Curated List of Free Technical Books Covering Linux, System Administration, Networking, and More

Recently a GitHub project called free‑books compiled more than one hundred free technical books covering areas such as web development, system administration, programming languages, databases, software development, artificial intelligence, and theory.

The repository has attracted 5,934 stars and 838 forks ( https://github.com/ruanyf/free-books ).

1. "The Linux Command Line" – A step‑by‑step guide that introduces Linux command‑line usage for beginners and junior server administrators. Download: http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxcommand/files/TLCL/13.07/TLCL-13.07.pdf/download

2. "Learn Command Line" – An illustrated, beginner‑friendly book that teaches command‑line fundamentals; it is available for online reading or PDF download. Download: https://hellowebbooks.com/learn-command-line/

3. "鸟哥的 Linux 私房菜" (Bird’s Linux Private Kitchen) – A long‑standing Chinese resource compiled by the author “鸟哥”, offering extensive Linux learning material dating back to 2000. Website: http://linux.vbird.org/

4. "Linux Journey" – A free, tiered learning site that guides users from beginner to advanced Linux topics and recommends four classic Linux books. Website: https://linuxjourney.com/

5. "Computer Systems: An Introduction – Using Assembly Language and Linux" – Explains computer hardware concepts from a programmer’s perspective, using C/C++ examples on a Linux kernel. Website: http://bob.cs.sonoma.edu/IntroCompOrg-x64/bookli5.html#x6-6000

6. "Computer Networks: A Systems Approach" – The sixth edition updates examples and adds chapters on PON, 5G, RAN, and cloud‑computing impacts on Internet architecture. Download: https://github.com/SystemsApproach/book/tree/master/published

7. "Computer Organization: Raspberry Pi and ARM Assembly" – Part of the same series as book 5, this volume focuses on ARM architecture on Raspberry Pi, using Raspbian (Linux) and GNU tools. Website: http://bob.cs.sonoma.edu/IntroCompOrg-RPi/frontmatter-1.html

8. "Computer Networking: Principles, Protocols and Practice" – An open‑source textbook covering networking theory, major Internet protocols (HTTP, DNS, TLS, TCP, UDP, IPv6, BGP, etc.), and includes exercises and labs. Website: https://www.computer-networking.info/#

9. "Linux Insides" – A series of posts that dive deep into Linux kernel internals. Website: https://xinqiu.gitbooks.io/linux-insides-cn/content/index.html

10. "Ops School" – A comprehensive curriculum for becoming an operations engineer, covering system administration, security, networking, and more. Website: http://www.opsschool.org/

11. "Practical File System Design" – Describes fundamental file‑system implementation and interface design, and provides a user‑land simulated file system for deeper understanding. Download: http://www.nobius.org/~dbg/practical-file-system-design.pdf

12. "Docker Beginner's Tutorial" – Introduces how to build and deploy distributed applications to the cloud using Docker. Website: https://docker-curriculum.com/

The article also includes additional screenshots of other books, programming‑language resources, theory books, artificial‑intelligence material, software‑development guides, database references, and miscellaneous topics.