Very Computer

Can someone refer or point me to a beginning text guide for a very very brand
new user of unix/linux, with average DOS and Windows experience.  I need to
know basic commands, setup, and use of XWindows.  Thanks.
-------------------------
Mike Mayberry
Olympia, WA USA

-------------------------

: Can someone refer or point me to a beginning text guide for a very very brand
: new user of unix/linux, with average DOS and Windows experience.  I need to
: know basic commands, setup, and use of XWindows.  Thanks.

Try ftp sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/docs and start reading.  The FAQ and
META-FAQ are probably good for starters, then move on to the several others.

Shawn

I would say that they are inaduquate.  Matt Welsh's Linux installation and
getting started would probably be much more helpful as it includes some
rudimentary UNIX.  Mike Mayberry said he was a new user to Unix aswell and
the FAQ's probably don't even mention the cd command.
_____________________________________________________________________________
  'There was a  master come unto the earth, | Ulick Stafford,              
     born in the holy land of Indiana,      | Dept of Chemical Engineering,
  in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne'.| Notre Dame, IN 46556          

As others have pointed out, there are a few resources on-line but
most are not tutorials on unix.

The following is a guide to UNIX et al books. Actually, it's pretty long
so I'll give you where to find it
    rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/misc/books/technical/*B

and the section on beginner/intermediate unix books.
--
Last-modified: November 18, 1993
Version 3.3

    ------------------------------------------------------------
       [misc.books.technical]   A Concise Guide to UNIX Books
    ------------------------------------------------------------

[snip]

  A. General Unix Texts
*************************

~ a.  (more or less) for beginning / intermediate users -

0: Title: Unix for Dummies
   Authors: John Levine and Margaret Levine Young
   Publisher: IDG
   Edition: 1993
   ISBN: 0-878058-58-4
   Comment: A fairly informal (funny) and non-technical introduction to Unix ...

1. Title: The Unix Operating System
   Author: Kaare Christian
   Publisher: Wiley
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1988
   ISBN: 0-471-84781-X
   Comment: A classic overview of Unix commands ... good in coverage ...

2. Title: A Practical Guide to the Unix System V Release 4
   Author: Mark Sobell
   Publisher: Benjamin Cummings
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1991
   ISBN: 0-8053-7560-0
   Comment: A very good tutorial / reference book ...

3. Title: The Waite Group's Unix System V Primer
   Authors:  Mitchell Waite, Donald Martin and Stephen Prata
   Publisher: Sams
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1992
   ISBN: 0-672-30194-6
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended  ****
            A very good hand-holding tutorial-type book for Unix/SVR4 ...

4. Title: Mastering SunOS
   Authors: Brent Heslop and David Angell
   Publisher: Sybex
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-89588-683
   Comment: A good, comprehensive hand-on text to SunOS and OpenWindows ...
             BTW, the authors have also written a book on Solaris 2 -
            Mastering Solaris 2 (ISBN: 0-7821-1072-X)

5. Title: Peter Norton's Guide to Unix
   Authors: Peter Norton and Harley Hahn
   Publisher: Bantam Computer
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-553-35260-1
   Comment: Good coverage ... A good introduction for beginners (especially
            those accustomed to DOS) ...

6. Title: A Student's Guide to Unix
   Author: Harley Hahn
   Publisher: McGraw Hill
   Edition: 1993
   ISBN: 0-07-025511-3
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            A superb introduction to Unix ... In a clear and lively language,
            the author tells the novice users everything they want to know
            about Unix and the Internet - covering Unix commands, utilities,
            shells, vi, X-Window, e-mail, netnews, ftp, gopher, etc ...
            It should be an excllent textbook for any Unix introductory
            course ...
            " No experience necessary! " " Unix is fun. "

7. Title: Unix System V Release 4: An Introduction
   Authors: Kenneth Rosen, Richard Rosinski and James Farber
   Publisher: McGraw Hill
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-07-881552-5
   Comment: A very comprehensive text targeted to novice users ...
             BTW, the authors have written a new book - 1001 Unix Tips -
            to be published by Osborne/McGraw Hill (ISBN: 0-07-881924-5) ...

