Reviews

UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook by Ben Whaley, Evi Nemeth, Trent R. Hein, Garth Snyder

aaronmunger's review

4.0

So much information on so many subjects. There was some humor to help get through, but an 80 page chapter on DNS is just not something I can get through, even though it's something I would like to know more about.

kpumuk's review against another edition

4.0

A pretty long book about everything about *nix. A little bit outdated, but most of the stuff is still relevant. Keep in mind that it does not go into details, instead, you will get a general overview and some basic understanding of all the systems (it looks like the book is touching everything admin-related you can imagine) and practices, but then you will have to find another source for the juicier stuff.

Have to admit I skipped probably a half of the book – all non-Linux stuff (AIX, HP-UX? wow, haven't seen you guys in a while), along with some random chapters like "Printing".

kawai's review

5.0

It's a comprehensive guide to the operating system(s), written in an approachable and concise style. The explanations and examples are typically illustrative without being too complex, making the material useful for both the beginner and the expert.

If the book has one downfall, it's that the organization of the chapters is convoluted in places (mirroring the Linux filesystem itself, haha)--for example, early chapters on booting and system considerations therein recommend that the reader move FORWARD in the book to read several other chapters before coming back to read the chapter on bootloaders. It makes for an out-of-order read, and might have been better served with an alternative chapter organization.

Overall, highly recommended--it's a book the O'Reilly group is jealous to not have snapped up.