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In a Nutshell
Linux in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference
Everything you need to know about Linux is in this book. Written by Stephen Figgins, Ellen Siever, Robert Love, and Arnold Robbins -- people with years of active participation in the Linux community -- Linux in a Nutshell, Sixth Edition, thoroughly covers programming tools, system and network administration tools, the shell, editors, and LILO and GRUB boot loaders. This updated edition offers a tighter focus on Linux system essentials, as well as more coverage of new capabilities such as virtualization, wireless network management, and revision control with git. It also highlights the most important options for using the vast number of Linux commands. You'll find many helpful new tips and techniques in this reference, whether you're new to this operating system or have been using it for years. Get the Linux commands for system administration and network managementUse hundreds of the most important shell commands available on LinuxUnderstand the Bash shell command-line interpreterSearch and process text with regular expressionsManage your servers via virtualization with Xen and VMwareUse the Emacs text editor and development environment, as well as the vi, ex, and vim text-manipulation toolsProcess text files with the sed editor and the gawk programming languageManage source code with Subversion and git
944 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 14, 2013
As a network admin. I find this book very useful as a reference. With so many linux commands and options, no one can memorize all of them.
It's fairly easy to find what I'm looking for in it. It would probably be faster if I had a digital version so I could use the find function. But with a paperback copy, it's easier to bonk myself in the head after I bork something up. :)
October 3, 2024
2009 edition broadly still relevant in 2024, with some funny cases like cdparanoia and of course systemd. Most of the book is organised as a list of manpages (mostly valid for GNU distros), which is relatively handy if you don't know exactly what to look for but you know how to look for it and you don't want to scan the entire manual.
Various sections provide neat introductions to rather complex architectural topics, which seem suitable also for a beginner. I'm not sure the introduction to the console and to bash scripting would work well for someone at their first steps, but it's worth trying.
Various sections provide neat introductions to rather complex architectural topics, which seem suitable also for a beginner. I'm not sure the introduction to the console and to bash scripting would work well for someone at their first steps, but it's worth trying.
August 11, 2017
A good reference book, especially for looking up parameters for commands. However, it is eight years old, and while a lot of basic programs haven't changed, many have so the book is outdated. Most of what's covered here can be found in the help sections for specific commands as well as a variety of online resources.
February 28, 2018
What can I say? Clearly in the honored tradition of the O'Reilley's other Nutshell books. All of which have a permanent place on my CS reference shelf. Siever simply covers what is needed by a BS 4.2 guy that needed a serious retooling.
May 21, 2010
.....review is on 6th edition of this book.....
Although I'm not an advanced user, I do work with Linux everyday. In spite of that repetition and daily reinforcement, this is the one book I reference most often.
Frankly, it's just not possible for me to remember all of the Linux commands. This is a user's guide that is more than useful; it's clearly written and all of the commands are covered in alphabetical order. I prefer having a handy reference volume versus sifting through Google search results. If you already have a basic understanding of using Linux and want a good book for looking up how specific commands work, then this is your reference manual. It's useful for beginner, intermediate, and the experienced user AND there's a comprehensive index of both topics and commands and it's easy to find what you're looking for. Should you need more, you will have to refer to man pages!
I found the chapter on virtualization a little light but that's probably best, given it's complexity and depth. The chapters on Shells, Boot Methods and networking are great and offer enough detail to get most folks off and running. The chapter on the various editors is well done and contains excellent detail; certainly enough to get you going with any of them. Package management was also presented well and helped me understand a good bit more about yum, after having used aptitude for years. I don't do much with sed, gawk or version control but the chapters on those technologies were understandable and will prove useful in the future.
Overall, I find this book extremely valuable and it is one of those that I keep handy at all times. It is, in my opinion, THE essential Linux reference book.
Although I'm not an advanced user, I do work with Linux everyday. In spite of that repetition and daily reinforcement, this is the one book I reference most often.
Frankly, it's just not possible for me to remember all of the Linux commands. This is a user's guide that is more than useful; it's clearly written and all of the commands are covered in alphabetical order. I prefer having a handy reference volume versus sifting through Google search results. If you already have a basic understanding of using Linux and want a good book for looking up how specific commands work, then this is your reference manual. It's useful for beginner, intermediate, and the experienced user AND there's a comprehensive index of both topics and commands and it's easy to find what you're looking for. Should you need more, you will have to refer to man pages!
I found the chapter on virtualization a little light but that's probably best, given it's complexity and depth. The chapters on Shells, Boot Methods and networking are great and offer enough detail to get most folks off and running. The chapter on the various editors is well done and contains excellent detail; certainly enough to get you going with any of them. Package management was also presented well and helped me understand a good bit more about yum, after having used aptitude for years. I don't do much with sed, gawk or version control but the chapters on those technologies were understandable and will prove useful in the future.
Overall, I find this book extremely valuable and it is one of those that I keep handy at all times. It is, in my opinion, THE essential Linux reference book.
October 6, 2012
A great learning and reference book for Linux systems. This book goes into great detail on techniques for pattern matching and line by line processing with psuedo-programming languages like sed and gawk, and also covers some of the editing systems useful on both fully powered development environments and minimal command prompt only systems.
January 6, 2011
Like all O'Reilly Nutshell books, this is clear, readable, and human. The subject field, "Linux," however seems to be too big to fit "in a nutshell," and the treatment comes up a little shallow. Enough coverage for a tutorial, I guess, but in the Nutshell style level that promises more.
August 26, 2007
Good for a basic command reference, but if you're looking for an in-depth, action-packed command list, this is not the book to get.
September 7, 2009
Excellent reference to Linux
January 26, 2012
Every bash and Linux system command anyone could possibly need is in this book.
September 17, 2015
this a perfect book
June 26, 2016
Half of book contains Unix commands and available options for each of them, which is redundant.
August 11, 2011
One of the better core Linux references
July 14, 2012
Not for the uninitiated Linux user, but a very good reference for those who enjoy using the CLI.
March 19, 2019
There are a lot of online references about linux commands but I want to get something like a reference book. The book contains a great reference of commands from linux terminal, rebooting, git and gitbash and many more. I grab this book because I want to advance my knowledge in linux. Though its outdated it gave me a lot of useful informationa.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews