A friend of mine asked me to send over the links and books that I recommend for learning linux. I have spent more than a year trying to find out what information I need to learn and why.
Following is a list of links and books that have been great help along the way. Please feel free to make comments about my suggestions so we can help others accomplish their goals.
Along with books and links, I sincerely believe the best way to learn is to have a Mentor who can help you along the way. My mentor is a linux guru but he also had a mentor at one time. Once you find your mentor, always respect him by using email instead of telephone and always try to find the answer in a book or help site before you go running to your mentor. This respect will prolong your relationship and help you learn. If your mentor is good, he will rarely give you the answer; rather, he will point you toward the answer.
See my latest list of Linux/Unix books at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...604470-0518252
Links:
http://www.linuxquestions.org
http://www.linuxnewbie.org
http://apache.org/ web server
http://www.sendmail.org/ mail server
http://www.php.net/ web page programming language similar to ColdFusion/ASP but FREE!
http://python.org/ If you don't already know C or Perl, learn Python. Very easy and Powerful Language.
Must have Books:
You must have the following books to get anywhere with Linux:
"Red Hat Linux Administrator’s Handbook" (Gets you up and running with all the common server apps such as Apache, FTP, Sendmail, Samba and NFS. Must have this book) (Don't start flames here, just recommend the book for your flavor.)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8971318-6763219
"Linux in a NutShell" (Complete reference of commands. Must have this book)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8971318-6763219
More books:
When your ready to become a guru...
"Unix System Administration Handbook" (The mother of Linux/Unix Networking and Admin, Must have this book)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8971318-6763219
"Unix Power Tools" (The mother of guru Unix/Linux books for command line users. Doesn't include Networking.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8971318-6763219
Books on Programming Linux
"Learn to Program Using Python" (Get this if you don't know how to program otherwise, skip it)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8971318-6763219
"PHP and MySQL Web Development" (This takes the place of ASP and mSQL (Microsoft) if you want to make your website interactive with forms, data basing and more. PHP and MySQL are both cross platform apps for Windows and Linux.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...=I3K2CV5AG01B4O
Sed and Awk" (The magic wands of the command line. Two programs that work alone or together to help you make linux do what you want it to do. All gurus know them.
"Sed and Awk" (O'Reilly's book on the subject)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...8971318-6763219
Unless you already know C, C++ or Perl, you will need to know a programming Language. I recommend C or Python. Linux is written in C as are many of its apps. Python is cross platform Windows/Linux and can take the place of C and Perl in most respects. Start with the beginners book I mentioned earlier or go straight to this book if you already understand how to program:
"Learning Python"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...8971318-6763219
Books on Specific, Network Subjects:
"Linux Sendmail Administration (Craig Hunt Linux Library)" (You may find that this book is better than O'Reilly's Sendmail book.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8971318-6763219
"Linux Apache Web Server Administration" (I did not like O'Reilly's book on Apache. This one should be better)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8971318-6763219
"DNS and Bind" (O'Reilly - About the only decent book on the subject.)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8971318-6763219
"Maximum Linux Security" - (I don't have this book but it seems to be popular.)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...8971318-6763219
Good Luck,
Gene
Linux is free but learning it will cost you ;-)
