Book · 2016
The Practice of System and Network Administration
by Thomas A. Limoncelli
One r/sysadmin comment tells you to buy this on the company card before you touch a single production server.
What does Reddit think of The Practice of System and Network Administration?
r/sysadmin recommends this one directly and repeatedly, without the citation-only pattern its sequel gets. A ↑45 comment lays it out as an instruction, not a suggestion: document everything, understand a change before you make it, then 'grab a copy... expense it to work.' Other threads just drop the title and a link (↑42, ↑20), or a bare '+1 for Thomas Limoncelli' (↑17). One list (↑27) puts it next to Limoncelli's own Time Management for System Administrators and, oddly, Mark Manson's The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, a pairing nobody explains. The book surfaces exclusively in r/sysadmin here, present in every tracked year except 2024, and its scored sentiment there lands positive too, matching the direct recommendations quoted above. Surrounding threads about SELinux's age and the retreat from Docker suggest the crowd recommending it skews toward people who've been doing this since before containers were the default.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · hands-on operations discipline for enterprise IT
- · the Limoncelli sysadmin canon
- · documentation and change control as survival skills
- · the book sysadmins actually expense
Common praise
- + One comment turns it into an instruction, not a suggestion: document everything, then expense the book to work.
- + It gets a bare '+1 for Thomas Limoncelli,' the kind of low-effort endorsement that still means someone bothered to agree.
- + Multiple threads just drop the title and a direct link, the way people cite something they assume needs no further argument.
Common criticism
- − Every mention here comes from r/sysadmin; nothing from r/devops weighs in on it directly.
- − One list pairs it with Mark Manson's Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, and nobody explains why those two belong on the same shelf.
- − The threads recommending it run through SELinux-and-Docker arguments about what counts as 'old-timer' sysadmin knowledge, which dates the crowd more than it dates the book.
Who it's for
Buy it on the company card, since one comment here says to do exactly that before you touch production. If your reading list already has Limoncelli's Time Management for System Administrators, this is the companion volume Reddit assumes you'll grab next. Come from a Docker-and-Kubernetes background and some of the surrounding debate about what counts as 'old-timer' knowledge won't be about you, but the book's own advice on documentation and change control doesn't care which stack you run. A bare '+1 for Thomas Limoncelli' is about as much argument as this book gets here, so don't expect a debate about its contents.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for The Practice of System and Network Administration?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“Congratulations! Here are two books the someone just recommended for people starting in system admin: The Practice of System and Network Administration, 2nd Edition [Time Management for S…
“First of all you should decouple the the idea of containerization from docker. Docker is not what it once was in terms of market penetration and pretty much everyone is moving away from docker to different containerization tooling. As to your actual question: It depends on what you consider "old-t…
“UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook, 5th Edition The Practice of System and Network Administration: Volume 1: DevOps and other Best Practices for Enterprise IT, 3rd Edition The Practice of Cloud System Administration: DevOps and SRE Practices for Web Services, Volume 2, 1st Edition
“*The Practice of System and Network Administration* is always a good starting point.
“Technical books over audio just seems weird, I've never done it. Do the narrators just literally read code samples and s***? You gotta get The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll if you haven't though. Maybe some business books like The Practice of System and Network Administration, phoenix project, etc wou…
“It's not insane... but it's not ideal either. SELinux didn't launch until 2000, and that's a pretty significant change in Linux fundamentals. ----- Nerd Books: [Cisco CCNA Certification, 2 Volume Set: Exam 200-301](
“if I recall right, that's a checklist item in *The Practice of System and Network Administration* - can you lock off **any** user from all systems in under an hour?
“Document everything. Don't make changes before understanding what you are changing (or at least how to revert). Grab a copy of The Practice of System and Network Administration, Second Edition, expense it to work…
“>The Practice of System and Network Administration \+1 for Thomas Limoncelli
“For a book I'd recommend: The Practice System Network Administration Also look through the history of "[daily routine]" posts. That will gi…
“Great book to read..... definitely recommend it. There are pdf versions available. The Practice of System and Network Administration 2nd Edition By Limoncelli
“here 'tis, and it was well uner $100 Best around.
“This book is recommended all the time here. The Practice of System and Network Administration
“Read this, newly-minted brother: Finest general-purpose SysAdmin book there is. Reading through it will make sure you have a great general idea of what the gig is about. Just keep in mind that every SysA…
“Came here to recommend the same book. It is my go-to recommendation for those looking to work in IT. The Practice of System and Network Administration
Convinced? Pick up The Practice of System and Network Administration
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with The Practice of System and Network Administration — counted from the comments, not curated.
The Practice of System and Network Administration — frequently asked
Is The Practice of System and Network Administration worth buying?+
Yes, per the most direct endorsement here. A ↑45 r/sysadmin comment tells readers to 'grab a copy... expense it to work' right after listing core practices like documenting everything and understanding a change before making it. Other threads (↑42, ↑20, ↑17) just drop the title with a link or a plain '+1,' treating it as an obvious pick rather than a debate.
Should I read The Practice of System and Network Administration or Volume 2 first?+
Read this one first. It's Volume 1, and the r/sysadmin comment (↑57) listing Limoncelli's full bibliography puts this ahead of Volume 2, The Practice of Cloud System Administration, in the same order the publisher does. No displayed excerpt argues for reading them out of sequence.
What does r/sysadmin actually say about The Practice of System and Network Administration?+
Mostly short, direct recommendations rather than reviews. A ↑45 comment frames it as required reading tied to specific habits, documentation and change control among them, while others (↑20, ↑17) just link it or say '+1 for Thomas Limoncelli.' Nobody quoted argues against it.
Is The Practice of System and Network Administration still relevant if I work with containers, not physical servers?+
The book isn't addressed on that point directly, but the surrounding r/sysadmin discussion is skeptical of container-first assumptions generally. One thread (↑198) argues 'pretty much everyone is moving away from docker,' which cuts both ways: the book's enterprise IT framing predates that shift, and so does the argument about what replaces it.