[CLUE-Cert] Books

[Lynn Danielson]

Dennis J Perkins wrote:
> Here are some more books that might be useful as well.
> Unix Power Tools, O'Reilly & Associates             
> Running Linux, Matt Welsh                                

Agreed.  I also recommend these.

> Linux Complete Reference   HOWTOs and FAQs
> Linux Advanced Reference   more of the above

Dennis, how up to date are these books?  I see that they
were published October, 1999.  So, they can't be more
current than that.  They also cost $40 a piece.  If 
these are simply reprints of public domain LDP documents,
I think that's outrageous!  Is there more to these books
than a reprinting of HowTos and FAQs?

> Linux Companion for System Administrators
> Learning the Bash Shell

Agreed.  Both good books.  Although I'd still recommend
Essential Unix Administration over the Linux Companion
for Sys Admins.  The Bash Shell book is now in its
second edition.
 
> Linux kernel books
> -------------
> The Linux Kernel Book,   Card, Dumas, Mevel
> Understanding the Linux Kernel,  Bovet & Cesati  
> Linux Internals,  Moshe Bar  
> Linux Kernel Internals

Dennis, have you read these?  Do you recommend them all?
The kernel books seem hard core to me.  Have you found
them to be of practical value?

> X Windows
> ---------
> XFree86 for Linux      does not cover 4.0

No it does not.  There are some other things that it
doesn't cover either.  The only example that I can
remember right now is its coverage of font servers.
It pretty much cops out and says to check out the
Linux beautification HowTo.  While the book does 
contain good info on XFree86, I found its lack of
depth and detail disappointing.  There's a new XFree86
book scheduled for release in February, called "The
New XFree86", which presumably will cover version 4.0.
Hopefully it'll be a better book all around.
 
As dated as it is, I think I'd have to recommend 
O'Reilly's book on X, volume 8, Systems Administration.

> For those who are interested in programming in C, I
> recommend buying the 2-volume GNU C Reference Manual.

Would you recommend these over the K&R books and the
C Standard Library Reference?

> It's a bit expensive at $60 ...

At least with the GNU books the money is presumably
helping to directly fund RMS and the FSF.  They say
that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I 
have to admit that I've avoided the GNU books because
a) they're not cheap and b) their print quality has
always seemed inferior -- cheap paper, ugly fonts,
poorly bound.  Maybe I'm being too harsh, but when
I pay for a book I want it to be esthetically pleasing
and easy to read.  If I get the feeling that I could 
do a better job of printing the material with my laser printer and a
visit to a print shop, it doesn't 
inspire me to purchase a book.  I'd appreciate any
other comments you have about the GNU references.
Hopefully their quality makes up for their other
shortcomings.

Lynn