Praise for Previous Editions of A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux®
“I am so impressed by how Mark Sobell can approach a complex topic in such an understandable manner. His command examples are especially useful in providing a novice (or even an advanced) administrator with a cookbook on how to accomplish real-world tasks on Linux. He is truly an inspired technical writer!”
–George Vish II, Senior Education Consultant, Hewlett-Packard Company
“Overall, I think it’s a great, comprehensive Ubuntu book that’ll be a valuable resource for people of all technical levels.”
–John Dong, Ubuntu Forum Council Member, Backports Team Leader
“The JumpStart sections really offer a quick way to get things up and running, allowing you to dig into the details of the book later.”
–Scott Mann, Aztek Networks
“This entire book is a real boon to any neophyte who does not have a solid handle on getting their own answers. That group is the one that I think will benefit the most from A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux®. Random access is easy, but reading cover to cover would also give one a nice foundational understanding of getting the most out of their machine and even enough guidance to get their feet wet in the sysadmin world. Anyone thrown into owning an Ubuntu server may find this to be a handy lifeline.”
–JR Peck, Editor, GeekBook.org
“Very well thought out and simplified. [I] would buy another book from this author (Mark Sobell).”
–Greg Dye, Electronic Tech
“Ubuntu is gaining popularity at the rate alcohol did during Prohibition, and it’s great to see a well-known author write a book on the latest and greatest version. Not only does it contain Ubuntu-specific information, but it also touches on general computer-related topics, which will help the average computer user to better understand what’s going on in the background. Great work, Mark!”
–Daniel R. Arfsten, Pro/ENGINEER Drafter/Designer
“I would so love to be able to use this book to teach a class about not just Ubuntu or Linux but about computers in general. It is thorough and well written with good illustrations that explain important concepts for computer usage.”
–Nathan Eckenrode, New York Local Community Team
“I read a lot of Linux technical information every day, but I’m rarely impressed by tech books. I usually prefer online information sources instead. Mark Sobell’s books are a notable exception. They’re clearly written, technically accurate, comprehensive, and actually enjoyable to read.”
–Matthew Miller, Senior Systems Analyst/Administrator, BU Linux Project, Boston University Office of Information Technology
“Overall, A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux® by Mark G. Sobell provides all of the information a beginner to intermediate user of Linux would need to be productive. The inclusion of the Live DVD of the Gutsy Gibbon release of Ubuntu makes it easy for the user to test-drive Linux without affecting his installed OS. I have no doubts that you will consider this book money well spent.”
–Ray Lodato, Slashdot contributor, www.slashdot.org
“This is well-written, clear, comprehensive information for the Linux user of any type, whether trying Ubuntu on for the first time and wanting to know a little about it, or using the book as a very good reference when doing something more complicated like setting up a server. This book’s value goes well beyond its purchase price and it’ll make a great addition to the Linux section of your bookshelf.”
–Linc Fessenden, Host of The LinuxLink TechShow, tllts.org
“The author has done a very good job at clarifying such a detail-oriented operating system. I have extensive UNIX and Windows experience and this text does an excellent job at bridging the gaps between Linux, Windows, and UNIX. I highly recommend this book to both ‘newbs’ and experienced users. Great job!”
–Mark Polczynski, Information Technology Consultant
“When I first started working with Linux just a short 10 years or so ago, it was a little more difficult than now to get going. . . . Now, someone new to the community has a vast array of resources available on the web, or if they are inclined to begin with Ubuntu, they can literally find almost every single thing they will need in the single volume of Mark Sobell’s A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux®.
“I’m sure this sounds a bit like hyperbole. Everything a person would need to know? Obviously not everything, but this book, weighing in at just under 1200 pages, covers so much so thoroughly that there won’t be much left out. From install to admin, networking, security, shell scripting, package management, and a host of other topics, it is all there. GUI and command line tools are covered. There is not really any wasted space or fluff, just a huge amount of information. There are screen shots when appropriate but they do not take up an inordinate amount of space. This book is information-dense.”
–JR Peck, Editor, GeekBook.org
“Mark G. Sobell’s freshly revised reference work on Ubuntu Linux may be the most impressive computer book I’ve seen in the last 10 years. If you are currently stranded with a pile of abandoned computers on a desert isle, I’m telling you, this is the book.”
–From a review at DesktopLinux.com, http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS8801274918.html
Praise for Other Books by Mark G. Sobell
“I currently own one of your books, A Practical Guide to Linux®. I believe this book is one of the most comprehensive and, as the title says, practical guides to Linux I have ever read. I consider myself a novice and I come back to this book over and over again.”
–Albert J. Nguyen
“Thank you for writing a book to help me get away from Windows XP and to never touch Windows Vista. The book is great; I am learning a lot of new concepts and commands. Linux is definitely getting easier to use.”
–James Moritz
“I have been wanting to make the jump to Linux but did not have the guts to do so–until I saw your familiarly titled A Practical Guide to Red Hat® Linux® at the bookstore. I picked up a copy and am eagerly looking forward to regaining my freedom.”
–Carmine Stoffo, Machine and Process Designer to pharmaceutical industry
“I am currently reading A Practical Guide to Red Hat® Linux® and am finally understanding the true power of the command line. I am new to Linux and your book is a treasure.”
–Juan Gonzalez
Customer Reviews & Comments
I am hardly a newbie to Linux, having spent 20 years as a system and network administrator, taken three years of courses on Unix and Linux administration, and run Linux desktop systems and servers at work for a number of years. But now my perspective on Linux has changed: I have purchased for my personal use a netbook running Ubuntu Linux. Because I had used Sobell's books on Unix, Linux, and Macintosh OS X for years at work, I ordered his Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux as my reference to that OS. From the perspective of one who "just wants it to work," as the users at my jobs always have, I am quite disappointed not in Ubuntu but in Sobell's Ubuntu book. I want to use Ubuntu on my netbook exactly as I use my two Macintosh laptops: at home, for personal use, on a combined wired and wireless network at home, wirelessly in public places, for e-mail, Web-surfing, online ordering, and so on. For these purposes, I have no interest in using the command line, although I am totally familiar and comfortable with it from a professional perspective. Sobell seemingly is obsessed with the command line and pays little attention to the GUIs Ubuntu offers (GNOME, KDE, and, in the case of my netbook, Remix). His "Tour of the Ubuntu Desktop" is cursory at best, and his screenshots don't show what I see on my system even when I switch from Remix to the Classic (GNOME) desktop, and yes, I have a correct version of Ubuntu for this edition of his book--8.04. He mentions OpenOffice, with which I and presumably other users will spend a great deal of time, only in passing--twice in 1200 pages. I don't need a complete review of networking, with which I am thoroughly familiar from my work, but information on how to get my Ubuntu netbook working on a protected wireless network. And so on and so on with every subject I look up in his book.
This is a fine book for an administrator but not so fine for an everyday user, which is what I want to be with my Ubuntu netbook. Indeed, it seems to me that Sobell has simply transferred huge chunks of his earlier books to this one with little heed for what his audience for this book might be. Practical this book is not, for the likes of me in my new incarnation as an everyday user of Ubuntu Linux. Fortunately, there are plenty of other books that take this perspective, and those are the ones I will end up consulting regularly, not Sobell's.
