Unix (R) Weekend Crash Course TM [With CDROM] [With CDROM]

The book is very informative and offers much of useful knowledge! I have used it with Linux and UNIX for a beginner training suite, 4DVDs + 2CDs includes 4 Unix Academy Certifications ed.2008. It is very cool one, straight to the subject, very useful. I used this book and "UNIX for dummies" with this DVDs and I believe I learned more tahn in my $2000 class.

PROS: 1. Good broad range of topics 2. Excellent explanations and depth 3. As a general UNIX book it is quite good. Not specific to any type and offers enough on the popular UNIXes. 4. Liberal use of well explained examples. NOT a dry dictionary of syntax. 5. No filler... 100% useful content that is not hidden by fluff. 6. CDs help you to experiment. 7. Good tone. CONS: 1. Some of the segments that are supposted to take 30 minutes may take longer because the content takes a bit longer to digest. 2. Not really a con because it is somewhat a separate topic... doesn't disuss SAMBA or Windows interoperability. But that is an application, as well as Apache... not core UNIX. GENERAL: I was surprised to find that this was the best non-detailed UNIX book I have read. And if you want more detail on something, just consult the on-line manual pages. But this book gives you pretty much most of what you need to know. This is what O'Reilly's UNIX in a Nutshell should have been. Also better than O'reilly's Learning UNIX and more lean and mean than UNIX power tools. Overall this is even better than UNIX System Administration Handbook (by Evi Nemeth and others) IF YOU ARE an experienced administrator cause that book rambles on and meanders into too many side topics... e.g. explaining tcp/ip. That book has grown to now wanting to be too many things to too many people. That book is best for the rookie admin, or the person who just likes computers and got put in charge of a network with UNIX servers. This UNIX weekend crash course has all the essentials. Note you will need other books or on-line resources for popular UNIX applications such as SAMBA (simulating Windows file servers and domain controllers), APACHE (for running a web server) and SENDMAIL or POSTFIX (for a mail server). But if you are new to UNIX or need a quick refresher... this is DEFINITELY one of the first books you should get.