Jason Dale <redhat@maxxess.co.za> wrote:
so I am looking for a Red
Hat 8 book
to buy that I can use to develop a high degree of
'real world' competency in Linux , an can also be used to
effectively prepare
for the RH exams.
If you want real world competance with Linux, be aware that most of it won't come from a book. It comes from experience and the only way you'll get that experience is to live & breath it Linux for a while. My advice is to start with 3 of the docs that RH ships: Configuration Guide, Reference Guide, and the Installation Guide. If you are brand new to Linux, the Getting Started Guide is a good one to start with. About 40% of the questions that show up on this list are answered in one of those guides. Know those backwards and forwards.
Next, I'd pick up a copy of a Unix/Linux sysadmin handbook. My favorite is Unix Systems Administration Handbook by Nemeth, Snyder, et. all. I saw they had a Linux version last time I was tech book shopping, but it looks like the Unix version rehashed. Either one is fine, but the Linux is probably better if you don't have anything.
Some folks recommend that you pull down a bunch of HOWTOs from tldp.org, but I'm of the opinion that you should only do that for a few. A lot of those guides are out of date and it can be confusing when you are running later releases of the software. Check the revision history before you get one to make sure it's going to he helpful.
That's what you need to get started and get yourself into a situation where you know "just enough to be dangerous." The real learning will begin when you try to apply your knowledge and find out it doesn't always seem to work like the book says. Then you get to dig yourself out of the hole, combining what you learned in the book and what you see on screen. After that happens, over and over, you'll find that you'll often reference online docs and man pages more and more and reach for your reference books less and less. The best way to do this is to set up a test network at home or work and try all kinds of stuff. Suggestions include setting up NIS and NFS servers, apache configuration, samba, backups, RPM management, building SRPMs, and so on.
At that point I'd recommend you take a few of the RHCE online practice tests. You might be surprised at how much you know. Make note of the questions you failed, figure out why, and learn from it. Lurk on the mailing lists and mentally answer questions that get posted, then compare your imagined answers to what some of the experts on the list say. THat's a great tactic. I cannot tell you how much I've learned just from reading the Red Hat mailing lists every day. It's invaluable.
There's no magic bullet for this. Be patient, do your best, and ask a lot of questions (specific ones, I might add) about what you don't know.
Another piece of advice is to learn Solaris too. There is a lot of work that will be done in the next 5-7 years where Solaris knowledge will be beneficial: shops who are replacing Solaris all together or require RHL & Solaris to co-exist. Knowing both will be a good skill to have.
Anyway, I've rambled long enough. I know I didn't specifically recommend a RH8 book for you, but I don't know of one that will provide what you are looking for either. Good luck.
Tom
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