Linux Power Tools

A good book for learning Linux. Not as basic as O'Reilly's Running Linux and not as deep as Unix Power Tools, but perfect for the "no longer a newbie, not yet a pro" crowd. Recommended.

"Linux Power Tools" is NOT like "Unix Power Tools" published by O'Reilly. If you were expecting the same, you'llbe disappointed. Otherwise this is a good general Linux book, which takes it up a notch. To quote the author,Rodrick W. Smith in his intro, "This book is written for experienced Linux or Unix users who want to take their general knowledge of Linux to the next level." The author does a good job on focusing on this target and still keeping the book to around 600 pages.Author covers the five Linux distros; Mandrake, Red Hat, SuSE, Debian and Slackware on the Intel 32-bit platform.If you are a Linux novice who wants to move up from Linux intro books and/or plan to use the five covered Linux distros, then this is a good book for you. If you're focusing on one single specific Linux distro, you might be better off settling on another book covering just that distribution. If you've plenty of Unix/Linux experience you may want to thumb through this book before deciding to buy it.Don't expect any subject to be covered real deep. Author covers the defaults, the easy setups, and the common setups. Many of the chapters (topics) are books unto themselves. The author starts many of his chapters with this same caveat. If you need more depth on a specific subject, the author references some URIs (URLs) and some other titles to consult.Rodrick W. Smith, has written a number of other good books ("Linux Hardware Book" & "The Multi-Boot Configuration Handbook"). This one is also well written. I especially like the opinions he's expresses on various applicationsand releases. I wish he would have included more. Examples are good. More examples would have been nice.But I suspect it was another trade-off in keeping the number of pages down. Personally I found the info on USB,scanners, audio and kernel hacking to be useful to me.

I've noticed that there is a glut of ultra beginner linux books on the market... books that teach basic linux commands, explain what shells are, lead you through installations... this is not quite one of those books. Mr. Smith's text dives a deeper into linux issues and tackles subjects such as security, kernel compiling, optimization, hardware configuration, and server setup, among other topics.Being an uber-geek myself, the first thing I wanted to do with linux was compile a kernel. How cool is that? Its tough to find a good coverage of all the kernel options (even the help inside the kernal configs are spotty), but while the chapter on kernels is not complete, it is definately a nice survey.My only major complaint with this book is in regards to the chapters on the UIs. They do not provide any more information other than enumerating different programs and window managers one can use on their system.For those diving into Linux, this is definately a top pick. I'm sure experienced users may find some nuggets as well.

There are an awful lot of books on the market that talk about Open Source operating systems, explaining them in all of their technical glory. But once you get past the excitement of all that, you have to face the fact that you've got a computer in front of you, and you have to do something with it. That is where Linux Power Tools comes in: it is the users' guide for *using* computers -- everything from configuring desktops to setting up your sound system (and MP3 players)to security systems to SAMBA (working with windows). It is well-written and clear, and a great point-of-departure for folks who want to make Linux a productive part of their daily lives.