[ Thanks to Matthew Cunningham for this
link. ]
“This book has one of those awful titles, promoted as part of a
series attempting to invade every area of our lives. After all, if
you buy it you accept being labeled a dummy, and so support the
widespread acceptance of similarly coined, disparaging titles. Yet,
in spite of the title with which the publisher has saddled Jon
“maddog” Hall, the book does hold some merit. Ultimately I feel I
can’t recommend it, and I’ll address my reservations, alongside the
book’s strengths, throughout this review.”
“Linux holds far more complexity than can be learned in 24
hours. Linux for Dummies takes a stab at addressing this fact by
going beyond a simple introductory text on the Linux operating
system; it intends itself as a reference as well. Here’s one of my
biggest complaints about most Linux books and many technical books
in general: that they try to be both a reference and generally
readable. In my experience the two are usually exclusive. A
reference book should offer the bare minimum necessary to get you
where you need to go. Any deviation from this minimum, or any
extraneous comments, causes the reference to lose its usefulness.
Not that I’m a curmudgeon, but humor is only funny where there is
surplus time to enjoy it. Creating a reference manual that tries to
camouflage its basic nature is what Mr. Hall has ultimately done.
In order not to intimidate the beginning Linux user, he has padded
his book with some fluff and humor so as not to scare anyone with
an exclusive diet of dry and technical information.”