View Review Details


Book:   Linux System Programming
Subject:   Beware!
Date:   2008-03-24 16:43:53
From:   Stephan Tiriac
Rating:  StarStarStarStarStar

Please note I do NOT own this book!


I look for this subject for some time now and I was enthusiastic when I saw the title in the list of Linux books. However reading the description of the book, words like C# or PHP brought me down at the ground level. I would have expected to read IPC, socket, thread,... These keywords are cruelly missing from the content of this book. I downloaded the Chapter IV, "Advanced File I/O" and my first impression got a strong confirmation. From what I saw in this fourth chapter this book is a gathering of man pages and raw, unexplained examples from the Net. A very unfortunate and hasty tentative to fill out a hole in the Linux literature. In my opinion this book will rather confuse the reader than enlighten.


If you want a good book about the System Programming buy rather the second edition of "Advanced UNIX Programming" written by Marc J. Rochkind and published by Addison-Wesley (sorry O'Reilly). It is not targeted at Linux but Linux is UNIX and the book covers well 99% of Linux System Programming.


See larger cover

"Robert Love takes great care to hold you by the hand as he covers each topic, and you feel that you're in the presence of a true master--which given Love's reputation is genuinely the case. So if you want to have a go at system programming, this should be on your wish-list..."
--Andy Hudson, Linux Format

Full Threads Oldest First