Unix: The Complete Reference, Second Edition

I got a used book but it was in pretty good condition close to a new book. Book arrived very soon.

I sure hope you don't intend to read this cover to cover. It functions best as a reliable and comprehensive reference to unix. For both system administrators and programmers. Yes, if you are the latter, you still have to deal with the operating system, even if you hide inside a programming language most of the time. The various unix shells are evenhandedly described. The Bourne shell. The c shell. Korn shell. Try not to get into arguments with unix fans over the choice of shell. It is better to regard these as equivalent in functionality, with only minor differences not worth arguing about. As the book explains, there are several unix variants. But the coverage spans all the major types. You can also use the book profitably if you have a linux machine. Most of the linux commands are deliberately mimicking unix equivalents.

I think this book is great. I used to use a few other non-reference books when I needed some quick info, and it was always such a pain to find what I needed. Finally I bought this book and it has been so nice finding quick answers to almost any problem I encountered. I would estimate that this book has helped me about 90% of the time I needed it. About 10% of the time I had to find the answer elsewhere (if there even was an answer). Also, I think the book is well-written, clear, and concise. The caveat is that I had been using unix for about 4 years before I bought this book. Some newcomers to unix have left reviews saying that it wasn't too good for them. Although this may be true, I think this book could still be of value. Even if you are an absolute beginner, I would recommend getting this book AND a small/cheap beginner book. After a few weeks/months of getting the very basics down, I think this book will come in handy and really start giving the info that will be of long-term use in the workplace.

We have a small group of UNIX users with different backgrounds. Usually it's hard to answer everybody's questions. This book is arranged so that it covers a wide range, from simple beginner to experienced UNIX users. It's a thick book, but I guess it needs to be to address all of the variants in any depth. I especially like the book and web references for each chapter; if I can't find some answers in the text, at least I have some places to go to find them.

This book breaks it down grunt style. Very easy to read and covers everything you can think off. Out of my small library of techincal manuals this was my best investment. You really get your money's worth with this one.