Trying to learn Linux!

[Arkas]

I have been using Linux for sometime now but i feel that i don't even know the basics yet. I've been browsing the internet and have been reading a lot of howtos lately apart from posting my questions in this forum. Many of those howtos however are outdated considering the fact that the major distributions have a release cycle of about 6 months. I know that many of you think that the best way to learn Linux is using the OS daily and doing a lot of search in the internet.
What i want to ask is that if you know a good book that was published recently (i tried amazon.com and returned 3000 books which i don't know which one is the best) that can teach a new user some basic things about Linux. I tried some Linux books for dummies and Sams teach yourelf linux in 24 hours but like the title says are for dummies. I mean i am a new user but i don't want a book that covers in 50 pages the installation process as if i am a retard. I know how to install Linux and i know how to start an application in gnome and kde.
What i want is a book that goes a step further but not getting into very deep in linux explaining things and terms that only linux gurus understand.
I want a book that teaches the basic aspects of linux and that a home user can use in order to maintain a linux box at home.

[Dolda2000]

It might be a good idea to try the "Introduction to Linux" book from TLDP:
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/Intro-Linux.pdf
Don't pay any attention to the History section, though. It's very much incorrect.

[jasonlambert]

is there a particular distro you are looking at? The reason i ask is that some distro's have books written specifically about that distro. it is a lot easier to go from the begining to the more complex stuff if you focus on one distro rather than trying to cover all linux distros as they are all different in their own way.

Jason

[Arkas]

Well i only used Red hat and Mandrake so far so i guess it will be a good idea as you say to start from there. Currently i am using Mandrake 9.2 Download Edition but i am thinking of giving Fedora Core 1 a go although i am discouraged by the fact that i have to do a lot of downloading to make Fedora multimedia ready.

[jasonlambert]

Well i only used Red hat and Mandrake so far so i guess it will be a good idea as you say to start from there. Currently i am using Mandrake 9.2 Download Edition but i am thinking of giving Fedora Core 1 a go although i am discouraged by the fact that i have to do a lot of downloading to make Fedora multimedia ready.

I couldnt find anything that was *upto date* and actually stocked at amazon.com for mandrake.

On the fedora side, there were a few *recent* books:
Redhat Bible (Fedora & Enterprise edition)

You may also be interested in the Official fedora companion, but im not sure if that is too much of a "for dummies" style book than for what your looking for...

Also see:
Redhat Fedora Linux (Not yet out)

Jason

[heema]

Theres a book called O'Reilly - Running Linux (4th Edition) its very good ,
and check out these sites :

http://www.tldp.org/
http://wwwacs.gantep.edu.tr/linux/rute/
http://www.linuxbasis.com/
http://www.linuxquestions.org/

[flw]

Although not for Fedora specifically, I use "Red Hat Linux 9 Unleased" by Bill Ball and Hoyt Duff published by Sams. It included all the standard linux stuff plus the Redhat only stuff.

Depending on how backward compatible Fedora is ( I believe its more the same than different) it would be a good learning book and reference book for Red Hat 9/Fedora users. You should also be able to pick it up used so you can save some $$. It's 50 USD new.

[sarumont]

I like the Complete series by Sybex. Linux Complete can be found on amazon for peanuts and is a very good general reference into the workings of a Linux system.

[kpzani]

I think its all about need. If you have been using linux then you know everything you need to know.

So if you want to learn more change your needs.

First set up a web server running Apache, with PHP support. Set up and configure a MySQL server and then learn some PHP.

Why not set up a second PC and use NIS and NFS to create a little Linux network.

Or if you have other Windows machines then try samba.

Then there's always the goodies like firewalling & routing.

Anyway - its all about having a project if you can't think of one then find a piece of software you really like and start wading through its documentation. As you find flaws you can send these back to the developers / project team.

Also, if you want to really learn - stay out of the GUIs. things like the apache configuration GUI.

good luck

PS. I've bought loads of books. each one to solve a specific task. I've books on SAMBA, PHP, MySQL, APACHE, etc