Product Description
This digital document is an article from Federal Computer Market Report, published by Millin Publishing, Inc. on February 25, 2002. The length of the article is 436 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: TRANSIDIOM, WINJA AND J WALK SERVER SOFTWARE TO RUN ON LINUX STRATEGIC OPEN SOURCE OPERATING SYSTEM.(SEAGULL software)
Publication: Federal Computer Market Report (Newsletter)
Date: February 25, 2002
Publisher: Millin Publishing, Inc.
Volume: 26Issue: 4Page: 8

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Chmod, Security-Enhanced Linux, Openbsd, Freebsd, Pax, Nx Bit, Mandatory Access Control, Unix Security, Comparison of Privilege Authorization Features, Xts-400, Address Space Layout Randomization, Openvz, Openbsd Security Features, Executable Space Protection, Boks, Privilege Escalation, Security-Focused Operating System, Grsecurity, Operating System-Level Virtualization, Apparmor, Capability-Based Addressing, Generic Security Services Application Program Interface, Superuser, Security-Evaluated Operating System, Ssh-Keygen, Exec Shield, Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer, Solaris Trusted Extensions, Sandbox, Process Isolation, Type Enforcement, Security Descriptor, Setacl, Toor, Rsbac, Simplified Mandatory Access Control Kernel, W^x, Openbsm, Libwrap, Resource Access Control Facility, Hardened Gentoo, Partitioning Communication System, Anonym.os, Trusted Operating System, Immunix, Untrusted, Chown, Runas, Bastille Unix, Acf2, Chgrp, Openwall Project, Reference Monitor, C-List, Flask, Kinsmod, Annvix, Secure Operating System. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 274. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: OpenBSD is a Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix derivative developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It was forked from NetBSD by project leader Theo de Raadt in late 1995. The project is widely known for the developers' insistence on open source code and quality documentation, uncompromising position on software licensing, and focus on security and code correctness. The project is coordinated from de Raadt's home in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Its logo and mascot is a pufferfish named Puffy. OpenBSD includes a number of security features absent or optional in other operating systems, and has a tradition in ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=18949571 ... Read more

Product Description
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like software distributions built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions consist of a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players and database applications. The operating system will consist of the Linux kernel and, usually, a set of libraries and utilities from the GNU project, with graphics support from the X Window System. Distributions optimized for size may not contain X, and tend to use more compact alternatives to the GNU utilities such as Busybox, uClibc or dietlibc. There are currently over six hundred Linux distributions. Over three hundred of those are in active development, constantly being revised and improved. Because most of the kernel and supporting packages are some combination of free software and open source, Linux distributions have taken a wide variety of forms ? from fully featured desktop and server operating systems to minimal environments. ... Read more

Product Description
The architecture of Windows NT, a line of operating systems produced and sold by Microsoft, is a layered design that consists of two main components, user mode and kernel mode. It is a preemptive, reentrant operating system, which has been designed to work with uniprocessor and symmetrical multi processor -based computers. To process input/output requests, they use packet-driven I/O, which utilizes I/O request packets and asynchronous I/O. Starting with Windows 2000, Microsoft began making 64-bit versions of Windows available?before this, these operating systems only existed in 32-bit versions. Programs and subsystems in user mode are limited in terms of what system resources they have access to, while the kernel mode has unrestricted access to the system memory and external devices. The Windows NT kernel is known as a hybrid kernel. However some kernel developers such as Linus Torvalds, argue that all essential parts of the system are executed in kernel mode, thus making it a monolithic kernel that is structured similarly to a microkernel. The architecture comprises a simple kernel, hardware abstraction layer, drivers, and a range of services, which all exist in kernel mode. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Linspire, Xbmc, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Kubuntu, Opengeu, Xubuntu, Ebox, Gobuntu, Wubi, Backtrack, Turnkey Linux Virtual Appliance Library, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Netbook Edition, Freespire, Trisquel, Gnewsense, Super Os, Ubuntu Studio, Easypeasy, Mythbuntu, Puredyne, Leeenux Linux, Blankon, Edubuntu, Ultimate Edition, Fluxbuntu, Loud, Ubuntu Mobile, Crunchbang Linux, Jolicloud, Kuki Linux, Ubuntu Buddhist Remix, Baltix, Eeebuntu, U-Lite, Sabily, Mundus Os, Spri, Nubuntu, Ubuntu Jeos, Poseidon Linux, Admos-Lite, Asturix, Goobuntu, Maryan Linux, Mangaka Linux, Moon Os, Linuxtle, Ylmf Os, Max, Buildix, Linux4one, Molinux, Og-Os, Gnoppix, Skolesys, Dell Ubuntu Netbook Remix, Hiweed, Lliurex, Pud. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 250. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: XBMC Media Center (formerly named XBox Media Center) is a free and open source cross-platform media player and home entertainment system software with a 10-foot user interface designed for the living-room TV. Its graphical user interface allows the user to easily manage video, photos, podcasts, and music from a computer, optical disk, local network, and the internet using a remote control. It is a popular alternative to Microsoft's Windows Media Center and Apple's Front Row, similar to MediaPortal and MythTV, and has a skinnable and user-configurable interface and plugin support. XBMC was originally created for the first-generation Xbox game console but is, since several years back, now primarily available as a native application for Linux, Mac OS X (Snow Leopard, Leopard, Tiger, Apple TV), and Microsoft Windows operating systems. There is also a bootable Live CD and Live USB standalone version referred to as "XBMC Live" which is made for easy bare-metal installations, as well as for interactive demonstrations. In addition,...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=838798 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

