Hello, I seriously want to learn how to use Linux but I don''t know what book I should buy. I have RedHat 8.0 but I want to learn general linux (console, not only the GUI)... and also I want to learn it well, not only how to use it but how to use it and understand it and maybe change it in the future ! Thanks in advance...

normaly an answer would be RTFM not a nice one... but it is a pretty good answer.
set yourself a goal, for instance: i want to use my linux-machine as a gateway to share my internet connection. try google and you will find a howtos. do them.
then you might say... hell i''ve got a gateway what about DHCP because i''m a lazy guy and want my other machines to get themself IPs and a nice ftp would also be great.
that''s the way i learned about linux... try and error and well now i''ve got my gateway, i''m working on a school-projekt involving RedHat 9, PostgreSQL, CORBA...

books are nice but even if they give examples they won''t teach you as much as if you try to get your stuff done by yourself


greetz Zeon

i agree with zeon....dont get yourself a book for now.
Check out the linux documentation project for tons of HOWTOs.
Start compiling and installing programs to test, compile w new kernel or two
After a while maybe you can get yourself a book about some more advanced stuff or a tips and tricks styyle book (i love those, i always learn something from them )

hack your linux box al night and do all sorts of (im)possible configurations

good luck!



--Spencer

"Relax, this dragon is sleeping..."

I actually do suggest a book or two or three.
Get a book that at least covers RH8.. That said something from SAMS (Red Hat 8 Unleashed ?) might be worth a look see. When in doubt drop by the local book store and ... well... look. Then take one (or two, etc) home with you that cover the info you want to know.

That said online documtation will be where you end up reading alot of good info(searchable and up to date.. usually.)... as has been mentioned perhaps just start there?

Oh and any linux book worth a damn will cover the console ALOT more than any gui.

Luck,
Feral

I use a book by Sobell called "A Practical Guide to Redhat Linux 8". Its pretty good and quite a thick book. Check it out.

Yes I was thinking about internet tutorials but I can''t really set myself a goal like "I want to do this and that on linux" since I have basically no knowledge of this OS! And my point is that I want to learn how to use it first THEN I''ll be ready to use howtos...

BTW it''s easier to have a book in front of you when you''re using the OS instead of reading stuff then switching to linux and then trying to do it (heck I couldn''t read any howtos on my linux since I don''t even know how to set up internet on it)...

Running Linux 4th Edition, by O''Rielly is a great book

I would say, if you want a linux book, get one that isn''t distribution-specific. I personally have "Linux in a Nutshell" as a reference. It is a fairly good book, and is basically a dead-tree tome of man pages, and some other stuff thrown in. Or get some documentation on the shell that you are using, unless you changed it, it''s BASH, and something on a text editor(emacs/vi/nano)..

quote: Original post by earl3982
Running Linux 4th Edition, by O''Rielly is a great book

I have the 3rd edition which is quite outdated by today''s standards but was excellent in its time. If the 4th edition is up to date I definitely recommend it.

I agree with those who say to read tutorials and HOWTOs. Get your Internet set up (that should be easy, though because I have a cable modem which was automatically detected during my install and I didn''t have to change any settings, I wouldn''t know), and use your web browser to go from there. Setting up your device drivers and stuff is very educational, and I doubt you''d even find too much about setting up devices and related things in most Linux books anyways.