Linux in a Nutshell, Fifth Edition - O'Reilly's Latest Release

For Immediate Release
For more information, a review copy, cover art, or an interview with
the authors, contact:
Kathryn Barrett (707) 827-7094 or kathrynb@oreilly.com

Bestselling Reference Revised for the Current State of Linux
O'Reilly Releases "Linux in a Nutshell, Fifth Edition"

Sebastopol, CA--"It's hard to chart the rise of Linux without risking the
appearance of exaggeration and hyperbole," observe the authors of the
fifth edition of "Linux in a Nutshell" (Siever, Weber, Figgins, Love, and
Robbins, O'Reilly US $44.95) in their introduction to the book. Linux has
evolved from virtual playground for student/hackers to an upstart
challenger in the server market, and more recently to a respected system
taking its rightful place in educational and corporate networks. There are
many serious analysts who claim that its trajectory has just begun, and
that it will eventually become the world's most widespread operating
system.

Considered by many to be the most complete and authoritative command
reference for Linux available, "Linux in a Nutshell" covers all
substantial user, programming, administration, and networking commands for
the most common Linux distributions. The new edition brings readers
current with software changes and updates in Linux since 2003 and entirely
eliminates all four chapters on desktop and windows management that were
present in previous editions. In spite the omission of these chapters, the
new edition has only three fewer pages than the previous edition.

The reason for this? "From feedback on earlier editions, we found that
readers didn't reference the desktop information frequently, but wanted
even more networking and administration commands, with more explanations
on how and when to use them," explains the book's editor, Andy Oram.
"Chapter 4, on Boot Methods, along with many other kernel-related
commands, were thoroughly updated by Robert Love, a well-known kernel
developer. We added a new chapter on using Subversion and new sections on
configuring and updating Linux using new front-ends for the familiar RPM
and Debian apt package formats."

The book is several important quick references rolled into one: bash, ksh,
Emacs, vi, sed, gawk, CVS, Subversion, regular expressions, package
management, and bootloaders, along with core command-line utilities. One
of the major strengths for which "Linux in a Nutshell" is known is that
the book goes beyond mere reference listings. Many of the subtler aspects
of the utilities--aspects that are ordinarily discovered through long
experience with the operating system--are illustrated through examples to
give the reader a solid grounding in these areas. Entire chapters are
devoted to critical tools such as pattern matching (regular expressions)
and version control. Other topics include:

-Programming, system administration, networking, and user commands with
 complete lists of options
-GRUB and LILO bootloaders
-Red Hat and Debian package managers
-Shell syntax and variables for bash and ksh shells
-Emacs, vi, and vim editing commands
-sed and gawk utilities
-CVS and Subversion version management systems

The material in "Linux in a Nutshell, Fifth Edition" was tested on Fedora,
Novell/SUSE, and Debian systems (with some testing on other distributions
as well. No single volume can cover all the commands provided by even on
of the popular Linux distributions, but readers will find most of the
commands they are likely to need with the major distributions are
contained in this volume.  It's the one reference book that every Linux
user will want to have close at hand.

Praise for the previous edition:

Voted Most "Indispensable Linux Book" in Linux Journal's 2004 Readers'
Choice Awards

"...a great reference to keep close at hand for the experienced user.
'Linux in a Nutshell' is highly recommended for Linux administrators and
anyone else dealing with Linux configuration, installation, or
customization on a regular basis."
--Harold McFarland, The Midwest Book Review, May 2004

"['Linux in a Nutshell'] is the king of the infodump. The Kaiser of the
keyboard. The Emperor of the Enther button. And any other bad alliteration
that should spring to mind...It is, in short, a collection of every
major Linux terminal command that you're ever likely to need, all packaged
up into alphabetical order, explained in plain English...If you don't
lock your office, this'll be the first thing that a techie colleague will
steal! Linux Format Rating 9/10."
--Richard Cobbett, "Linux Format"

Further reviews of previous editions of "Linux in a Nutshell" can be found
at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxnut4/reviews.html

Additional Resources:

Chapter 4, "Boot Methods," is available online at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxnut5/chapter/index.html

For more information about the book, including table of contents, index,
author bios, and samples, see:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxnut5/index.html

For a cover graphic in JPEG format, go to:
ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/0596009...

Linux in a Nutshell, Fifth Edition
Ellen Siever, Aaron Weber, Stephen Figgins, Robert Love, and Arnold
Robbins
ISBN: 0-596-00930-5, 925 pages, $44.95 US, $62.95 CA
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000
http://www.oreilly.com
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Sebastopol, CA 95472

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