Book, Information

About ebooks for “Using and Administering Linux”

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All three volumes of my Linux self-study series of books, Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin, are available in multiple formats. In addition to soft-cover hard-copy (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?), they can be purchased in Kindle format from Amazon. They can also be purchased in soft-cover and multiple electronic formats from Apress, the publisher.

The three electronic formats are:

  • mobi – This is Kindle format
  • epub – for other e-readers
  • PDF

All of these electronic formats can be used on your Linux or Windows computer with good e-reader software. The best PC e-reader I have found is Calibre which is available for multiple operating systems including both Linux and Windows. Calibre works with all three of the listed electronic formats as well as others, and it renders all versions very accurately. Calibre is open source, and free of charge.

I like Okular for a PDF reader but it does not render the other ebook formats nearly as well as Calibre.

So, if you want the ebook version of any of my books, my suggestion is to purchase the ebooks from Apress because you get PDF and epub formats for the price of one. Then copy the appropriate version(s) to your e-reader and use any of the versions on your PC with Calibre.

Purchase these volumes from Apress at the following links:

Book, News, Using and Administering Linux: Zero to SysAdmin

“Using and Administering Linux” now available on Amazon

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Updated 2019-12-23

The books in my three-volume series, Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin, are just now becoming available on Amazon.

Book, Information, Opinion, Thoughts

Update on BookAuthority

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After some additional research, it turns out that BookAuthority is merely an Amazon “partner.” They advertise Amazon books and get a bit of money from Amazon for doing so. As near as I can tell, they create these “top X” categories and use that to attract potential purchasers whom they hope will click through and purchase from Amazon. They also provide meaningless graphics for us authors to place on our web sites to generate traffic to their web site.

They claim on their web site that the “ratings” they give each book are calculated using a “proprietary algorithm” from publicly available data. Whatever. This seems to be a way to prevent authors and purchasers from finding out how they really work.

I do not believe that they have any relationship with the people they claim recommend the books they list. That is not to say that those people don’t recommend those books, just that the don’t do it “for” this organization.

So my conclusion is that being on any of their lists is bogus and meaningless in terms of the value of my books. Such value would be impossible to determine because not one of the three volumes in my “Using and Administering Linux: Zero to SysAdmin” series is available yet so no sales figures can possibly be available for a few months at least.

You will need to determine for yourself whether my books are of any value to you or not. If you do find that they have some value – after you purchase and use them to learn how to be a Linux SysAdmin, please leave a legitimate review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or GoodReads. Thank you!

However, with all that said, it really did boost traffic on my personal web site considerably when I posted the article yesterday.

My source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/simple-secret-being-big-deal-online-john-nemo

Book, Linux, Using and Administering Linux

Finished!

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Late yesterday I finished proofing that last of the three books in my Using and Administering Linux: Zero to SysAdmin series.

Although there may be a few more email discussions to clarify various notes I made on the proofs, for me, this project is essentially done. It has taken almost two years from my initial conception of the Linux self-study course that grew into this three-volume set.

As far as I can tell, we are still on track to have all three volumes published before the end of the year.

If you are interested in learning to be a Linux system administrator, this is the self-study course for you. I hope you will check it out. The link above takes you to my page for all three volumes which has links to Apress and Amazon where they can be purchased.

Book, News

Book update

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I have been quite busy the last couple weeks working on the proofs for “Using and Administering Linux.” I have completed work on Volume 1 and am almost finished with Volume 2. I should receive Volume 3 for review early next week.

I think we are still on schedule to get all three books out before the end of this year.

Book, News, The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins

“Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins” to be translated into Chinese

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I have just learned that China Machine Press, a Chinese company based in Beijing, has purchased the rights to translate my first book, “The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins,” into Chinese. This is exciting news and means that my book will now be available to many new readers.

Although it will very likely be some time before the book is available in Chinese, my Apress editor is trying to make sure I get a copy. What a conversation starter that will be.

Book, News, Using and Administering Linux

Technical revisions completed

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This weekend I completed the technical revisions on Volume 3 of my definitive 3-volume self-study course, “Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin.” This is a major milestone and clears the way for all three volumes to be released by the end of this year.

I want to thank both of my technical reviewers for working so hard to get this accomplished. Jason Baker and Seth Kenlon have done a fantastic job and the course as a whole is far better for their contributions than would otherwise be the case.

Of course there is still more work to do. I still need to check the proofs and I still have a bit of work left to generate the list of index words for Volume 3.

I will continue to keep you informed and will let you know as each of these volumes becomes available.

