Linux powers players like Google, Amazon, and Facebook, as well as 80% of the world’s smartphones in the form of Android. But the real power of Linux lies at the command line—a DOS-like prompt with a direct window into the core of the operating system.
With over 100,000 copies of the well-loved and best-selling first edition sold, the newly revised second edition of The Linux Command Line (William Shotts, $39.95, 504 pp., February 2019) promises to make a real difference for a new generation of Linux users. The command line gives you total control of your machine, but people are afraid to touch it because they don’t understand it. The second edition of this book promises to help a new generation use Linux with even greater confidence.
Shotts guides readers from entering their first commands to writing full programs in Bash, the most popular Linux scripting interface. The book’s extensive coverage ranges from simple commands and file navigation, to teaching readers to configure systems, build full working programs, manage processes, edit files with the Vi editor, write shell scripts to automate common or boring tasks, slice and dice text files, and much more. In the process, readers gain an understanding of their operating system and learn how to manipulate it without being overwhelmed or intimidated.
This second edition of The Linux Command Line includes added coverage of good scripting practice as well as coverage of the newest features of the latest version of Bash.
Shotts has been a software professional for more than 30 years and an avid Linux user for more than 20 years. He has an extensive background in software development, including technical support, quality assurance, and documentation. He is also the creator of LinuxCommand.