You know something. You read this book on it. Now you don't know it anymore
If you have to read it like me for a class, then there is no choice but to get it. However, if you have a choice, don't read it. Read the man pages... for they give a better understanding of it.

Take a subject, like Public Key Encryption. Search Google on how it works, read wikipedia, and all that fun reads to get a good understanding of the subject. Now read the chapter of how Nutt describes it... You will question yourself if you really understand it. Worst of all, he knows that it is confusing and tries to explain it another way, but only loses you more.

One of many examples...

RTM, it's better...
This book is absolutely horrible... hard to read, incoherent, and amazingly difficult to use for educational purposes...The example code is unusable and in many cases non-functional. It has no basis in real world application or information.It is theoretical at levels that provide no value to those who are practitioners, administrators, programmers or educators.If you're looking for practical information this is not the place. The topics covered in this book are not the issues encountered in the real world.

The latest edition is mildly improved but if you want a useful and well written book on operating systems, this is NOT the one you want...

RTM... (RTM - read the manual); reading the man pages or help pages, as horrible as they are for most operating systems would provide more value than this textbook.

I highly recommend:
Operating System Concepts (7th Edition) (Hardcover)
by Abraham Silberschatz (Author), Peter Baer Galvin (Author), Greg Gagne (Author) "An operating system is a program that manages the computer hardware..." Operating System Concepts (7th Edition)

I used it as a text for years and never found it lacking
For three years, this is the book that I used as the text in my operating systems class. I found the coverage of the core topics that one covers in an undergraduate level course in a computer science major to be complete in both breadth and depth. Like all texts, there were times when I used some supplemental handouts in order to further emphasize a topic or to present additional practice problems.
The order of the topics is:

*) The abstract machine and how it is applied in a sequential and parallel manner.
*) The fundamental organization of an operating system.
*) The fundamental hardware structure of a Von Neumann computer and other architectures.
*) Device management
*) Implementing processes, threads and resources
*) Job scheduling tactics and strategies
*) Basic strategies for process synchronization
*) Advanced strategies for process synchronization
*) The definition of deadlock, how to avoid it and how to recognize and recover from it
*) Memory management
*) Virtual memory
*) File management
*) Security strategies and policies
*) Networks and remote file sharing
*) Distributed computing
*) Strategies for the design of operating systems
*) The Linux kernel
*) The Windows NT/200/XP kernel

There is far too much material in this book to cover in a one-semester class; generally I was able to cover everything up through the security strategies. I don't know when I will teach operating systems again, but if I do, this book will be at or near the top of my short list for the text.

great OS book
This books picks up examples from real operating systems.. the conslusions at the end of every chapter make sense to anybody who has actually written code for an OS rather than one of those books that pontificate about how it is supposed to be.

