Hi everyone,
I would like to ask the community if there is a good book on Linux/Debian. I realize there is a lot of information out there on the internet, and I realize the internet can get updated quicker than publishing another book...BUT I like being able to read a book I'm not a huge fan of reading documentation on a screen (I usually print out software manuals and such).

I have installed Debian (Sarge) on a spare system. So far so good, I'm following a tutorial on aboutdebian.com and have also read all the chapters on the debian.org tutorial site. I like it, I feel more "techie" when I'm working with it, but I don't like not knowing why things happen the way they do. I know the idea of the tutorial is to show you how to get it up and running (just connect the dots), but I want to know why that command needed those switches, what do they do, and how did the author know to use those (as far as intuitive commands go).

My goals are to learn Linux on the server/business side. I work in IT and my strengths are on the MS backoffice products. I want to increase my skillset to include Linux. I chose Debian to start with as I've noticed several businesses running that on the backend. I'm actually trying to learn Linux and get to a certain level of comfort with it to propose installing an RT based system at my workplace to replace our current Helpdesk software package. Of course, I can't install something I can't support

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

No suggestions for a specific book. Essentially there are TONS of things to know about Unix/Linux. I've been working on Unix full time since 1991 and don't know know all there is to know. Nor do I ever intend to memorize all flags (switches as you call them) of all commands. You'll find over time that the flags you use most you'll remember and the other ones you may find a need for only on rare occasion.

The best way to learn is by example. You specifically questioned what the flags do in the commands you've seen in tutorials. The number one best way to see this is the "man pages" which are available on both Unix and Linux and the "info" pages which sometimes give additional information on Linux.

If you see a command you're curious about simply type:

man <command>
-OR-
info <command>

For example if you see "ls -l" used (as you will often) then opening the man or info page with:
man ls
-OR-
info ls

Will give you the documentation for that command. You can do search within the page with the / (assuming you're paging with more or pg). You'll see within the page what the "-l" flag does.

Doing a "man" or "info" on one command will give you a good idea why there is no single book that describes it all. For example vi (or one of its variants like vim which is common in Linux) has a man page that goes on forever and there are books just for this command alone.

Having said all that you can of course get almost any O'Reilly (publisher) book about Linux and find it very helpful. A good quick guide would be the "Linux Pocket Guide" (ISBN 0-596-00628-4). The downside to a lot of the published books is they're aimed at RedHat or Suse installations rather than Debian.

LXer reminded us just yesterday, that there is only one best book on Debian.

Thanks for the replies. Jlightner, I'm sure as an administrator you can appreciate what it is I'm seeking. I'm not trying to memorize everything, but know enough to become comfortable with the product. I will look into your suggestions. Do either of you have any feedback on the 'cookbook' book?

O'Reilly has several Linux books. I have two: 'Running Linux' and 'Linux Server Hacks'. Both are recommended. The first explains with a moderate degree of detail how Linux works, the latter has approxx. 100 tips for improving performance and security on your server(s). To understand Linux better, it might be an idea to get some basic knowledge on Unix, as Linux (more-or-less) derived from that OS way back in the early 90's. Have fun!

i would suggest just visit this debianhelp website you will get from basic to advanced debian linux tutorials.