Hehehe... that's quite an impressive list shengchieh
I apologize if it was listed, but I didn't see mention of the
Rute Tutorial
Yes, books can become dated quickly, but so can web pages and HOWTOs. I've seen many, many HOWTOs that have copyrights in the late 80's or early 90's. Anyway, I'm also the type of person that like to have an offline, physical reference to thumb through. So I've bought a few books myself. Unfortunately, the books I've picked up are probably too heavy for someone just wanting to get a feel for the OS.
That said, I like these books:
Linux Administration Handbook
ISBN: 0-13-008466-2
It's got a green cover with some fairly cheesy, cartoonish figures, but don't let that stop you if you're really interested in learning things. This covers just about everything, and may not be good to start off with, but is a nice reference.
Any of the "Complete Reference" series or "Red Hat Bible" type of books will probably gloss over usage enough for you to get started. You might not be able to find one for Red Hat 7.3 though... at least, not on your local bookstore shelf. You might have to buy it online. Whenever I've looked at those books, I felt they glossed over the topics too quickly, but they are probably good for an introduction.
O'Reilly publishes a lot of books, and are fairly get-to-the-point types (no beating around the bush). They have a book for just about anything you can imagine. They have a book titled
Running Linux which is ok... my copy is definitely outdated at this point. They also have command references in
Linux in a Nutshell. The book describes a ton of commands, their options, and explanations of what those options do. It's kind of like a collection of printed man-pages, but with "plain english" explanations for the commands and options.
Take a look at the links above if they interest you; it never hurts to scan what's available online, and it definitely doesn't hurt your pocketbook. If you're like me though, and like to have a printed reference, snoop around your bookstore, read a few pages to get a feel for the author's style. You can quickly tell whether you'll be drowned in details or if it's what you're looking for.
