Hi. I am looking for a learning/reference book to help me and my linux endeavors out. This summer I purchased SuSE 8.2 Pro and have installed it and windows (both in dual boot and back and forth) many times since, never getting too far. I would still like to really get good at linux, but I fear I will need the help of a book (or two). I wouldnt call myself a windows God, but I can certainly do more than most people I know (maybe my best friend and a couple others can out do me). I am looking for a book that would explain Linux from next to nothing in plain english, yet isnt focused toward complete dummies. I would like to especially learn more about commands and such, as I believe it would be more beneficial than learning through a GUI.

Some books I was looking at were:

Running Linux (4th ed) by Matt Welsh
- someone commented how some of the material wasnt as relevant
toward new distros and such, but good in learning

Linux In a Nutshell (4th ed) by Ellen Siever
- looks pretty good from what i read

Red Hat Linux 9 Bible by Christopher Negus
- would this be good even though i have suse 8.2? relevant?

SuSE Linux Unleashed by Bill Ball
- It tells you about SuSE 6.2.... kind of old?


Well, if anyone has some ideas, feel free to shout, just keep in mind my linux brain isnt developed yet (i'm still facinated by the mount commands )


Thanks to anyone who feels like helping me out

- Jason

Welcome to the world of Linux Jason,

You mentioned several good books. I would really recommend Running Linux and Linux in a Nutshell.

However, there is a lot of free documentation including books available on the web.

Check out a list at:
http://www.starnetok.net/~jallen/boo...ocumentation.4

Oreilly also has a good Linux Command Reference
http://www.oreillynet.com/linux/cmd/

And probably the best place is the Linux Documentaion Project
http://www.tldp.org
Here check out the Guides section many of which are full-length books. The HOWTOS will help also.

Jason, I'm a newbie also, the web has really helped me out, but I've also
bought a couple of books that have been very useful. For the command line,
I've gained a lot of knowledge with A Practical Guide to Linux by Mark G.
Sobell. I found a good book on KDE, fairly distro neutral, called Moving To
Linux by Marcel Gagne. Gagne's website is: www.marcelgagne.com. Also, the
LFS website (Linux From Scratch) directs people to wonderful websites to
learn the command line. Great stuff. Hope to LFS myself someday!!!

hi jason....i bought the red hat 9 bible a week back and installed red hat 9 from the 3 cds that came free with it So far the book's been awesome ( wrote a mail to the author to thank him for writing such a good book ).
My personal opinion would be, since u r a total newbie to linux like i am, this book should be a definate on ur desk....I'm just a week old in the world of linux, n this book has surely been a god-send for me.I cannot say if this book gears towards assuming whether the reader is a dummy or a veteran, but the language used is pretty straightforward and plain simple english.
About how relevant it would be if u use suse....the first 3 chapters of the book deal with installing red hat 9 and configuring the KDE and Gnome desktops.....chapter 4 has linux commands....5 has installing and using multimedia applications.....and so on. If u have seen any other book which doesnt assume u r using A PARTICULAR distro, by all means get it. I think i got a great deal by getting Red Hat 9 (3 cds) free with this book for a cost of ummm.... $ 9 ( i'm in india and the price here in rupees is 425 rupees).
All in all......i find this book a great tool for anyone who's totally new to linux.....havent read any other books on linux to make a comparision! I'll be checking out the "Linux in a nutshell" and "Running Linux" books soon. BTW, i reommend u to download a 4 mb pdf file called "Complete Idiot's guide to Linux" over Kazaa ....i found that quite useful too!
With Regards,
Umesh

sweet guys, thanks a bunch!