Good textbook
As a text book, it is very good. I have read much worse. At some points, it will try to explain topics using actual code used by operative systems, and that can be confusing and hard to follow, especially Windows kernel code. And the exercises are hard if you do not have much practice with system software. On the good part, it is easy to read (talkative like, not lectury), and uses simple and easy to understand analogies. Another good thing about this book is that has a very complete index, and a very useful glossary. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Good condition, quickly received
I received this book in very good condition(a few bent pages but nothing extreme), and very quickly.

The Best of Two Great Books on Operating Systems.

This was for me, a required college text and is likely the better of the two texts used for college courses on Operating System fundamentals.Coverage includes not only well illustrated textual explanations and explorations of those fundamentals, but sample code as well.It's a good text.It is one of two texts on the topic that I am aware of and I feel it is the better of the two, but that's a subjective opinion.It would be a worthwhile recommend to evaluate them both. The other book is Operating System Concepts by Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne.

Good book for the subject matter
I used this book for an OS course i took at a community college. The subject matter is voluminous and the book covers it pretty well. I wish there were solutions to the many exercise problems. This will surely help in the learning process. Some authors/publishers provide additional resources on a student companion website. While the book does have such a site - the content is not very useful at all (just a bunch of ppt slides summarizing each chapter!).
Overall a great book. I learnt a lot about OS without much of a CS background

Nice product
I am happy that i bought it. It's a paperback version of third edition. Saved a lots of money

An excellent text in operating systems, there is more than you need for a semester course
In my career, I have taught mathematics and computer science at the college level, developed and delivered courses in corporate training, taught classes in community education and occasionally engage in private tutoring. In the rapidly changing field of computer science, if you do not study, study and study, it will not take long before you are no longer on the cutting edge. While the continued existence of programming languages such as COBOL and other legacy systems does provide employment, they are not circumstances one should rely on for a long-term livelihood. Therefore, I am always trolling for new and better material for use as textbooks or for self-study. Having taught a CS major course in operating systems several times in the last decade, I have a natural interest in this book.
I found it to be very detailed and complete, while most students will probably skip the historical notes, they do provide excellent reference points concerning the development of operating systems. I would use some of them as starting points for in-class discussions of how some of the critical problems in operating systems development were solved. A few self-review questions with answers appear at the end of each section. The following items are included at the end of each chapter:

*) A list of web resources
*) A summary of the chapters
*) A list of the key terms
*) An extensive set of exercises (no solutions provided)
*) A list of suggested programming projects
*) A list of suggested simulations
*) An extensive set of references

As befits the trends in computing, a great deal of time is spent on multiprocessing and distributed environments. Coded solutions to many of these problems are explained and Java is the language used to simulate the solutions. The last two chapters are case studies of the Linux and Windows XP operating systems.
At this time I am not teaching operating systems and do not know when I will teach it again. When I teach a class again after some time away from it, I generally make a list of my top three candidates for the text and select the one I consider the best. At this time, this book would be on that list of three.
... Read more

Product Description
The first authoritative description of Berkeley UNIX, its design and implementation. Book covers the internal structureof the 4.3 BSD systems and the concepts, data structures and algorithms used in implementing the system facilities. Chapter on TCP/IP. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portlan ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (7)

A good teorical review of the Linux System calls and the GLIB functions.
You need some background to get a real approach from this book...
Good to get some tips on how the system works an why, really good explanations for all the points exposed, isn't a "Linux Specific" book, mostly based on POSIX and when not is well distinguished, also include some peculiar calls from other OS.

The book truly is for all developers
I have been programming C/C++ professionally since 1986 and was surprised at how much I've learned in the first few chapters.

One of the programs that I've been working on is an I/O intensive conversion from a legacy platform to Linux.The original code took about 8 minutes per gigabyte of data to process.I had worked and squeezed every trick I could think of and got the application down to 10 seconds per gigabyte.From what I learned in just the first few chapters, I was able to knock an additional 3% off the application performance.(It has been mentioned that I should state that I had been unaware of fread_unlocked and fwrite_unlocked before the book ... see comments for more detailed discussion).

When I finish the book, I fully intend on passing it over to one of our junior members so that they can benefit from it.

Not worth money
If you expect the quality of the author's other books from this book, you'll be disappointed. It just lists system calls and their descriptions that you can find from man pages without any serious examples. It doesn't provide any insight or thorough coverage you can find from other books such as Steven's book (Advance Programmng in Unix environment).

