Linux help literature

[Tanatz]

I'm heading to Barnes and Noble to get some Linux help. I've been toying with Linux for 2 years on and off now, and I'm fairly familiar with the extreme basics. I always gave up for one reason or another and went back to Windows. With all this crap about XP SP2 going on and for other reasons, I want to finally make the switch.

Anyone have any suggestions on a book that can take me from a beginner to good enough to ditch Windows? :P Something that is detailed enough to really walk me through like I'm a three year old child. (I already bought Red Hat for dummies, and I still couldn't get things to work :P )

I'm planning on using Fedora or Mandrake, as those have been the two distros I'm most familiar with.

[Hayl]

get a book that explains how it works.

These 3 O'Reilly books are all good:

- Running Linux **
- Linux Network Administrators Guide
- Building Secure Servers

Avoid the Linux in a Nutshell book, it is like a reference/dictionary book

[fatTrav]

These are also good:

Gillay, Carolyn Z. Linux User's Guide. Franklin, Beedle & Associates, 2003.

Nemeth, Snyder, Hein. Linux Administration Handbook. Prentice Hall, 2002.

Nemeth is also a co-author on the Unix Administration handbook, it's a bit older then the others but still a good read.

[toolshed]

I would suggest reading all the user comments at amazon. People usually give you an idea of who the book is for or if it is worth the $.

[rayburn]

One more recommendation, as I found this book to be the catalyst for me to start understanding how Linux works:

Moving to Linux by Marcel Gagne.

I was in a similar position to you, having flirted with Linux for several years only to despair of ever understanding it, however, this book is extremely good at approaching the subject from a Windows user point of view, and after reading it I was able to better understand all the other Linux books I had bought!

I am still only scratching the surface though....

[jordban]

Hello,
Im going to buy a couple of books on linux too. I need something that covers how to use the terminal / command line and covers thes basic structure of linux and how it works. Any suggestions?

[fatTrav]

Originally posted by jordban
Hello,
Im going to buy a couple of books on linux too. I need something that covers how to use the terminal / command line and covers thes basic structure of linux and how it works. Any suggestions?

the books i recommended above are good. i cut my teeth using a "red hat linux unleashed" book a few years back. If you can, go to a book store and preview the book before you buy it to make sure it covers the areas you want.

either of them might be enough to get you "dangerous" before you turn to G4L and man pages to learn new things. best of luck!

[jordban]

Originally posted by fatTrav
the books i recommended above are good. i cut my teeth using a "red hat linux unleashed" book a few years back. If you can, go to a book store and preview the book before you buy it to make sure it covers the areas you want.

either of them might be enough to get you "dangerous" before you turn to G4L and man pages to learn new things. best of luck!

Thanks for the advice!
Ill write a review here on whatever book i get ;)