ike's virtual reading room -- linux: book reviews

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Book Reviews
[ Linux - Guides & References | System Admin | Programming | More ... ]

Reference Desk

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Book Reviews

Listed below are reviews on books on Linux & useful books for Linux users. Book title (along with publishing data) is listed first, followed by individual reviews.

Online reviews from bookstores are included when a) there are reasonably large numbers of responses, or b) informative reviews exist. "Highly positive" means reviews are mostly positive, "overwhelmingly positive" means mostly positive *and* quite numerous.

Note: ACCU stands for Association of C & C++ Users, TER for Telecommunications Electronic Reviews, and ERCB for Electronic Review of Computer Books.

Linux Guides & References

Linux in a Nutshell (2nd ed.) - by Ellen Siever et al. [ O'Reilly & Associates: Feb 99, ISBN 1-56592-585-8 ]
- Review by Chris Hills, from ACCU's C Vu [Sep 99] - Rated as "Recommended"
- Review by Ken Guest, from Linux.ie [7 May 99] - "... a good quick reference"
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - generally positive
A Practical Guide to Linux - by Mark Sobell [ Addison Wesley Longman: June 97, ISBN 0-201-89549-8 ]
- Review by Dan Zahn, from slashdot [13 Nov 98] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
- Review by Tara Neier, from InfoWorld [11 July 98] - Rated 5 (out of 5)
- Review by Bernard Doyle, from Linux Gazette [#25, Feb 98] - "... far and away the best I have seen on the market"
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - with several highly informative reviews (including Michael Johnson)
Running Linux (3rd ed.) - by M. Welsh, M. Dalheimer & L. Kaufman [ O'Reilly & Associates: Aug 99, ISBN 156592469X ]
- Review by chromatic (chromatic@zahadum.com), from slashdot [5 Oct 99] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
- Review by Scott Dexter, from ext2 [20 Sep 99] - "All in all this book is a wonderful balance..."
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - overwhelmingly positive
- Review by Jeff Taylor, from Dr. Dobb's ERCB [11 Apr 99] - Rated 3 Stars (out of 4) (a review for 2nd ed.)
- Review by Zach Beane, from Linux Journal [#45, Jan 98] - "... a worthwhile book for the Linux newcomer" (for 2nd ed.)
- Review by Donald Bryson, from UnixWorld - "... the best introduction to the Linux operating system on the market" (for 2nd ed.)
Linux for Dummies (2nd ed.) - by Jon "maddog" Hall et al. [ IDG Books: Feb 99, ISBN 0-7645-0421-5 ]
- Review by Michael Swaine, from Dr. Dobb's ERCB [24 May 99]

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System Administration

Books Covering Linux

Linux Companion for System Administrators - by Jochen Hein [ Addison Wesley Longman: May 99, ISBN 0-201-36044-6 ]
- Review by Jabbo, from slashdot [10 Feb 99] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
Essential System Administration (2nd ed.) - by AEleen Frisch [ O'Reilly & Associates: Sep 95, ISBN 1-56592-127-5 ] a.k.a. Armadillo Book, includes Linux specific information as well (unlike the Red Book - see below)
- Review by Rick Franchuk, from slashdot [1 June 98] - Rated 10 (out of 10)
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive

General SysAdmin Books

Unix System Administration (2nd ed.) - by Evi Nemeth et al. [ Prentice Hall PTR: Jan 95, ISBN 0-13-151051-7 ] a.k.a. Red Book
- Review by Mike Hostetler, from slashdot [2 Nov 98] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - overwhelmingly positive
TCP/IP Network Administration (2nd ed.) - by Craig Hunt [ O'Reilly & Associates: Dec 97, ISBN 1-56592-322-7 ]
- Review by Brian Bramer, from ACCU's C Vu [Mar 98] - Rated as "Recommended"
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive
Practical Unix and Internet Security (2nd ed.) - by S. Garfinkel & G. Spafford [ O'Reilly & Associates: Apr 96, ISBN 1565921488 ]
- Review by Rick Franchuk, from slashdot [27 May 98] - Rated 8 (out of 10)
- Review by Patrick Flannery, from TER [Vol. 4 #4, 1 May 98]
- Review by Simon Green, from ACCU's C Vu [Nov 96] - Rated as "Recommended"
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive

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Linux Kernel & Software Development