From the book title, I expected the author's insight over interface between user space program and kernel but it just looks like that it copied man pages in some order. If you want to learn sysetm programming in Linux environment,look for other books, seriously.

Easy to read-Your first step into system programming
Up-side
Its a very easily readable book.
Unlike other heavy weight books on system programming in this book code is very simple. All the codes are on one place no extra header files.
So if you are new to system-kernel programming, like my self, this is the book for you.
I did have problem reading kernel development books("Linux device driver" Linux kernel Programming). But after reading this book so many things are in perspective now. I cold do advance study in kernel development.

Down Side.
Some light/sweet projects could have made this book the best.
Some socket programming examples would be nice.

a disappointment
nothing really useful in this book, too shallow to do anything with it, i like his other books though, but this one certainly is not good, if at all. ... Read more

Product Description
Whether you are an experienced Security or System Administrator or a Newbie to the industry, you will learn how to use native, "out-of-the-box", operating system capabilities to secure your UNIX environment. No need for third-party software or freeware tools to be and stay secure!This book will help you ensure that your system is protected from unauthorized users and conduct intrusion traces to identify the intruders if this does occur.It provides you with practical information to use of the native OS security capabilities without the need for a third party security software application.Also included are hundreds of security tips, tricks, ready-to-use scripts and configuration files that will be a valuable resource in your endeavor to secure your UNIX systems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A practical review
I think that it's a good book. Straight to apply the main concepts of Solaris's security. Has been very helpful, especially for designing and implementing a security policy

Very Useful
It is practically impossible to find a good book with hands-on approach on information security. This book is one of the few that will show you HOW-TO secure your system and not just why you should do this! Also, security forensics chapter is my favorite... I recommend this book for anybody who is interested in UNIX and wants to know what could be done to protect the box using only OS bundled capabilities. As a security administrator for a company on a budget I get used to only rely on freeware or open-source tools to protect the enterprise.This book showed me that it is possible to use only out of the box solutions to achieve the same results! I would recommend it for everybody who is prohibited to use freeware and open-source tools for information security. Great book!

Tons of practical information!
This book is one of the best I've read about UNIX security. Dr. Loza provides hundreds of hands-on, practical solutions for how to investigate suspicious hackers' activities, secure the system, or protect you on the Internet by using only "native" UNIX capabilities. This book is very unique in the approach that shows you how one can do absolutely the same things to secure your UNIX box that freeware or open-source tools offer - if you are creative and hove some scripting skills. Using freeware and open-source applications is prohibited in many companies. This is why this book is absolutely the best! Especially I loved the Forensics chapter. Once again, I would recommend this book for all hackers and system administrators alike! ... Read more

Product Description

• Starts with the basics of Red Hat, the leading Linux distribution in the U.S., such as network planning and Red Hat installation and configuration
• Offers a close look at the new Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and Fedora Core 4 releases
• New chapters cover configuring a database server, creating a VNC server, monitoring performance, providing Web services, exploring SELinux security basics, and exploring desktops
• Demonstrates how to maximize the use of Red Hat Network, upgrade and customize the kernel, install and upgrade software packages, and back up and restore the file system
• The four CDs contain the full Fedora Core 4 distribution

Customer Reviews (22)

very good ref material
this book is a very good reference material for all linux sysadmins.
the explanations are very concise/straight-to-the-point that we keep this book within arm's reach especially during troubleshooting.It is better than googling for answers.

More of an Intro to Red Hat...
While this rather large book does cover many Red Hat topics, it does so with little depth. You'll be much better informed by actually installing and configuring Red Hat/CentOS and reading the man pages. Caveat Emptor.

Not a great guide, not really great.
If I could I would give this book two and a half stars, but 2 will do.I am a complete noob when it comes to Linux and got this book for class.The book is getting really outdated.I had several different problems installing fedora and it was no hope.Not a great guide for a true beginner but makes a decent reference.I like a lot of examples when starting something new and the examples in this book are lacking.For being 1,000 pages its surprising what is left out.

