

You've experienced the shiny, point-and-click surface of your Linux computer—now dive below and explore its depths with the power of the command line. The Linux Command Line takes you from your very first terminal keystrokes to writing full programs in Bash, the most popular Linux shell (or command line). Along the way you'll learn the timeless skills handed down by generations of experienced, mouse-shunning gurus: file navigation, environment configuration, command chaining, pattern matching with regular expressions, and more. In addition to that practical knowledge, author William Shotts reveals the philosophy behind these tools and the rich heritage that your desktop Linux machine has inherited from Unix supercomputers of yore. As you make your way through the book's short, easily-digestible chapters, you'll learn how to: Create and delete files, directories, and symlinks Administer your system, including networking, package installation, and process management Use standard input and output, redirection, and pipelines Edit files with Vi, the world's most popular text editor Write shell scripts to automate common or boring tasks Slice and dice text files with cut, paste, grep, patch, and sed Once you overcome your initial "shell shock," you'll find that the command line is a natural and expressive way to communicate with your computer. Just don't be surprised if your mouse starts to gather dust. Review: Amazing - Book quality is awesome. Review: The Secret! - This is it...the secret! If your quest is power...in the Linux domain...get this. This is an invaluable resource to get started and refer to on a continuing journey... Highly highly recommended!!






| Best Sellers Rank | #26,791 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #3 in Operating Systems Books #6 in Operating Systems Textbooks #8 in Network Administration |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 2,031 Reviews |
A**R
Amazing
Book quality is awesome.
S**K
The Secret!
This is it...the secret! If your quest is power...in the Linux domain...get this. This is an invaluable resource to get started and refer to on a continuing journey... Highly highly recommended!!
G**M
A good book in good condition
The book is really good, started now and the condition in which it arrived was very good and the quality is also good. A good book to buy.
P**H
The best Book to get you started in your vast journey to learn linux
The book is great for beginners even if they have no backgroung of programming and guides you step by step in your journey to learn the basics of this great operating system. The author manages to touch on every basic topic which every power linux users and beginners should know and expands upon the entire command line in linux and helps you get real control of your PC. Mark my words when I say that linux will become the operating system of the future. This book is a must read. 10/10
S**L
Great book for its price
Its like a cheatsheet for any POSIX based terimal emulator i suppose, even tho i use bsd and gentoo most of the time it still works for me
S**L
No Second thought, worth every single penny
Hi, this book cover every single thing, the minor details make this book amazing. great book
S**S
The Bible of Linux – A Masterpiece by William Shotts
I swear this is not just a book, this is pure gold. ✨ The Linux Command Line by William Shotts is hands down the best book I have ever read in my life. William doesn’t just teach commands, he opens the entire world of Linux in front of you. The way he explains—clear, simple, yet so deep—shows he truly knows his stuff. Every page feels like a personal mentor guiding you step by step. This book is not only complete, it’s legendary. 🙌 If you want Linux mastery, this is the bible. 📖🔥
S**N
Informative book but bad binding
This book is gold. If you want start with Linux don't look anywhere, this book will help you to understand every aspects of Linux. But why does a quality book like this have poor binding? It ruins the fun from using a book like this. You can refer the picture attached this is the condition of my book after using for one week
A**I
Consigliato...
Consigliato ai neofiti del terminale. Ottimo libro, come del resto ogni titolo della No-starch Press!
W**R
Very useful and accessible
Very useful book for beginners like me. No retition to learn, just examples. Could even find its place beside the bed 😊
R**W
A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners and Intermediates
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.
O**S
Kindle The Linux Command Line
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.
C**Y
Best Linux Book I've Seen. Looks Great on Android Tablet.
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.
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