Linux for Windows Administrators

This book is just what the doctor ordered! It's packed with concise, real-world examples on how to configure and administer Linux boxes. The best part is that it doesn't bury the reader with the "information overload" that comes from exploring esoteric features. It's to-the-point and informative. If you want more details, grab an O'Reilly book. If you want to learn Linux from a practical IT standpoint, this is the book you need.

I've read through a good portion of this book and it's been great so far. Mark Minasi's writing style is easy and pleasant to read. He doesn't treat you like you know nothing about computers, but gives everything in terms that are familiar to NT admins.The book progresses well through installing Linux, running command-line programs, then on to the GUI programs. He goes into reasonable detail on basic "services" in Linux - how to install, configure, basic troubleshooting. Obviously, this isn't an in-depth Linux book, but it's a great start for NT admins like me.This book does concentrate on the Red Hat distribution as that's what seems to be common in the business environment. He mentions other distributions along the way, but focuses on Red Hat for his examples.What I really liked was the way he writes on the strengths or weaknesses of one system versus another. If NT shines in one area, he tells you why he thinks it shines. If Linux shines in an area, he'll tell you why it's great. He does the same for areas that aren't so great as well.All in all, a great book for NT Users/Admins who know NT well and want to start using Linux. Written in an easy-to-read format without diminishing the amount of information or dumbing down the material. Only wish that there were more books like this on Linux.

I have been a Windows Administrator for over 8 years, and I have been installing Linux for test purposes since 1996. The trouble was that once I got Linux installed, I never could do anything with it, it was just too frustruating to use. Using this book as a guide, I managed to set up a fully functional Linux test server in about 1 week of free time (and with three kids, two under the age of two, there is not that much free time to be had).This book quickly walks you through the similarities and differences of Linux and Windows, and does not spend ANY time with redundant subjects like "What is a network," "What is TCP/IP," etc. like a lot of other books tend to do. Mark is very good about pointing you to other resources so that you can go further on any given subject if you want.I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone interested in Linux, especially if you already have some sort of Windows background. On the same subject, I recommend all of Mark's books, as I feel that they are some of the best resources to be had for the area that they cover.

I haven't had a chance to pick up this 2nd Edition yet, but the first edition blew my mind. I'm already a big fan of Minasi and was worried that he might take a negative approach toward Linux considering the fact that he is probably THE authority on Windows networking. To the contrary, he is extrememly honest in telling you when it is best to use Windows and when it is best to use Linux. It is one of the only "cross-over" books out there and it was unbelievably helpful in my quest to learn Linux. My problem with Linux books is was that I either had to buy something in the area of "Linux for Dummies" or an O'Reilly book that, while it was high quality, assumed that I already had 5 or 6 years of Linux/Unix experience. If you already know Windows NT/2000 and are looking to learn Linux, there is no better book out there. As a companion to this book, I would also recommend "Linux for Windows Addicts" by Miller. Minasi's book is great for the server administrator and focuses mainly on the command line. "Linux for Windows Addicts" takes more of a GUI approach and is more useful toward using Linux for desktop systems.

The first edition of this book was on my wishlist for some time, so when I found out that Mark wrote second edition I preordered the book the same day. One reason for that is because of the author itself (I read his fourth edition of Mastering Windows 2000 Server and I was really impressed by both the technical level and comprehensiveness of the book - believe me, this man really knows how to explain complex topics in plain English with real life examples), the second reason is the fact that there is no good alternative on the market - I couldn't find any other book of this kind. Linux books tends to be targeted either to already experienced users of Linux/Unix or to total newbies without any networking/OS background whatsoever. I have several years of Windows NT experience on my back so I don't want to re-learn some basic topics that are common to all network operating systems. I was looking for a quick headstart approach to transfer some of my knowledge from NT environment to Linux. Now, that I read the second edition of the book I'm really sorry that I waited so long, if I bought the first edition it would probably saved me some hair ;-). Here is why this book should be on every bookshelf of Windows/Linux administrators;At first I was a little skeptic to buy a book about Linux from one of the leading authors on Windows technology, even if I knew that writing style will be superb and that book is co-authored by Linux expert Dan York. I was expecting "GUI approach" to explain basic Linux administration. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that book is all about using command line to administer Linux. This is REALLY GOOD news ! (And don't worry there is excellent chapter on setting up X environment, one of the best that I read so far.)One strength of the book is also that when appropriate author explains or compare command or feature in familiar lingo for us NT admins, like the sentence "..To set what we'd call in the NT world the Everyone/Full Control permission for speech.txt, you would type chmod 777 speech.txt". In my reviews I usually honor some chapters more than the others, this time I can't pickup my favorite chapter, in all 10 chapters I learned something new. They're all up to the task to introduce you to the topic and give you a headstart, for example, now I know that server in the X world is not a 'server' and the client is really not a 'client' ;-) or I also learned how the system of starting/stopping daemons work on Linux, how file permissions work on Linux and what are the limitations compared to NT, how to setup my own DHCP, DNS, FTP, Web and mail server, how to setup NFS, NIS and SAMBA, or to compile my own kernel and many more. Considering the size of the book (less than 500 pages) I think it's one of the finest material that you can find on the topic, especially if you're NT admin starting to explore the wonders of Linux. Highly recommended!