Information, Ramblings

Back to Firefox

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I really like Chrome for a web browser but I have recently started having significant problems with it. The main issue is that it no longer remembers my IDs and passwords for various web sites I visit frequently. This is a major issue for a good number of others, too, as my Internet searches have discovered.

This problem has apparently been going on for some time without a fix and none in sight.

So I decided to revert to Firefox which I found to be quite stable, fast, and it still remembers my information from before I started using Chrome a couple years ago. Adding a few newer sites to the list is a lot easier than adding them all.

Now – after using Firefox for a few days – I find it to be as fast or faster than Chrome, just as easy to use, and with better options for display of history, bookmarks, and other information in the sidebar. I also like its skins better.

Anyway – I plan to continue using Firefox until Chrome gives me an excellent reason for switching back.

Book, Using and Administering Linux

First draft complete!

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I have finished work on the fist draft of Volume 3 of my forthcoming Linux self-study training course, “Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin.” I submitted the last chapter a few minutes ago. A major milestone but there is more to do.

The first draft of the complete training course has taken 17 months. It has been a lot of work but I have learned a great deal.

I have been working on the other volumes in parallel so Volume 1 is heading into production, now. In today’s publishing industry, that means the revised chapters are being converted to a final typeset form in PDF documents.

Some of the chapters for Volumes 2 and 3 have already been reviewed for technical accuracy but much remains to be done.

The original target for publication was to be next year. We are working as hard as we can to publish all three volumes before the end of this year. I will keep you informed of the actual publication dates as they occur.

Thanks for your interest in my books.

Book, News, Using and Administering Linux

The end is near!

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For the first draft of my book, that is. I am currently finishing work on the last three chapters of Volume 3 of my forthcoming Linux training course, “Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin.”

I expect to have the first draft of these last chapters completed by the end of September and we hope that we can get all three volumes published yet this year.

Of course finishing the first draft of a huge work like this is not the end of all the work I need to do to complete the book. I still must finish revisions suggested by my technical reviewer, and then read the proofs and make any necessary changes. Then I need to go through the whole book – all three volumes – and generate a list of words and terms for the Index.

Information

Outage fixed

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A few days ago we had an outage on this web site that lasted from Monday through Wednesday night. This has – obviously – now been fixed and we are back up and running.

The problem appears to have been a surge from a nearby lightning strike that somehow powered off the server. This was not a power failure and there are no indications of that on any of my UPS systems.

Because I was out of town and this required a physical intervention I was unable to resolve it until Wednesday night. It only took a few minutes one I was able to restart the server.

In any event all is well now.

Book, Linux, News, Using and Administering Linux

Book Details Updated

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Now that we have revised the structure and Table of Contents for my upcoming three volume book, Using and Administering Linux — Zero to SysAdmin, I have updated the information about it here.

Because of the huge amount of information included in this book, it could only be published as three volumes. These three volumes are related and interconnected and cannot stand alone. You must have all three volumes in order to have the complete course.

In some ways I dislike having it broken up into three volumes. However the limitations imposed upon the “Print On Demand” model used by many publishers these days, including Apress, means that the course needs to be split to accommodate the ecologically sound objective of saving trees. So these books will not be printed unless physical copies are ordered. That is a very good thing.

If you need a self-study course that can help you learn to be a Linux system administrator, please consider this one.

Thank you.

Book, News, Using and Administering Linux

News about “Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin”

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Due to the massive amount of material that will be covered in my new book, “Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin,” my publisher, Apress, and I have concluded that the book is best published as three volumes rather than the two I first envisioned.

The resulting three volumes will be similar in size and each will build upon the previous volume. Together, these three volumes constitute a self-study course the equal of no other. Using VirtualBox to create virtual machines running Fedora in a virtual network, the student will learn how to use and administer Linux from the command line. This course contains many hands-on experiments that guide the student from installation of VirtualBox on a Windows or Linux computer, creating and installing Fedora on virtual machines, using the command line, installing and managing software, creating a server complete with email, DNS, NTP, DHCP, and more.

Together, Volumes 1 and 2 guide the student through many aspects of use and administration of a Fedora workstation. Volume 3 leads the student through creating of a server that provides many necessary services to that network.

As I work with my editors to finalize the structure of this three-volume course, I will make more information available as I am able.

Thanks for your interest in my books.

Book, News, Using and Administering Linux

First Draft Complete

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Late this afternoon I completed the first draft of the last chapter in my book, “Using and Administering Linux.” This is book 1 in my two book series of courses, From Zero to Linux SysAdmin Self-Study.

This first book is scheduled for release in early 2020. For more details about this book, visit its page at, “Using and Administering Linux — From Zero to Linux SysAdmin — Self-Study – Book 1.” There you will find a link to its page at the Apress web site and its page on Amazon.