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Computer Book Store > Computer books beginning with S
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SUSE Linux10 Bible |
Author: Justin Davies
Published: 2006-02-06 |
List price: $39.99
Our price: $30.39
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Usually ships in 24 hours
As of: December 03rd, 2008 06:59:45 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Excellent Reference Book
I was looking for SUSE Linux book and read dozens of reviews for different books hoping to find the one I needed on my first try. It seemed like most of the reviews I read were written by people new to linux and were focused on how well the books succeeded at providing a simple introduction. This book was universally rejected as being too big, too detailed and difficult to follow for a first time user - so I bought it. I am a Unix/Linux engineer with years of experience with Irix, Tru64, Solaris and RedHat. I have just recently taken on some SLES 10 systems and needed a reference book to speed up understanding the subtle differences of this linux version. An introduction to Linux book wouldn't tell me much that would help with the sorts of problems I'm running into. I needed something that would give in depth information on how to configure various services from the command line. I should be grateful for the other poor reviews. That made it so I could get a good unmarked copy for $.89 plus shipping. This is the perfect reference manual for an advanced user who needs to learn the specifics of SLES.
 Great Chapter Titiles & Section Headings. Ignorant editing
This book has all the right Chapters and sections.
It's a pretty good refresher -- especially if you don't mind reading poor explanations and worse code recommendations.
I'm not sure what to find most remarkable: a) that editors were involved in this project (and they put their names on it); b) this is the 2nd edition; or c) no one appears to have written a significantly better all-inclusive text.
If you know of a better all-inclusive reference, please post it here.
Loaded With Interesting Information on Linux
I bought this book for the DVD, but later I found it very interesting. I am not a raw Linux beginner, thus I didn't use it to help me to install Linux or to run it. Nevertheless the book is packed with useful and interesting information, not only about the command line, but also about many other things. The last chapters are on virtualization, which is a hot topic. In particular, it discusses Novell's strategy and products. I agree with some of the other reviewers' criticisms, but I consult this book often. The other book that you should have is "Running Linux" by Matt Welsh et al..
 A poorly organized reference book
This book simply can not be read cover to cover. If you are looking for a beginners guide to SUSE, don't get this book.
If you are looking for a reference book with a lot of good technical information in it, this book isn't for you either. It has a useless index, and the content is scattered crazily throughout.
I recommend instead Beginning SUSE Linux, From Novice to Professional. This book is written for Suse 9.1, but is great for a beginner. I have been using Suse for 9 months, and still got a great deal of helpful information from this one.
Good luck, and don't give up on Linux, it is great!
Did they get paid by the page?
I needed an in depth course on SuSE 10 and thought this would be it. Unfortunately, the authors wrote as if they got paid by the page. They would regularly rehash what they had discussed in the last section as if the "last section" wasn't still visible half-way up the page and they would constantly give instructions about neophyte computer skills such as how to pull off a ctrl-D or put a CD into a drive (shinny side down, apparently). But, when more information was definitely called for, such as when they list a shell command with half a dozen options, they would suddenly become quite sketchy. I didn't expect a complete command list for Linux that described every option, but if you rattle off a command with a sizable chunk of the alphabet as options, then maybe a brief description of what you're suggesting someone do on their computer is in order. Another annoyance is the authors' insatiable desire to give everyone a few history lessons along the way. If I need to know the back-story of Linux, the various other Novell products, Linus Torvalds, the Internet, the ISO OSI model or the personal computer, I'll look it up online. I needed an in depth course on SuSE 10. Instead, I got a bloated introduction riddled with inane redundancy, tangential trivia and dubiously helpful instructions while completely lacking in any comprehensive detail. This book was at least four times as long as was needed for their level of instruction.
I would have given the book 1 star, but the DVD with SuSE 10 on it was great once I added a few applications and updates. After playing around with over 15 different distros, I've settled on SuSE. The current version is head and shoulders above anything else I've tried and a new version (OSS 10.1) is due out any time. If you need a great Linux OS, I highly recommend SuSE 10.x, but if you need to learn about it, I would suggest a different book.
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