Good Linux Books for Beginners

[Craig White]

On Mon, 2007-09-03 at 15:50 -0700, David Munson wrote:
> Short version:
> Anyone know of a good Linux book for brand-new users?
> 
> Extended version:
> Something that teaches command line stuff, the parts of a distribution
> (like what a window manager is, what a desktop environment is, the
> differences between the two, what packages are, how updating works)
> and other things you or others consider vital would be ideal. I'd
> prefer to avoid a class, since that's time+money, and I have to
> schedule around it, which isn't easy for me these days.
> 
> Long version:
> So I'm new to Linux, though I'm rapidly finding out which desktop
> environments and window managers I prefer, as well as which
> distributions I like the best and which ones are good for what uses,
> thanks to LiveDisc versions of some major distros.
> 
> However, being new to Linux, I run into problems when I need to get
> something done that requires (or seems to require) the use of the
> command line, or troubleshooting why a distro will load on one PC but
> not on another.
> 
> I prefer my references in dead tree format, since I'll largely be
> playing with linux on a notebook, and a lot of the problems I run into
> are in regards to getting online when I need to do something with the
> command line to diagnose and fix the issue.
> 
> Does anyone here know of good linux books for beginners? A lot of my
> questions would probably be answered by reading a bit, and keep me
> from bothering people with basic questions that aren't easily found
> via Google, or can't be accessed since they're online and not dead
> tree format.
----
I don't know that I have a specific book to recommend other than I would
probably see if there's some book that parallels whatever distro you are
using - i.e. if you are using Fedora, get a Fedora book, if you are
using Ubuntu, get a Ubuntu book, etc.

The distributions generally track each other pretty closely but there
will be differences between them such as where they put config files,
package management and configuration utilities will vary greatly.

The thing that I have always found most instructive is to have a
mission. Nothing teaches better than accomplishing a task. Learning to
set up apache server is rather pointless if you don't have web tasks to
accomplish. If you want to learn about networking, routing and
firewalls, unplug the store bought router and learn to set up routing
without it.

Very important to experiment with several text mode editors (a
non-exhaustive list would include vi, emacs, joe, pico). Resist the
temptation to switch back to Windows/Macintosh because it's what you
know. The more you work on Linux, the faster you will grasp it. You will
also be surprised how much you learn about Windows or Macintosh by
learning Linux.

most commands have 'man' and/or 'info' pages.  From a command line, type
'man cp' or 'info cp' You can also use 'Konqueor' and type those
commands into the address bar for a web cleaned interface. Also, most
commands respond to '--help' so typing 'cp --help' should provide some
useful information.

This list is also a tremendous resource, especially if you demonstrate
that you have made some effort to get an answer from known resources
first.

As for why some distro's work on some PC's and not others, sometimes,
there is limitations in supported hardware and sometimes it's as simple
as burning CD's at a high speed that works on some CD/DVD drives but not
on others. I recommend that when burning installation CD's, use the
slowest speed (usually about 4x) when burning so that the burned CD
works on the greatest variety of drives. One thing I have noticed with
new Dell Optiplex systems is that Fedora 7 i386 doesn't work so well but
x86_64 does work - go figure.

Craig