Learning Modern Linux: A Handbook for the Cloud Native Practitioner 1st Edition

As somebody getting more familiar with Linux the past six months, I was looking for an intermediate level book on Linux.Less rudimentary level introduction of "what" Linux is, more nuanced explanations of "how" it does what it does. And more importantly - why.This book starts with a good primer on the inner workings of a personal computer. How the operating system (or rather, its kernel) acts as a middleman between the user land and the underlying hardware.A fair place to start, no doubt.We then move on to slightly more advanced topics, such as shell scripting, permissions (access controls), application package management, networking, etc.All of these topics are vast and nuanced; so much so that each one deserves a book in its own right. Most of them do, matter of fact.While I can't say that the author glosses over them, but he provides just enough information to give you a basic overview and leaves a myriad of short URLs strewn across the text in place of elaboration. As if to say: "Here, check these out if you want to gain a deeper understanding."One would assume the purpose of technical books in general (as well as this one in particular) was to provide this more profound comprehension. Apparently not.All in all, the book is choke full of useful, if superficial, information that can be gained from other, better titles. As for the "Modern" part of the title. The author namedrops a couple modern Linux distros, command line tools, and programs that you might not find in other titles. But that's about it.TL;DR a mediocre cursory introduction to Linux, padded with general level info on tangential topics (e.g. DNS), and a lack of an overarching leitmotif. The numerous chapters don't naturally flow from one to the next; nor do they build up to a more profound and meaningful understanding of Linux at the end

Beware, not an ounce of cloud anything in this book. It would appear they threw the work cloud in the subtitle to get a wider audience in both search and purchases. What a waste of money.