Kernel

Linux Core Kernel Commentary - by Scott Maxwell [ Coriolis: Oct 99, ISBN 1-57610-469-9]
- Review by jc, from LWN [29 Nov 99] - "... likely become a useful reference for those interested in the Linux kernel"
Linux Device Drivers - by Alessandro Rubini [ O'Reilly & Associates: Feb 98, ISBN 1-56592-292-1 ]
- Review by Ian Brunt, from ACCU's C Vu [May 99] - Rated as "Recommended"
- Review by Trevor (trevor@mindspring.com), from slashdot [19 Sep 98] - Rated 8 (out of 10)
Linux Kernel Internals - by Michael Beck et al. [ Addison Wesley Longman: 98 , ISBN 0-201-33143-8 ]
- Review by Phil Hughes, from Linux Journal [#32, Dec 96] - "I highly recommend this book for anyone who is serious about writing kernel code or who wants to know what is in the Linux kernel" Please note that this review applies to the 1st edition of the book.

Introductory & Applications

Linux Application Development - by M. Johnson & Eric Troan [ Addison Wesley Longman: May 98, ISBN 0-201-30821-5 ]
- Review by Mark Pruett , from slashdot [18 Aug 98] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive
The Linux A-Z - by Phil Cornes [ Prentice Hall: Jan 97, ISBN 0-13-742867-7 (In Europe: 0-13-234709-1) ]
- Review by Tom Yager, from BYTE - "Best Linux Book Yet"
Beginning Linux Programming - by N. Matthew & R. Stones [ Wrox Press: Aug 96, ISBN 1-874416-68-0 ]
- Review by Alyn Scott, from ACCU's C Vu [Nov 97] - Rated as "Highly Recommended"
- Review by J. Mark Shacklette, from Linux Journal [#41, Sep 97] - "... so perfectly fills a void that its acceptance is all but guaranteed"
- Review by Mike Hostetler, from slashdot [30 Oct 98] - Rated 6.5 (out of 10)
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - overwhelmingly positive
Linux Programmer's Reference - by Richard Petersen [ Osborne/McGraw-Hill: July 98, ISBN 0078825873 ]
- Review by Andrew Feinberg, from slashdot [14 Dec 98] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
Developing Linux Applications with GTK+ and GDK - by Eric Harlow [ New Riders Publishing: Feb 99, ISBN 0735700214 ]
- Review by A. Kuchling, from slashdot [22 Mar 99] - Rated 6 (out of 10)

Selected Books on Unix

Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment - by W. Richard Stevens [ Addison Wesley Longman: June 92, ISBN 0-201-56317-7 ]
- Review by Arjen Laarhoven, from slashdot [7 Aug 98] - Rated 10 (out of 10)
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - overwhelmingly positive
Unix Network Programming (Vol. 1-2, 2nd eds.) - by W. Richard Stevens [ Prentice Hall: 97/98, ISBN 0-13-490012-X, 0-13-081081-9 ]
- Review by Arjen Laarhoven, from slashdot [8 Dec 98] - Rated 10 (out of 10)
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive

Selected Books on Key Languages

The C Programming Language (2nd ed.) - by B. Kernighan & D. Ritchie [ Prentice Hall PTR: June 1988, ISBN 0131103628 ] a. k. a. "K & R" or simply "White Book"
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - 5 Stars. What else can we say?
C Programming: A Modern Approach - by K. King [ W. W. Norton: Apr 96, ISBN 0 393 96945 2 ]
- Review by Derek Graham, from ACCU's C Vu [Nov 98] - Rated as "Recommended"
- Review by Scott McMahan of Cyber Reviews - Rated as "Must Have" (for beginners)
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive
Expert C Programming : Deep C Secrets - by Peter van der Linden [ Prentice Hall PTR: June 94, ISBN 0131774298 ]
- Review by Brent Fulgham, from slashdot [19 June 98] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
- Review by Scott McMahan of Cyber Reviews - "... a highly recommended book"
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - overwhelmingly positive
C: A Reference Manual (4th ed.) - by S. Harbison & G. Steele [ Prentice Hall: Oct 94, ISBN 0133262243 ]
- Review by Kevlin Henney, from ACCU's C Vu [Nov 95]
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive
Programming Perl (2nd ed.) - by Larry Wall et al. [ O'Reilly & Associates: Sep 96, ISBN 1-56592-149-6 ] a. k. a. Camel Book
- Review by Donald Bryson, from Dr. Dobb's ERCB [29 Aug 97] - Rated 4 Stars (out of 4)
- Review by Ben Smith, from the archive of Camel Critiques - "(the book) is to that language what (K & R's) The C Programming Language is to C"
- Review by Phil Hughes, from Linux Journal [#35, Mar 97] - "If you are going to be programming with Perl, this book should be in your library."
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive
Learning Perl (2nd ed.) - by R. Schwartz & T. Christiansen [ O'Reilly & Associates: July 97, ISBN 1-56592-284-0 ] a. k. a. Llama Book
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive
Perl Cookbook - by T. Christiansen & N. Torkington [ O'Reilly & Associates: Aug 98, ISBN 1-56592-243-3 ] a. k. a. ... Cookbook, of course! (or Ram Book, if you insist)
- Review by Grahamm Barr, from the archive of Camel Critiques - "... by far the most useful book on perl I have ever read"
- Review by Eugene Sotirescu, from slashdot [29 Jan 99] - Rated 10 (out of 10)
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - overwhelmingly positive, including several highly informative reviews (by Chris Nandor <pudge@pobox.com>, Jeffry Scott, for example)

