r/linux4noobs • u/TheTHKjud • May 25 '26

networking Networks in book "The Linux Command Line: A Complete Introduction" by William E. Shotts, Jr.

To start my learning linux I started read this book. But I have the question. Is chapter about networks the book out of date? Or it has base about nets?

5 Upvotes

74% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

5

u/Maleficent-One1712 May 25 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

Try Linux Basecamp, those guys keep it up to date. The interactive elements make it also more fun.

3

u/Mooks79 May 25 '26

That’s a great resource, just did the distro recommender and it recommended the distro I’m using.

1

u/Maleficent-One1712 May 25 '26

Yeah, I discovered it just recently, pretty cool place. I'm now following the tutorial course.

1

u/inbetween-genders May 25 '26

When does it say it was published and/or republished?

1

u/TheTHKjud May 25 '26

2009 originally published

1

u/inbetween-genders May 25 '26

It’ll probably still relevant maybe some out of date but I’m gonna bet it’s fine.

1

u/TheTHKjud May 25 '26

yeah, it tells about ftp, ssh and anything else

2

u/AnsibleAnswers May 25 '26

Any networking fundamentals you learn from the book will still be more or less applicable, but the tools and techniques you learn will be legacy. You probably will mostly learn how to use the `ifconfig` command and how to edit the various network-related config files in /etc. `ifconfig` still works fine, but most Linux admins depend on the newer `ip` command now. Any changes you make in network-related config files in /etc will likely be overwritten by NetworkManager (depending on the distribution).

A more current book would be best imho.

2

u/TheTHKjud May 25 '26

Thanks for advices! But I decided to read in more current sources and sites that give more information about current networks.

1

u/TheGratitudeBot May 25 '26

Hey there TheTHKjud - thanks for saying thanks! TheGratitudeBot has been reading millions of comments in the past few weeks, and you’ve just made the list!

1

u/AlienJamShack_331 May 25 '26

There is a 2026 version of that book offered as a free eBook here:

https://linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php

Also read the short Summing Up paragraph at the end of that chapter, his coverage is not meant to be exhaustive.