Red Hat Linux 7 Unleashed (Unleashed)

Rating:
Summary: The best book I have to explain Linux!
Review: As this book titled RedHat Linux 7 Unleashed (RH7U), it is covered with many in-depth explanations on what RH70 offered.

My expectation is also fulfilled, as I want to know all about Linux Basic and tend to get certified with RHCE and Linux Sair/GNU. I read this book companied with RHCE Study Guide and about to take the course on May 2002.

Currently, as I write this review, I see the RH72 Unleashed and have some thoughts to buy that as well as this RH7U provide a good structured explanation. This book is just like the Manual book that RH Corp. should provide.

I give 4 stars, as there is no book contains an all-in-one-solution to get your Linux running for production phase. This book offers a horizontal explanation on how you could get Linux started with minimal configuration. Linux means huge knowledge, that's why you need special book to read if you would like to have your Linux in specific job like firewalls, routing, DNS, SAMBA, etc.

Finally, this book is the best book I have to explain Linux!

Rating:
Summary: Advanced Root Users and New Users Will Like This One
Review: Having an Unleashed book will make your more of an expert on the topic you are reading about, and Red Hat Linux 7 Unleashed is no different.

People who have never used Linux or are experienced users will find this book helpful as it gives insight into how to install, configure, secure and get the most out of Red Hat Linux 7.

One chapter many advanced users who are using a dual boot system will find helpful is Chapter 9 on System Startup and Shutdown. One disadvantage about this book, and others, is the lack on coverage on installing Linux on a Windows 2000, NT or XP version of Windows. While Windows XP is not, out yet I have been baffled at the lack of coverage on installing the Linux Loader or LILO for an NT based system.

(Many people who are using the LILO and want to put it on the MBR will have to learn by trial and error.)

However, the intermediate or advanced user will find the rest of the information on the LILO and the Master Boot Record to be very helpful.

Also included with the book is Red Hat Linux 7 on three CD's including documentation and source. Having an extra copy (unless your getting your first copy from the book) is helpful if your copy ever goes bad.

No matter what you are planning on doing with Red Hat Linux 7, you must pickup a copy of this book. Believe me you will thank me when something goes wrong and this book as the answer in it.

Rating:
Summary: Size does NOT matter
Review: I bought this book because I wanted one of the latest distributions and thought it would be nice to accompany it with a good reference book. This book is well over 1000 pages , and you would think there is plenty of stuff in it right? WRONG. Just browse it a bit carefully (something I didn't do and regretted) and you 'll see they just fill pages over pages with useless listings and screenshots! They list the whole httpd.conf file in 24 pages for example(p.393-416). Sometimes it makes you mad when you realise you spent your money for stuff like "Now press Enter, and you 'll see:" and get a couple of pages with listings you could also read from your very screen.

My suggestion is : BUY RUNNING LINUX and a separate distribution instead. Those guys have written a real book and not a collection of listings and manual samples like the guys with "RH 7 Unleashed"!

Rating:
Summary: excellent reference
Review: I have a UNIX background and wanted to dabble in Linux at home, setting up a Linux server for a home network. I picked up this book (as well as a few others) and found that this is the one I always refer to when I need to get something done. It is a great reference for "how-to's" like how to install something, change network settings, configure mail etc. Even for very complicated subjects like Samba and Apache, this book gives you just enough to get you going. Highly recommended as a reference, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to complete newbies just struggling to learn what the OS is all about.

Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: If you are looking for a good book on Linux/Unix I strongly suggest you DON'T BUY this book. I bought this book mainly because it has the RH7 3 cd set but was also hoping it would be useful in the future since at the time I really didn't know much about Unix. The author can't explain many topics at all. He just assumes that you already know all the stuff and that you are reading the book as a novel. ...

Rating:
Summary: Book is different than sample pages shown
Review: The book I received does not match the sample pages that are displayed.

Rating:
Summary: Red Hat Linux 7 Unleased review
Review: This book gives simple, clear answers to the simple questions.
However, for more complex Linux code, go elsewhere. I find the chapters Shell Scripting and Automating Tasks give poor examples and the explanations are unclear. For someone new to Linux, this book is a good starting point but for someone looking for a little more technical info than your average Linux manual, this book fails. Two reasons I purchased this book was to learn cron and introduction to shell scripting. Both chapters regarding these topics are hard to read and examples given are futile. For something regarding bash shell scripting, O'Reilly's Learning The Bash Shell by far outweighs the merits of this book, in that particular area, mind you.

However the syntax for simpler items regarding Linux is clear and common-sense oriented. But there are so many Linux books covering these fields, it would be nice to see a manual put forth covering detailed code in the manner this book explains simpler terms.

Rating:
Summary: Too many errors for a beginner
Review: This book was my first foray into the world of Linux and I found too many errors for this to be a good start for a newbie. Case in point is Chapter 20 on ipchains. The sample firewall script is inclomplete (missing a definition of $ME in the constants section) and contains basic errors (such as showing an option as "-I" when it should be "-i"). Most galling is the publisher's website. There is no section on errata to undo some of the mistakes that made it into print. Moreover, unless your web browser supports vbscript the web site will not load. It requires dissecting the start page source to find a way into the site.

Buy the book for the disks, but expect to spend some time extricting yourself from the mistakes in it if you follow all the author's examples.

Rating:
Summary: Too little for a good reference/guide.
Review: This is a great book. However, since I'm a Linux newbie, it left me a little in the dark. It coves most of the popular Linux topics (ex. whole chapters devoted to SMTP, FTP, sendmail, Apache, DNS/DHCP), yet leave a great deal out about sys admin, and the basics of USING Linux. There is a command listing in the back (Appendix B), but that doesn't help much when you're a complete newbie. (I shouldn't say complete, I've been a Win user/programmer since I was 7 years old...) I would recommend this book for people who already have a grasp on the very basics, and want more info on intermediate stuff. This book makes a great reference/how-to.