Selected Books on Programming in General

The Practice of Programming - by B. Kernighan and R. Pike [ Addison Wesley Longman: Feb 99, ISBN 0-201-61586-X ]
- Review by Davide Marcato, from Dr. Dobb's ERCB [2 May 99] - Rated 3.5 Stars (out of 4)
- Review by SEGV (mlepage@cgocable.net), from slashdot [8 Apr 99] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
Code Complete - by Steve McConnell [ Microsoft Press: May 93, ISBN 1556154844 ]
- Review by Jason Bennett , from slashdot [2 Sep 98] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
- Review by Scott McMahan of Cyber Reviews - Rated as "Must Have"
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - overwhelmingly positive
Programming Pearls - by Jon Bentley [ Addison Wesley Longman: Dec 85, ISBN 0201103311 ]
- Review by Francis Glassborow, from ACCU's C Vu [May 95] - Rated as "Highly Recommended"
The Art of Computer Programming (Vol. 1-2, 3rd eds., Vol. 3, 2nd ed.) - by Donald Knuth [ Addison Wesley Longman: 97/98, ISBN 0201896834 / 0201896842 / 0201896850 ]
- Review by Danny Yee, from slashdot [25 June 98] - "... a landmark event"
- Review by Francis Glassborow, from ACCU's C Vu [Mar 98] - Rated as "Highly Recommended"
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - Reverent might be the word.

Other

Programming with Qt - by Mathias Dalheimer [ O'Reilly & Associates: Apr 99, ISBN 1565925882 ]
- Review by Lou Grinzo, from Dr. Dobb's ERCB [25 June 99] - Rated 3 Stars (out of 4)
- Review by ErikSev , from slashdot [22 June 99] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
Operating Systems: Design and Implementation (2nd ed.) - by A. Tanenbaum & A. Woodhull [ Prentice Hall: Dec 96, ISBN 0-13-638677-6 (Outside America: 0-13-630195-9) ]
- Review by Boytcho Peytchev, from Linux Journal [#43, Nov 97]
Mastering Regular Expressions - by Jeffrey Friedl [ O'Reilly & Associates: Jan 97, ISBN 1-56592-257-3 ]
- Review by Don Bryson, from Dr. Dobb's ERCB [20 Sep 97] - Rated 3 Stars (out of 4)
- Online reviews from Amazon.com - highly positive

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Miscellaneous

Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution - edited by Chris Dibona et al. [ O'Reilly & Associates: Jan 99, ISBN 1565925823 ]
- Review by Chris Hills, from ACCU's C Vu [Sep 99] - Rated as "Highly Recommended"
- Review by Dwight Johnson, from Linux Today [25 Feb 99]
- Review by CmdrTaco (Rob Malda), from slashdot [19 Feb 99] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
The Cathedral & the Bazaar - by Eric Raymond [ O'Reilly & Associates: Oct 99, ISBN 1-56592-724-9 ]
- Review by Roy Johnson, from Mantex [Nov 99] - "... anyone concerned with the sharp end of software development ... will be fascinated by his arguments"
- Review by Michael Sims, from slashdot [22 Nov 99] - Rated 9 (out of 10)
User Friendly: The Book - by Illiad [ O'Reilly & Associates: Sep 99, ISBN 1-56592-673-0 ]
- Review by Stern (stern@infomarkets.com), from slashdot [8 Nov 99] - Rated 9 (out of 10)

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Last modified: Sun Dec 5 20:00:44 CET 1999