Product: The Linux Command Line: A Complete Introduction

Very few things in the realm of computers remain reliable and relatively constant for over 25 years;
but the common core of Linux (and previously Unix) functionality have been powerful tools and relatively consistent since the days of System V ATT and Berkeley Distributions which I learned to love over a quarter century ago. Windowing systems and graphical user interfaces change between even contemporary Linux Distribution: UBUNTU, KUBUNTU, Fedora, Debian, SuSE, Red Hat; but an amazingly powerful common functionality exists among all Linux systems and similar tools in the Windows world (the Gnu utilities, MKS Shell, Cygwin, etc).

These tools respond reliably and quickly across operating systems and certainly among new Linux Distributions (something that cannot be said for GUI-based systems management tools and Package Managers). They allow manipulation of text files, binaries, string manipulation and process control tools. Once one has mastered vi, the BASH Shell and a few process and string manipulation facilities
they are well prepared to program, preform as an advanced user, do numerical and string manipulations, format text, and be aware of what is going on behind the scenes on their computer.
This fact is often obscured by new GUI-based functionality which (even when it works :-) ) is a skill that is not transferable across distributions.

This excellent 440+ page text is clear and does not skimp on knowledge of the standard Linux Command Line and Text-based utilities, not only are vi, bash, ls, and ps utilities covered in all their richness, but important knowledge is imparted on regular expressions, tr and sed and grep text manipulation utilities are covered as well as text formatting tools such as GROFF, and package management utilities available from the command line.

I would heartily recommend this book on the shelf and at the hand not only of Linux novices, but anyone who wishes to understand the power (and use it) of Linux, Windows-based Posix utilities and anyone who must manipulate text-based files now or in the future.

–Ira Laefsky, MSE/MBA IT Consultant & Systems Researcher formerly on the Senior Consulting Staff of
Arthur D. Little, Inc. and Digital Equipment Corporation
Rating: 5
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