The Linux Command Line, 2nd Edition: A Complete Introduction

I purchased "The Linux Command Line" 2nd Edition by William Shotts to explore the possibility of adopting Linux Ubuntu as my primary OS and to deepen my understanding of Linux. My familiarity with the macOS command line laid the groundwork for this transition. Notably, while modern Linux variants no longer require command line proficiency, my decision was also influenced by the security limitations of Microsoft Windows. "The Linux Command Line" excels in its clear, educational prose, making complex topics accessible without overwhelming the reader with jargon. The book systematically covers fundamental concepts and commands, progresses to scripting and system administration, and effectively builds knowledge step-by-step. Overall, Shotts' guide is an outstanding resource for anyone interested in mastering the Linux command line. It skilfully combines theory with practical examples, ensuring comprehensiveness and ease of understanding for both beginners and intermediate users. This book is a valuable addition to any tech library, providing constructive insights not easily found in online tutorials.

A great book! It’s really approachable, covers a lot of ground, and is complemented by great printing! I’ll keep coming back to the Vim and Bash Scripting content in the future. As on all No Starch Press books, the code is a pleasure to read as well. That’s good, because there’s a lot of it in here.

This is a really comprehensive introduction to the Linux command line and to Linux in general. It has enough information to satisfy most interests in Linux. It is written very well and is enjoyable to read, it doesn't read like a heavy technical manual. It's enjoyable to read through once and then come back to it as a reference when needed.

Book written in plain English, practical examples and we'll organised chapters.

The book is clear and easy to follow. Can be studied alone or with an online courses. Perfect for self study.

Ideal for someone wanting to learn the command line in Linux. Teaches required commands and users are able to learn how to string commands together and gain more experience in Linux to possibly progress to more specialist skills. Even complete novices will be able to learn from this book. This will help me understand what the Linux commands I use at work actually mean and do.

Very well explained. Commands, syntax and theory. Theory not in detail but yes till the level which helps to understand the context.

Yes, the book does have a fairly bad coating of glue on the spine. However, it's a book and the info isn't going to corrupt over the spine coming away from the cover. It's got everything you need to learn about Linux command.. read it, enjoy it and don't complain about it not looking like new afterwards!

Consigliato ai neofiti del terminale. Ottimo libro, come del resto ogni titolo della No-starch Press!

Very useful book for beginners like me. No retition to learn, just examples. Could even find its place beside the bed 😊

I bought this book (Kindle) because I flunked an Introduction to Linux exam. The book helps a lot for understanding the inner workings and why of Linux commands. It wil stay with me for a couple of years maybe forever as it's also an excellent reference manual. Part III about bash scripting also has some very good general programming advice. It's not a 5-star review for me though, there's one thing that I'm missing and that is a lot of excercises so you wouldn't forget what you've learned. Because of the lack of exercises it got hard at some point. REGEX and completion should be exercised. But if you are an on the job Linux learner definitly buy this book. If you are a student Linux learner than you will need to go search a lot of excercises as additional material. If there's another edition of this book please add a lot more exercises. The Python crash course book from the same publisher is a good example. In a couple of weeks I have another Linux exam curious to see if this book will get me past that one.

Author William Shotts has done an amazing job with The Linux Command Line. I’ll admit I’m something of a Linux newbie, but I feel like I have learned so much from reading this book. The text is complex, yet approachable, and teaches lots of handy command line tips without being tied to a specific distro (though there is some brief discussion regarding packaging and package managers). Overall, a lot of useful content, both in using built-in programs and for coding your own shell scripts. The best part about this book, for me, were the “playground” lessons, where you would create a bunch of dummy files and folders and then perform operations on them. For example, using “touch” to create 10 folders with 100 files in each, with only one short line of code. Or showing how to use “grep” and “ls” to find all programs matching a particular pattern. Practical examples of using pipelines. These are all super useful. So lots of good example material here. The Linux Command Line clocks in at just over 500 pages, with 36 different chapters, each on a specific topic. The first 10 chapters explain how Linux works (permissions, processes, the environment), and how to use the command line in general (navigating the file tree, manipulating files and folders, redirection, command expansion and quoting). Next it covers package managers, connecting storage, networking, searching, archiving, regular expressions, formatting text, and printing. And the final part covers shell scripting and is a basic programming tutorial as well. A great base of content. I’ve only read a handful of Linux books so far, but I think I can say this is the best I’ve seen. The text covers very fundamental and core competencies for using Linux, and the language is very approachable for beginners. I feel like I have learned a lot and already I’m more comfortable on the command line. If you are new to Linux, this can be a great way to up your game. Recommended.

Complete foundational book for Linux. This book is very easy to read and apply. The author makes sure each concept is thoroughly expanded upon including common mistakes. Great book for a beginner