unix

Unix, The Complete Reference claims to be a good reference and it is, but only for the experts. If you're trying to learn Unix or know a little about it and want to learn more, don't buy this book. The examples provided are not very good and can be hard to follow.

I was looking for a how-to reference, as the book cover claimed to be. I expected detailed examples and I found a few as I browsed through the book in the store. However, I discovered later that many of the references, specifically to programming, cron tabs and awk, were simply not specific enough. The examples were often broken across several pages requiring me to put three examples together to get one task done. In addition, not every section had an example.

This is a great book because it covers multiple Unix platforms: Solaris, HP, Linux, etc. If you only looking for one book to learn Unix - this is the way to go.

...before buying it online.

Its a nice book to have around, but not my first choice by any means. Too general & poorly indexed. If you can only buy one unix related book, then this may be for you, but why not buy a few smaller books on what you actually want to know? Too often I've looked in it for info only to get half my answer & need to look in another source.

Personally I don't think it is worth the ten pounds of paper it is printed on.