-=> Yes, You Can Learn UNIX <=-
 
    Teach Yourself UNIX in a Week is the daunting title of a recent book
I read. The book is authored by the legendary Dave Taylor, the
programmer behind the ELM electronic mail utility, so you know the
content is at least technically correct. But can it really teach you
UNIX in a week?
    The answers is a qualified yes. Yes if you have enough time in each
day to achieve your goal. The book weighs in at a hefty 710 pages of
which 624 are part of your weekly lesson. That's almost 90 pages of text
to read each day. Hmmm. If you need to learn UNIX in a week you can, but
typically it will take about two weeks to go through the book. The
subject matter is exhaustive and includes, but is not limited to, moving
around the file system, ownership's and permissions, filters and piping,
vi tutor, using your shell, job control, printing functions and even how
to program in C with UNIX. Yes, there is a section on the Internet.
    My original interest in the book spawned from the fact I am an MSDOS
expert, but put me in front of my shell account's % sign and I turn to
mush. After reading the book and spending a considerable amount of time
in front of my shell I can truly say I have learned to master thy force
called UNIX!
    Dave Taylor spells out your course on the inside cover of the book.
He breaks down each day and explains what you'll be working on. For the
most part this outline is logical, but after reading through the book I
would argue that the VI section should have been 300 pages <grin>.
    The book is written for people who are comfortable around computers
and have experience with MSDOS. I found it very reassuring that when
demonstrating commands such as MV the author comments that UNIX doesn't
have a RENAME command like MSDOS. The comparisons and contrasts to MSDOS
helped me perceive the differences between the operating systems. Kudos!
    Another neat tip of Dave's is to phonetically demonstrate how to say
a command. You know a neophyte if they say M-K DIR instead of MakeDir. I
found this to be particularly helpful in resolving technical issues with
my service provider. I knew the lingo, so I could follow along!
    At the end of each chapter the author provides a Lesson Summary
where key terms are discussed and defined. This helps reinforce the
previous chapter's terms. As well, there is also a set of questions
testing your knowledge of what you have learned. Unlike other books that
limit these questions to what was learned in the chapter, several of
these test your accumulative knowledge! Super feature!
    I must admit I was very biased when I first received the book for
review. Many of these "in a week" books don't teach the subject material
very well or even cover enough to warrant your attention. In this case
Dave Taylor has hit the bullseye not only in content and presentation,
but in delivery as well!
 
              Teach Yourself UNIX in a Week by Dave Taylor
                            Sams Publishing
                      A Division of Prentice Hall
                         201 West 103rd Street
                         Indianapolis, IN 46290
                          CompuServe: GO PHCP
                       URL: http://mcp.com/sams/
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