UNIX in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference - Covers GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Solaris

In a Nutshell

by Arnold Robbins

As an open operating system, Unix can be improved on by anyone and everyone: individuals, companies, universities, and more. As a result, the very nature of Unix has been altered over the years by numerous extensions formulated in an assortment of versions. Today, Unix encompasses everything from Sun's Solaris to Apple's Mac OS X and more varieties of Linux than you can easily name.

The latest edition of this bestselling reference brings Unix into the 21st century. It's been reworked to keep current with the broader state of Unix in today's world and highlight the strengths of this operating system in all its various flavors.
Detailing all Unix commands and options, the informative guide provides generous descriptions and examples that put those commands in context. Here are some of the new features you'll find in Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition:


Solaris 10, the latest version of the SVR4-based operating system, GNU/Linux, and Mac OS X Bash shell (along with the 1988 and 1993 versions of ksh) tsch shell (instead of the original Berkeley csh) Package management programs, used for program installation on popular GNU/Linux systems, Solaris and Mac OS X GNU Emacs Version 21 Introduction to source code management systems Concurrent versions system Subversion version control system GDB debugger
As Unix has progressed, certain commands that were once critical have fallen into disuse. To that end, the book has also dropped material that is no longer relevant, keeping it taut and current.

If you're a Unix user or programmer, you'll recognize the value of this complete, up-to-date Unix reference. With chapter overviews, specific examples, and detailed command.

Genres: Reference, Technical, Programming, Computers, Computer Science, Nonfiction, Technology

906 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1989

Reviews

[عَبدُالكَرِيمْ · Rating 3 out of 5]

very vivid ... as if all the man pages included in one book. the most interesting part was the vi/vim text editor.
Lot of repetitions killed the contents of the book
yet still a good all in one place reference for unix/linux/mac/Solaris.

[Bridger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing beats the *nix.

[Павел · Rating 3 out of 5]

Неплохой справочник, оставлю в киньте на всякий случай

[Vlad Tomici · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty old technologies presented in this book.

It helped me understanding and learning some commands.

But a well-written book.

[Mark Henry Sandomeno · Rating 1 out of 5]

Great reference wouldn’t call it a good read.

[Joseph II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure - I've owned a copy of "Unix in a Nutshell" for over 20 years, since the 2nd Edition (1993).

"Unix in a Nutshell" is the epitome of the O'Reilly "In a Nutshell" series. It is the benchmark I compare all other Nutshell books to - some come close, others miss the mark.

The key portions of this book are:
* Alphabetical Reference of commands
* Shell commands for Bash, Korn and C-shell
* Overviews of Sed and Awk

The other chapters are important, but are more specialized beyond general user or intro sys admin work and I haven't had much use for them.

For Unix die-hards, the first complaint I read/hear about this book - "Why not just use the Man pages?" For those who cut our teeth on multiple Unices (Unixes?), the differences between the OS versions would require a shell script and 'diff' to figure it out. The command reference is NOT all inclusive for either all commands or their options - only the most common ones are listed, with a brief output of what will happen. Genius!

Man pages have their uses, and if you want to be staring at a computer terminal for hours, go right ahead. But this book, in concert with man pages and online references, can give you that "multi-track attack" in learning how to use your Unix system.

One downside to this tome - every edition gets larger and the price has gone up from $15 (in 1992) to around $50 (2014). While I love this book, the price has precluded me from giving it as a gift to friends/family who use Unix. If your wanting specific topics, some of O'Reilly's Pocket Guides (around $15!) may hit the mark.

If you want more Linux specific information, purchase "Linux in a Nutshell"; around the same cost, but less Unix agnostic. And if you're waiting for "FreeBSD in a Nutshell," keep waiting...

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read all of the chapters assigned by my class, but I read the full chapters instead of just the assigned pages. (Sometimes less than a full chapter was assigned). There are some chapters that were not discussed in class that I didn't read, but I always mark textbooks like this done when I've read what's required for the course.
On to the review anyways. This is a great reference book. It does what it says. You will need another resource if you have some more learning to do, but if you just need to look something up to remind yourself what options you have available for a command, then this book is great. The course required this and another book (the other one is supposed to do more teaching and less referencing), but at the end of the day, this book is staying on my shelf and the other is being sold.

[Erwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Luckily I got this book for free, because any higher price would be unjustified for a non-sysadmin. Only interesting to quickly scan through the list of common commands to get an overview/inspiration of what commands are possible in a UNIX terminal. For everything else the 'man' pages are more extensive and interesting.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have

[Criz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best UNIX desk reference on the planet. If you work in UNIX environments, you probably already have one.

[Owen Lindsell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well thumbed book. Essential if you do a lot of bash scripting.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reference reading

[Robert Postill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still get this book out some ten years after buying it. It's solid and less obtuse than a man page.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep this by my computer. I can't remember awk syntax without it.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent reference book to have on hand when I started to learn Unix a long time ago. I find that I never use it anymore. Instead, I use the Internet or a man page.

[Brett Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an old book: 2009, Solaris had just been open sourced. Learned heaps from reading the bits that were relevant to me: bash, make and writing man pages.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helpes a treat, great tool to learn and refer back to later! I was reccomended it by a colleague.

[Peter Lindsay]

Unix in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition by Arnold Robbins (2005)