I am about to take yet another Linux dive. I have tried various distros but have always fallen back to windows. This summer I am getting a new hard drive and plan to start off new with slackware. THe way I look at it is the best way for me to learn is to dive right in and learn it from the ground up.

I plan to buy Slackware 9 and get a book (or two) with it. I was wondering what people think of "Slackware Essentials" ( i know its a little outdated) and "Linux Complete Reference" (by Walnut Creek CD-ROM) I have been unable to find a review on this second one. Both of these are available on at the slackware store. (it won't let me post urls, sorry)

Any help you can give me on these or any other books would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

well the complete refrence books (which i have) are basically a bunch of howto's packed into a book. so if you want get them....

also you might look online for the rute linux guide. It's a free ebook (online or in PDF). Thats pretty good.

My suggestion for a book is "Running Linux" by the O'Reily Group. It isn't Slackware specific, but Slackware is so generic, anything in it will work. Its good. It deals with lots of stuff, but isn't really hard to understand.

I agree with both the previous posts. rute is a good for learning linux and almost any book or howto that is not distro specific would work for slackware. as for the slackware book being out of date some parts may be but i'm sure much of it is still good.

You are making a good choice in slackware for learning linux.

good luck

I second contrasutra's suggestion. "Running Linux" is an excellent book - most (if not all ) of your questions will be answered by this one. Be sure to get the latest edition, which is the fourth (ISBN: 0596002726).

you can't go wrong with "Running Linux". I'm pretty new to linux and I refrence that book everyday. The authors of the book found a way to throw some humor in there too, I find myself laughing out loud often while reading the book. Maybe I'm just a geek, but oh well.
peace

i see what you posted ,all of you say "Running Linux" is good ,but
i can't buy the Running Linux in paper,so i want to get the PDF file
to have a look ,but where i can get ?

I've seen on slackware.tuxfamily.org
a slackbook.
Very interesting for newbies.

I have Slackware Essentials (bought it with version 9 cd-roms) and it's quite good.

It walks you through the most important steps, like installation, PPP connection to the Internet, adding/removing users, etc... Nothing ground-breaking, but it should help you get a good "feel" for the entire Slackware system.

You can actually read it online on http://www.slackware.com and there is an update available, as well.

After that, honestly, it's more a question of hanging around forums such as this one and reading the "man" pages. Always remember that your three UNIX friends are "apropos", "man" and "whatis".

There is a very good book for complete beginners: "Think Unix", which will help you go through the most basic commands. Get this instead of the "Complete Linux Reference", which are not very interesting.

I hate to say it, but I am fairly certain you can only get "Running Linux" in paper form.

Yes only in a paper form: u've got (I think some sample chapter but it's nothing).

BTW, here's a little reference card (in PDF!) for shell commands...

http://www.indiana.edu/~uitspubs/b017/b017.pdf

laxi, I have the pdf version of "Running Linux-4th Ed". I am more than willing to share this pdf book with you or anyone.

If someone would explain to me how to share this, I'll comply.

Peace, BC

Im guessing either upload to a free webhost, OR email it to everyone. (for webhosts I can recomend a few if you need them)

I don't think that "Running Linux" is officially given out as PDF. Please do not share it,as that is breaking copyright laws, and felonies are not really approved of.

If it is officially given out as PDF though, my mistake.