Linux (ColdFusion, and Oracle) and I have my own little server to look after (Red Hat 9, with Gnome).

Could any of you recommend an introductory book for someone who knows very little about Linux but is generally well versed in computing? Ideally it would explain the ‘philosophical’ concepts behind the OS and how it differs from DOS/Windows (e.g. mount points versus drive letters). I managed to format and mount a partition yesterday but I’d prefer to understand what I’m doing before I completely screw it up

BenH

Theres a few books available for windows sysadmins wanting to convert to the one true OS Unfortunately the one book that I have like this I lend out and for the life of me cannot remember what its called ATM.

Still you cant go far wrong with O'Reilly. And as for the philosophy behind linux, well theres a whole section at fsf.org, but this mostly deals with the philosophy of open source. As for unix design philosophy :eek: it goes back /awhile/. There are a few books on the subject, but really unix today came about because there was no management 'assistance' so everything was built according to the best technical plan, for the most part.

If you dont want to spend hours infront of google and various wikis, 1) Use the system as much as possible, especially the terminal. 2) Go here and pay heed to Ken Thompson and Eric Raymond :

http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/philosophychapter.html

3) Remember your now using a true multiuser, multitasking operating system, its not even remotely like windows under the bonnet.

And the most important of all:

4) HAVE FUN!!!!!

Regards,

Ben

nadir

also, maybe these would be of help
http://www.rim.edu.bt/manual/linux/
http://esm2.imt-mrs.fr/~staffelb/guide_linux/index.html

BenH

The book I've been trying to remember the name of is:

Linux Administration: A Beginners Guide
Third Edition
Graham Shah
McGraw Hill Publishing
0-07-222562-9

blorg

Thanks for all your tips. To clarify my role - I'm not a system administrator but a user (and programmer). However there isn't any other sysadmin around, so I will have to do anything that has to be done. Having said that, this is my own personal server, it's not going to be used by anyone else - e.g. my sysadmin requirements are unlikely to be complex, I just need to know how to do the basics. Do you still think that sysadmin book would be the best for me?

Emboss

Red Hat Linux 9 Unleashed might suit your needs

buy on amazon for €30 ish

BioHazRd

I found "Linux for Windows Administrators" to be invaluable. Its by Mark Minasi and Dan York, and published by sybex. ISBN no is 0-7821-4119-6. When I got it it was 60 yoyos in Easons - Im sure you can get a better deal than that online.

Hope that is of use to you

Bio

BenH

Originally posted by blorg
Thanks for all your tips. To clarify my role - I'm not a system administrator but a user (and programmer). However there isn't any other sysadmin around, so I will have to do anything that has to be done. Having said that, this is my own personal server, it's not going to be used by anyone else - e.g. my sysadmin requirements are unlikely to be complex, I just need to know how to do the basics. Do you still think that sysadmin book would be the best for me?

Remember what I said about Linux != Windows, well this is one of those points. Your typical boxed distro contains _everything_ you need to run a medium sized buisness. You may need to set up a dhcpd server, BIND, Email or database to test the program your writing; this book will help you in writing/editing the config files and how to start the service.

You'll also want to learn the more common commands such as init which switches run levels, top which shows you the utilisation of the cpu and memory, kill which terminates a runaway process and so on. Not to mention the really common stuff such as ls which generates a list of your current directory, grep which carries out pattern matching and whereis which locates binaries and of course uptime, which tells you how many months its been since you last rebooted your server

Every person who has entered the *NIX world will tell you that there is a hell of alot of reading involved and plenty of asking questions. The book I reccomended will give you a nice, thourough and reasonably easy start.

Have Fun!

Best,

Ben