8. Title: Guide to the Unix Desktop
   Authors: Chris Negus and Larry Schumer
   Publisher: Unix Press
   Edition: 1992
   ISBN: 1-56205-114-8
   Comment: A fine tutorial / reference text on SVR4.2 ...

9. Title: Learning Unix
   Author: James Gardner
   Publisher: Sams
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-672-30001-X
   Comment: With disks containing MSDOS simulation of Unix (MKS Tools) ...
            A good tutorial / reference book for those without constant
            access to Unix ...

10. Title: Portable Unix
    Author: Douglas Topham
    Publisher: Wiley
    Edition: 1992
    ISBN: 0-471-57926-2
    Comment: A pretty good task-oriented quick reference ...

11. Title: Learning the UNIX Operating System
    Authors: Grace Todino, John Strang and Jerry Peek
    Publisher: O'Reilly
    Edition: 3rd ed. 1993
    ISBN: 1-56592-060-0
    Comment: A fairly concise introduction for (Internet) users new to Unix ...

12. Title: Life with Unix - A Guide for Everyone
    Authors: Don Libes and Sandy Ressler
    Publisher: Prentice Hall
    Edition: 1990
    ISBN: 0-13-536657-7
    Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
             An everything-you-want-to-know-about-Unix book ... It includes
             info you might not find elsewhere ...
             " This book is the "other" book about Unix ... a study in
               reading between the lines - which is very much what learning
               UNIX is like. "

13. Title: The Unix Industry
    Author: Ed Dunphy
    Publisher: OED
    Edition: 1991
    ISBN: 0-89435-390-X
    Comment: Covering Unix technology and the structure of the Unix
             marketplace ...
--
Choices don't scare me. However, a lack of choices does.

: >: Can someone refer or point me to a beginning text guide for a very very brand
: >: new user of unix/linux, with average DOS and Windows experience.  I need to
: >: know basic commands, setup, and use of XWindows.  Thanks.
: >
: >Try ftp sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/docs and start reading.  The FAQ and
: >META-FAQ are probably good for starters, then move on to the several others.

: I would say that they are inaduquate.  Matt Welsh's Linux installation and
: getting started would probably be much more helpful as it includes some
: rudimentary UNIX.  Mike Mayberry said he was a new user to Unix aswell and
: the FAQ's probably don't even mention the cd command.
: _____________________________________________________________________________
:   'There was a  master come unto the earth, | Ulick Stafford,              
:      born in the holy land of Indiana,      | Dept of Chemical Engineering,
:   in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne'.| Notre Dame, IN 46556          

I got a book written by Larry Greenfield called _The Linux User's
Guide_ which is a 110 page manual, very good for learning the basics.
It was available on our mainframe, but I assume it's available
elsewhere on the net. He gives his email adress as

At the beginning of the book he suggests these other books, but
doesn't say where to get them.

The Linux System Administrator's Guide,
The Linux Kernel Hacker's Guide, and
The Linux Network Administrator's Guide,

all put out by the Linux Documentation Project.
--Adam

Whatever brand of UNIX you use you should read "The UNIX Programming
Environment" by Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike. It is, IMHO, the best
book to learn using UNIX from. Some might say it is somewhat dated,
but I say it is about the only book that actually teaches the UNIX
philosophy. The only drawback to the book is it introduces "ed" as the
editor while today "vi" seems to be the standard (and you still drive
it with ed commands). Besides, if you don't have a clue about ed you
really don't know UNIX :-)

I find the O'Rielly "UNIX System Administration" guide very useful to
run my Linux box at home. I would suggest every Linux newbie get a
copy of this book. (There may be other, better, books - I have no
idea).

If you install Linux off the net read as many HOWTO docs as you can.
There is also a very nice users guide or intro available. Please look
in the docs subdirectory on sunsite.unc.edu for the stuff you think
you will need. O'Reilly Associates also has a fairly decent "X Window
System User's Guide" that I like. It's the only easy to read tutorial
on using X I have see yet.

