Linux with Operating System Concepts

Very detailed, well designed. Good textbook and can be use as reference... I will definitely recommend it. Great book.

“LINUX with Operating System Concepts” by Richard FoxISBN: 978-1-4822-3589-0A solid book on the Linux operating system!In General:“Linux with Operating System Concepts” by Richard Fox is a very informative book on the Linux operating system, that is well written with significant explanation, describing key usage and system administration issues, and is practically applicable for a broad audience, including: students, instructors, system administrators, computer engineers and hobbyists.I feel that employees in academic institutions and businesses that use the Linux operating system would benefit from reading this text, since it covers machine setup and goes into depth with regard to details of computer operating system usage. It’s a truly useful book for many different people and will grow in popularity as the Linux operating system gains a wider audience.I now have a much better appreciation of the Linux operating system than I did before, where I would otherwise read the online manual-styled documents but not get all the information as a whole and how it all fits together. So many times whilst reading the book I found myself saying things like: “Oh, so that’s why sys admin people do that”, or “Oh, now I get the organization of the file system”, or “So that’s how you automate processes with Bash scripts” or “That’s why people use a logical volume manager to organize partitioning”, etc. I highlighted a lot of ideas throughout.Pros:There is a substantial amount of material covering the Linux operating system and its use, with underlying computing fundamentals: see the Contents for the broad range of topics that are covered in depth. There are summaries at the end of each chapter highlighting the key concepts including the Linux commands. Shell scripting is thoroughly covered allowing the reader to write shell scripts to automate processes. A thorough explanation of Linux installation is provided allowing the user to intelligently set up one’s own machine in a flexible manner including a thorough discussion on partitioning. There are a substantial amount of references provided at the back of the book. There are questions that may be used to test one’s knowledge or by instructors for testing purposes if necessary, but the real benefit comes from hands-on usage: the real-world test. The book has satisfied my goal of becoming more independent when sitting in front of a computer with a different operating system, without continually having to rely on system admin support. Now the questions that I ask of system admin are more intelligent, and hence they are more willing to help me as they now see that I’m making a sincere effort.Cons:The index is quite brief and rather than a complete noun and verb listing, it is more conceptually oriented. For example, “firewall” and “IP Tables” are not in the index under “F” or “I”, but rather are found under “Network” (“N”). Similarly, “crond” isn’t under “C” but rather under “Service” (“S”). “Make” or “Makefile” don’t appear under “M”, but they may be found when referring to “Compilation”. In that regard, the reader needs to think in a more high-level conceptual manner when using the index. As a result of so much information being conveyed, the reader may feel somewhat overwhelmed at times and may find the book verbose or unnecessarily detailed. The section headings are numbered but unfortunately not in bold, so at times I had to flick backwards and forwards to find certain sections as I lost these in the body of the text. It would have been nice for keywords to have been in a bold font style, throughout the book, to make the reading more engaging.Reading Approach:The book can be read from start to finish in its entirety, e.g. at 1 chapter per day for 14 days. However, it’s probably better to start with Chapter 8 Installing Linux, so that the computer system is up and running, if the reader has had some exposure to Linux/Unix in the past. Then, when reading the book, the user can experiment with the material and learn by doing which would be more engaging than simply reading, and would also help in remembering commands. I never felt left behind when reading this book, but I have been exposed to Unix in the past. However, prior exposure isn’t necessary, since everything is covered in so much detail.Notes:As a reviewer I have read the whole book with the exception of Section 5.2.2 “emacs” and Section 6.6 “awk”, as these are not of interest to me in my current work. I think it may also be beneficial to read the book twice to let concepts sink in, or use it as a reference manual when working with Linux to complement manual pages or Internet-based material (noting the conceptual nature of the Index). The only other book I’ve read on Unix is “Unix in Plain English” by Reichard and Foster-Johnson. The two books can’t be compared as one deals with operating system commands only, and the other operating system concepts with a discussion on commands where relevant: both appear very useful together. However, to really know whether this book is for you, it’s best to thoroughly read the Contents section to see if it can solve your problems. CentOS is covered more deeply than Ubuntu, but this should not pose a problem for the user. I am tempted to provide examples here of the clarity of technical explanation, but these may not be relevant to your situation, but rest assured, they do exist.Rating:I give the book a 5-star rating for the following reasons: practical, relevant, caters for a broad audience, scientific, thorough, informative detail, and readable within a reasonable amount of time. The amount of time this book has saved me makes the price good value. The author has been very generous in sharing his obviously substantial body of knowledge here, so I kind of feel grateful for that.Summary:“Linux with Operating System Concepts” is a thorough, useful and practical book allowing the reader to have a better understanding of the Linux operating system with helpful information and examples on command usage, scripting, partitioning, installation and setup, that all applies to the real world.Thank you for taking the time to read my review.

I've attempted to pick up Linux and learn it. This book is full of material that will leave you guessing "what the hell did he mean"? The context on several examples is incomplete and shows no foresight in the use cases. Although there are sections that are completely over board with examples they miss out on the "rest of the document" and leave you guessing. If you had already had years of user experience under your belt this book might be a good transition reference. However, it is sorely lacking for anyone who is just starting out.Skip this book if you want to learn linux. Its ok if you want to learn more and have worked with Linux already.