Linux in a nutshell : [a desktop quick reference

Although I'm not an advanced user, I do work in Linux everyday. In spite of that repetition and daily reinforcement, this is the one book I use daily, in some form or fashion. Frankly, it's just not possible for me to remember all of the Linux commands. This is a user's guide that is more than useful; it's clearly written and all of the commands are covered in alphabetical order. I prefer having a handy reference volume versus sifting through Google search results. If you already have a basic understanding of using Linux and want a good book for looking up how specific commands work, then this is your reference manual. It's useful for beginner, intermediate, and the experienced user AND there's a comprehensive index of both topics and commands and it's easy to find what you're looking for. Should you need more, you will have to refer to man pages! Having worked with UNIX for many years, I found the chapter on virtualization a little light but that's probably best, given their complexity and depth. The chapters on Shells, Boot Methods and networking are great and offer enough detail to most folks off and running with these concepts. The chapter on the various editors is well done and contains excellent detail; certainly enough to get you going with any of them. Package management was also presented well and helped me understand a good bit more about yum, after having used aptitude for years. I don't do much with sed, gawk or version control but the chapters on those technologies were understandable and will prove useful in the future. Overall, I find this book extremely valuable and it is one of those that I keep handy at all times. It is, in my opinion, THE essential Linux reference book. Linux in a Nutshell, now in its fourth edition, has won awards in the Linux community as the most indispensable book about Linux. It is an essential desktop reference for the commands that users of Linux utilize every day, with the depth of information and the practical, succinct "In a Nutshell" format that made the previous editions so popular. Comprehensive but concise, Linux in a Nutshell covers all substantial user, programming, administration, and networking commands for the most common Linux distributions. It's several quick references rolled into one: sed, gawk, RCS, CVS, vi, Emacs, bash, tcsh, regular expressions, package management, bootloaders, and desktop environments are all covered in this clear, to-the-point volume, along with core command-line utilities. The fourth edition continues to track the major changes in bootloaders, the GNOME and KDE desktops, and general Unix commands. Several commands related to CDs and music reflect the evolution of multimedia on Linux. Coverage has been added for GRUB, which has become the default bootloader on several Linux distributions, and for vim, the popular and feature-loaded extension to vi. The addition of several new options to the iptables firewall command and new commands related to DNSSEC and ssh show the book's value as a security tool. With this book, you no longer have to grope through long manpages and info documents for the information you need; you'll find it here in clear language and an easy-to-read format. Contents include: Programming, system administration, networking, and user commands with complete lists of options GRUB, LILO, and Loadlin bootloaders Shell syntax and variables for the bash, csh, and tcsh shells Pattern matching Emacs, vi, and vim editing commands sed and gawk commands The GNOME and KDE desktops and the fvwm2 window manager Red Hat and Debian package managers Everything you need to know about Linux is in this book. Written by Stephen Figgins, Ellen Siever, Robert Love, and Arnold Robbins -- people with years of active participation in the Linux community -- Linux in a Nutshell , Sixth Edition, thoroughly covers programming tools, system and network administration tools, the shell, editors, and LILO and GRUB boot loaders. This updated edition offers a tighter focus on Linux system essentials, as well as more coverage of new capabilities such as virtualization, wireless network management, and revision control with git. It also highlights the most important options for using the vast number of Linux commands. You'll find many helpful new tips and techniques in this reference, whether you're new to this operating system or have been using it for years. Get the Linux commands for system administration and network management Use hundreds of the most important shell commands available on Linux Understand the Bash shell command-line interpreter Search and process text with regular expressions Manage your servers via virtualization with Xen and VMware Use the Emacs text editor and development environment, as well as the vi, ex, and vim text-manipulation tools Process text files with the sed editor and the gawk programming language Manage source code with Subversion and git Printing History January 1997 First Edition. February 1999 Second Edition. August 2000 Third Edition. Contains An Introduction To The Operating System With Detailed Documentation On Commands, Utilities, Programs, System Configuration, And Networking. 1. Introduction -- 2. System And Network Administration Overview -- 3. Linux Commands -- 4. Boot Methods -- 5. Red Hat And Debian Package Managers -- 6. The Linux Shells: An Overview -- 7. Bash: The Bourne-again Shell -- 8. Tcsh: An Extended C Shell -- 9. Pattern Matching -- 10. The Emacs Editor -- 11. The Vi Editor -- 12. The Sed Editor -- 13. The Gawk Scripting Language -- 14. Rcs -- 15. Cvs -- 16. Graphical Desktop Overview -- 17. Gnome -- 18. Kde -- 19. An Alternative Window Manager: Fvwm2. Ellen Siever, Stephen Figgins, And Aaron Weber. A Nutshell Handbook. A Desktop Quick Reference--cover Includes Index. This expanded edition of 'Linux in a Nutshell' features many new commands that appear in major distributions, along with boot parameters, common configuration issues for the GNOME and KDE desktops, and the RPM and Debian package managers