And please remember - you *can* run Linux without posting for help on
comp.os.linux.help and you should try to do so!

Regards,
Shyamal
--
Shyamal Prasad, Department of Computer Science
Southern Methodist University, Dallas TX 75275, USA

: : >: Can someone refer or point me to a beginning text guide for a very very brand
: : >: new user of unix/linux, with average DOS and Windows experience.  I need to
: : >: know basic commands, setup, and use of XWindows.  Thanks.
: : >
: : >Try ftp sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/docs and start reading.  The FAQ and
: : >META-FAQ are probably good for starters, then move on to the several others.

: : I would say that they are inaduquate.  Matt Welsh's Linux installation and
: : getting started would probably be much more helpful as it includes some
: : rudimentary UNIX.  Mike Mayberry said he was a new user to Unix aswell and
: : the FAQ's probably don't even mention the cd command.
: : _____________________________________________________________________________
: :   'There was a  master come unto the earth, | Ulick Stafford,              
: :      born in the holy land of Indiana,      | Dept of Chemical Engineering,
: :   in the mystical hills east of Fort Wayne'.| Notre Dame, IN 46556          

: I got a book written by Larry Greenfield called _The Linux User's
: Guide_ which is a 110 page manual, very good for learning the basics.
: It was available on our mainframe, but I assume it's available
: elsewhere on the net. He gives his email adress as

: At the beginning of the book he suggests these other books, but
: doesn't say where to get them.

: The Linux System Administrator's Guide,
: The Linux Kernel Hacker's Guide, and
: The Linux Network Administrator's Guide,

: all put out by the Linux Documentation Project.
: --Adam

These are all available on sunsite.unc.edu in
the LDP directory for Linux.  The User's Guide is still
alpha, but is IMHO very, very good!  To quote :

Well, without further ado, it should be available as
"user-alpha-2.tar.gz" from sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/Incoming. (It may be
available in the standard LDP directory when you read this.)

Larry Greenfield

        ^^^^ for better mailing, delete these characters

---- from Larry's mail on the DOC channel.

I think Larry deserves a well earned "well done" from all for
this most excellent publication!
-- Mark

--

P.O.Box 747 Decatur GA US 30031-0747      ICBM: 33 45 N / 084 16 W
+1.404.371.0291                         Cruise: 33 45 30 N / 084 16 50 W
   "We may note that, for the purposes of these experiments, the symbol
                "=" has the meaning "may be confused with."  

: >Can someone refer or point me to a beginning text guide for a very very brand
: >new user of unix/linux, with average DOS and Windows experience.  I need to
: >know basic commands, setup, and use of XWindows.  Thanks.

: I find the O'Rielly "UNIX System Administration" guide very useful to
: run my Linux box at home. I would suggest every Linux newbie get a
: copy of this book. (There may be other, better, books - I have no
: idea).

I'll second recommending this book too.

: And please remember - you *can* run Linux without posting for help on
: comp.os.linux.help and you should try to do so!

I disagree - if you've only done DOS/Windows, and only know people in the
same boat, then you've got to have *somewhere* to ask - what's the point of
a .help group if you tell people not to ask for it?

*Everyone* was a clueless dweeb once ...

--

I do not disagree with your point of view - but I do observe that the
Linux help group is simply flooded with trivial requests. I know,
because 6 weeks ago I installed Linux on my own box and I did manage
to get it running without asking for help. This included patching the
kernel to work on my dumb IBM PS/1. I found all my answers in the FAQs
and simply by *reading* the group.

What I noticed was :

(a) the FAQ's have the answers
(b) if you think they are not there, look again and you will find
them.
(c) the FAQs do suck, but you get what you pay for.
(d) many questions are not even specific to linux.

I just wish people would try harder before posting. Thats all....its
worth the effort. Yes, I've known UNIX for nearly as long as
Messy-DOS, so Linux came easy.

Sorry for the sermon, I'm a newbie who is totally in love with his new
operating system :-)

Lets all have a good one! :-)
Shyamal
--
Shyamal Prasad, Department of Computer Science
Southern Methodist University, Dallas TX 75275, USA