No experience necessary
I have been working in a Windows IT environment for over 7 years, but had no Linux experience except for installing it on a test machine (but then again, even a 5 year-old could install it since it's so easy).But I never had to work with it in an enterprise level until now.Without any solid experience with Linux and armed only with this book (and 7 years of "figuring it out" IT skills), I managed to get Redhat ES v3 running on an old server class machine with an older RAID controller.I even got it to talk to Windows clients AND the old HP-UX servers (I didn't have Unix experience either!).The boss was impressed!This is an excellent book that doesn't get annoying (like those Dummies books) or pretends to be a "Linux Admin book for Beginners" like that other book that's out there.I started with an older version of this book from the library, and this new version is even better.This book is a great investment and I'm glad I bought it.

Right at my level
Now in its third edition along with a DVD that includes Full Fedora Core 4, the latest (as of 10/18/05). People have complained that this book (in its earlier editions) are too simplified and beginnerish. I guess then that I'm not enough of a guru to go to something more advanced.

I find the background that this book gives is exactly at the level I need. Some books that simply say 'type this in.' Other books take a few hundred pages to explain what's happening at a level where I've forgotten the question by the time I get to the end of the description. This book is positioned at a nice level inbetween. I know what to type in and I have some understanding of why.

I further like the writing style and the way they use bold face, 'Notes' and 'Tips' to emphasize things. These features enable me to find out what I need more quickly. Finally, there are additions from the earlier editions which explain things that caused questions or were left out.

I'd rank this as an intermediate level book. It's not a here's how to start with Linux book. Nor is it an in great depth geek level book. I guess I like it so well, because it's at about the level I need. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (13)

It used to be listed here
This book hit number 7 on Amazon's Bestseller list. For some reason, my books have been stripped from the profile.

Great for quick overview
I got this to get me more acclimated with our Linux systems. I have only had very limited exposure to Linux and the apps you run on it. This is a great book for giving a technical person a good understanding of basic administration. I would recommend based on the book description and who the intended audience is for.

Poorly organized
I stumbled on this O'Reilly volume in the bookstore and immediately bought it, but my high expectations were not met. As of 2009 the book is already hopelessly out-of-date even though its publication date is only March 2007. Partly this is due to the tumultous, fast-moving Linux landscape, but most of the blame rests with the authors, who rely too much on specific commands and config files rather than on explaining general concepts. As a result, many of the examples in the book don't work at all. Experienced admins will find this merely annoying, whereas novices are likely to be thoroughly baffled and frustrated.

In Chapter 2, Setting Up a Linux Multifunction Server, we install Apache, Postfix, BIND, and various other services on a Debian server. The authors explain that this chapter is based on "Debian's stable version," but fail to alert the reader that "Debian's stable version" is a moving target that changes every couple years. Beginners who dutifully install "Debian stable" and follow the directions in this chapter will be in for quite a rough time, since the authors appear to be using Debian 3.1 (although they don't say), and the current stable version is 5.0. The chapter starts by updating and restarting inetd, an obsolete package that Debian no longer uses. There are many other problems and annoyances in this chapter. The authors set up rdate as a cron job and point it at a specific NTP server at CMU in order to synchronize time on the server. They fail to mention that hosted virtual servers (which I'm sure many readers will be using) will not have to do this since NTP will already be running on the host server. They install fetchmail which seems pointless since a few pages later they install an entire mail server (Postfix), complete with a self-generated SSL certificate. They install BIND9 in a chroot environment. To me it seems ludicrous to introduce chroot jails and self-generated SSL certificates in an *introductory* chapter on Linux system administration.

The organization of the book is bizarre.Chapter 10, the second-to-last chapter, covers extremely basic Unix topics like file permissions, I/O redirection, and shell scripting. The final chapter is on backups. It's as if the book were written backwards, moving from advanced topics to basic ones.

Experienced sysadmins will be able to glean some valuable tips from this book, but newbies who want a general overview of Linux system administration should stay away.

Configure and deploy debian servers
This book explains step by step how to properly configure basic network services for a corporation.
The text describes most used open source applications and it is focused on Debian Linux distribution ( Ubuntu is based on Debian).
The content of the book is very detailed and the quality of the resulting server configuration really works in a productive environment.
You should be aware that you need some Linux/UNIX background because basic Linux commands are not explained.
If you want to deploy a Debian server with basic functionality or want to become an acceptable Linux system administrator, this book is really useful.

