Announcing The Linux Command Line from No Starch Press

Starting today, the printed version of The Linux Command Line will be published by No Starch Press. It is available now wherever fine books are sold, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

In October of 2010 I received an email from an editor at No Starch saying that they were impressed with my book and asked if I would be interested in commercially publishing it. This started a long negotiation with them over rights. I wasn't interested in a commercial version per se, rather I was interested in having greater reach. I know that readers outside the United States have difficulty purchasing the printed version from Lulu.com, and that I am unable to provide ePub and other e-reader formats. My publishing agreement with No Starch Press grants them exclusive rights to produce the printed version and all electronic versions except PDF and HTML. Those formats will remain mine. What's important here is that the freely distributable PDF will continue to be available, and I will continue to develop it. I plan to start work on the second edition this spring.  I'm also planning to rewrite the LinuxCommand.org tutorials based on the contents of the book which is, frankly, much more accurate and up-to-date.

So how is the No Starch Press version different from my version? It's about 99% the same. The chapter numbering is different, it's been copy edited to further improve my so-called English, and it's been reformatted to fit their typographical style. But in terms of content, it's virtually the same as the freely distributable version.

To celebrate the introduction of The Linux Command Line, No Starch Press is offering a limited time promotion when you buy the book directly from the No Starch website. Use the discount code GREPITGOOD to get 40% off The Linux Command Line. One week only! Free ebook with all print book purchases.

Further Reading

• Press release from No Starch Press
• Promotion Announcement

Evolution of shells in Linux

A brief article on the IBM developerWorks site about the history of Unix shell programs and their Linux implementations:

Evolution of shells in Linux:

'via Blog this'

The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix - IEEE Spectrum

For those of you interested in where the basic concepts and design (but not code!) in Linux comes from, here is a great article in IEEE Spectrum on the development and history of Unix.

The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix - IEEE Spectrum:

'via Blog this'

Stop SOPA

I just emailed Congress to urge them to oppose the Internet Blacklist Legislation, known as the PROTECT-IP Act in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House. This legislation seeks to give the executive branch power to conduct slash-and-burn campaigns against websites that allegedly host – or even link to – content that infringes on intellectual property rights. That would “disappear” whole domain names, fundamentally undermining Internet security, and/or choke off their financial support. The Internet Blacklist Legislation puts more sites than ever at risk, effectively upending the DMCA safe harbors that have been crucial to the growth of Internet innovation and creativity.

Sadly, these short-sighted and dangerous bills won’t do much to stop online infringement – but they will jeopardize our ability to speak and read online with the kind of freedom we cherish in the offline world. Deep-pocketed Hollywood lobbyists are aggressively pushing to control and censor the open Internet, willing to sacrifice free speech and our Internet culture in hopes of controlling how people view their movies and products.

We need to stop this bill before it goes any further. Will you contact your representatives in Congress and urge them to oppose the Internet Blacklist Legislation? Visit: https://eff.org/r.C8A

Two decades of productivity: Vim's 20th anniversary

Two decades of productivity: Vim's 20th anniversary:



The Vim text editor was first released to the public on November 2, 1991—exactly 20 years ago today. Although it was originally designed as a vi clone for the Amiga, it was soon ported to other platforms and eventually grew to become the most popular vi-compatible text editor. It is still actively developed and widely used across several operating systems.
In this article, we will take a brief look back at the history of vi and its descendants, leading up to the creation of Vim. We will also explore some of the compelling technical features that continue to make Vim relevant today.