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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Unix (The Complete Idiot's Guide)
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Author: Bill Wagner
List Price: $16.99
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0789718057
Publisher: Alpha Communications (October, 1998)
Edition: Paperback
Sales Rank: 43,411
Average Customer Rating: 4.88 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 5 out of 5
Wonderful Intro to UNIX
From this book's inner jacket (A Quick Reference guide and a Command Reference guide) to the reference information provided at its end, this book provides an excellent introduction to the world of UNIX. Even "seasoned" UNIX users can pick up a few facts from here, like the "history" of UNIX, the numerous UNIX operating system "flavors," and even troubleshooting common system problems.But there's much more here. There are chapters devoted to topics like the different UNIX "shells" (and their descriptions), file manipulation (along with opening, editing, saving, and printing files), working with the X Windows system, UNIX text editors like vi and emacs, and even how UNIX and the 'Net are intertwined with each other. One more thing I liked about this book (besides the wonderful diagrams and screen captures) was the attention paid to describing various UNIX commands and their options. That really helps to "de-mystify" this operating system. Even though I'm more of an "intermediate" UNIX user, I've searched for a long time for a good introductory UNIX book. I'd say this one definitely fits the bill.
Rating: 5 out of 5
The only idiot is the one who missed this book
There is much more to this book than just beginning UNIX commands. There are dozens of beginning UNIX books. Many of them are quite good. This book however is one of the few that can start with the concepts and get you going on most of the major UNIX platforms. Yes every one will point out the differences in BSD and AT&T, however most systems are a combination. What I found interesting is the X Window information as the general public does not realize that UNIX has a GUI interface like CDE. This book also has a good treatment of networks. Again the general public does not realize that the Internet is almost purely UNIX. There are all sorts of things it forgot to leave out so you can have an excuse to buy more books.
Rating: 5 out of 5
A Great Intro to Unix
This is a very well written book as an intro to Unix. I know just about nothing on Unix and wanted to learn what Unix is about. After finishing this book, I found myself understanding how and what Unix is. It uses simple language to explain the OS to you instead of technical terms of which leaves you scratching your head in sheer frustration. I found it very enjoyable reading about how Unix was born and the different flavors of Unix out there. It also teaches you the basic shell commands to get around the OS. After finishing this book and practicing what you've learned in the book, you're definitely able to move around a little bit better on Unix than before. It won't turn you into an expert by any means but it will give you a good foundation for you to head toward that direction. I am usually very skeptical about the Idiot or Dummy book series but this one is an exception to the rule. This is not one of those books which leaves you completely exhausted for you feel the task of learning Unix is going to be beyond you. It leaves you feeling that Unix isn't all that tough. The book does not go into details about any of the Unix flavors and what each is truly about, the security features or why one might be more suitable for certain tasks you might want to do.
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