Great reference
This Linux system administration book has been very handy for me over the last 6 months.I found the information on high availability and virtualization very helpful since I am deploying this in my domain.This book is also a great command line reference for me.The security recommendations also came in very handy.This book also gave me guidance on other books to purchase for more indepth information certain topics.I recommend this book for new system administrators! ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first, and still, the most comprehensive book to describe the sophisticated workings of the UNIX System V kernel--the internal algorithms, the structures that form the basis of the UNIX operating system, and their relationship to the programming interface. System programmers will gain a better understanding of how the kernel works and will be able to compare algorithms used in the UNIX system to algorithms used in other operating systems. Programmers on UNIX systems will gain a deeper understanding of how their programs interact with the system and can thereby code more efficient programs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Definitive guide for UNIX internals
This book is for anyone who wants to know what happens "under the hood" in a UNIX based operating system. I especially like the pseudocode given for various system calls and other important kernel functions. The exercises given at the end of chapters are thought provoking. This book is not about how to learn/work in UNIX. Some of the topics such as streams may not be relevant in some of the current implementations of UNIX (or clones of UNIX), but most of the book is still relevant.

The pinacle of OS books
I'm something of an OS freak (not an expert though) and I collect OS books. I've read many of the classics of the field but I think this book is the crowning achievement of OS literature. Here are the arguments to support my claim:

a) It does not go into explaining general OS theory, thus all space can be dedicated to explaining the details of one operating system (Unix System V Release 2). This of course makes it unsuitable for begginers as it assumes you have a good understanding of basic concepts like race conditions, mutual exclusion, data structures, etc. If you're a begginer don't buy this book yet; get "Operating Systems - Design and Implementation" by Tanenbaum & Woodhull or "Operating System Concepts" by Silberschatz, Galvin and Baer.

b) It details EVERY algorithm with C-like pseudocode and adds verbal explanations exemplifying operations running through the algorithms. This is unlike other OS books which sometimes just give general descriptions of algorithms with no examples.

c) Explanations are complemented by many diagrams of data structures in various states of manipulation by the algorithms. This is possibly the most valuable feature of the book as it does wonders to help you understand what the kernel is doing; you get to 'see' how the algorithms work. This sets it apart from practically all other OS books I've read that just mention in passing "... then function 'x' manipulates data structure 'y'" and leave you to find out the implications of these manipulations. Diagrams also make the book superior to mere code listings.

d) Each chapter 'uses' the algorithms explained in the previous chapter to explain higher level functionality. This is much unlike other OS books which are just unstructured and make you loose the big picture of how the various pieces fit together. Chapters also start with an introductory overall view of the current topic.

So, what is not to like about this book? The only thing I can think of is that it deals with a 'dead' OS. Unix System V only runs in a handful of computer installations these days (if any), while its derivatives have changed too much to serve as a reference while reading the book. Still, System V binaries and source are available on the internet, legally of course. Search for The Unix Heritage Society archives. If you want to get really hardcore you can even get a PDP-11 emulator and set up Sys V in it. There are, of course, other books that delve into present day operating systems; "Solaris Internals" , for instance.

Also, Unix-haters might point out this is just another book on Unix. Well, unfortunately there are no books that explain, say MS Windows, at this level of detail; blaim MS. But still, while dealing with the specifics of one single OS, you do get a general understanding of how other OS's might work.

In my humble opinion this book is the 'King of the Hill' of OS literature; it has helped me finally understand things like context switching and memory mapping. An absolute feast to read, particularly if you like Unix.

magnificent discussion of internal architecture of UNIX
While there may be more detail to be found in "The Magic Garden," or more up-to-date coverage in the likes of Vahalia or Schimmel, Bach's opus is, in the view of this twenty-plus-year UNIX guru, unmatched. I say this because only while reading Bach's book do I experience the sense of philsophic structural perfection, of tool-orientation, of practicality-versus-theoretic-efficiency tradeoff, that characterizes the earliest UNIX monographs (Ritchie, Kernighan, Bourne, Lycklama, Ossana; that sort of thing) that busied me as a freshman. Bach imparts to the reader a glorious--and gloriously holistic--depiction of the structure of the UNIX kernel as a unit. Algorithmic details are provided where appropriate. Exceptionally well thought-out exercises stimulate the reader to extend the textual material where meet. The material is assuredly out of date, but I dare you to critize, say, Lions as being "out of date" (whether or not it describes a 25-year-old, 9K-LOC kernel, it is a scripture of paramount importance, a cornerstone of my computer engineering [n.b.: I didn't say "computer science"] library).

For those who are wont to compare Leffler and Bach--if for no other reason than that they are coevals--I heartily endorse Bach over its competitor. It's nice. It's clean. It's precise. You just couldn't ask for more. And, BTW, stay away from "The Magic Garden." I'm not sure that five hundred pages worth of out-of-context code excerpts, inundating the reader with thousands of kernel variables, accomplishes much by way of imparting conceptual understanding.

(I'm reminded: a customer of mine--an older gentleman with a Ph.D. in physics--once asked me for a concise description of the workings of UNIX, something that introduced the basic concepts at a scholarly but not overweight level. I told him I had a recommendation in mind. "You're going to give me 'The Magic Garden'," John complained; "Don't bother. It stinks!" Was John ever surprised when I pointed him to the third entry in Tanenbaum's Modern Operating Systems series. It has concise thirty or forty-page entries on UNIX, MS-DOS, and a handful of others. For those who want to know--from a scientist's viewpoint--what the fundamentals of the UNIX OS and superjacent environment are, what it can do, how one navigates within it, etc., at a _conceptual_ level that trucks not with the details of Bach or Leffler, seek ye Tanenbaum II.)

Awesome book on UNIX Internals
It is one of the greatest books that I have ever read on UNIX. It is a comprhensive yet simple depiction of Unix Operating System. This book is a MUST READ for UNIX / UNIX LIKE Operating System Engineers. It is worth possesing a copy as it can come handy quite regularly. I give it a full go go!

A model for how technical books should be written
Maurice Bach's The Design of the Unix Operating System still holds the place of honor on my technical reference bookshelf.After almost 20 years, it provides a clear overview of basic Unix organization and operations and is a model for how technical books should be written.Readers who complain that the text is dated evidently did not bother to notice the 1986 copyright date.Its age, however, has not diminished its clarity of content or usefulness in understanding the Unix operating system. Bach deserves an award for excellence in technical writing. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (23)

An Example System
This is a great book.It was one of the texts I took in an embedded linux class.It details how to build a custom kernel setup the compiler and all kinds of info.Coming from a Network Admin and a .Net background it was kind of daunting.I found myself looking for a simpler way.Myself and a friend developed an Off Site Backup Appliance built from an off the shelf Linux distro and used Ruby on Rails rather than C or C++.I've thought about publishing the source code and documentation on how we built it for others to springboard from.If anyone out there could use this please leave me a comment.

didn't find any "tricks" and "traps"
I bought this book when I had very little idea about embedded Linux systems. I tried reading it but found that its explanation of all available options / flavors, while informative, was unhelpful in trying to answer the question "what would i use to make a system of my own?". E.g. it talked about cramfs, jffs2 etc. but didn't quite address the issue of why i would choose one over the other and under which circumstances: e.g. a typical development system should use rootfs over NFS to allow for rapid iterative development and then switch to a flash based / sd-card based system for deployment (cramfs / jffs2 depending on the space constraint). A similar argument extends to uClibC vs. glibc etc.

Over the years, as I've gained experience with several embedded systems, the book's collection of all terms makes more sense, but more like an encyclopedia and a reference. I feel it still doesn't provide enough guidance on what would make a good embedded system: if i selected from the options presented, say cramfs on MIPS booting off sd-card, would i be tying locking myself into a hole? this information is better gained the hard way: looking at what platforms are already available and how active the support groups are for these.

Also, in the recent years, OpenEmbedded (OE) seems to have a strong developer push behind it. This book doesn't cover it at all.

I think the information in the book would be best complimented if the author paired the book material with a system that the readers could buy and build on their own as they read through the chapters. Yes, it would only be one specific selection from all options the book talks about, but I believe the process would be much more enlightening.

Very good introduction to Embedded Linux!
Solid introduction to the topic and fairly easy to read. I was concerned about being overwhelmed but the authors have taken time to make a difficult subject available to the average Linux SysAdmin.

Lots of information for embedded dev's coming from other Operating Systems! If that's you then the authors suggest having Running Linux and Linux Kernel in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))available while you work with this book.

Definately a good read! Minor issues are the slight wordiness in places and the lack of proof-reading here and there. Embedded systems skills are gaining popularity and you can get some hands on working with a minimal system and trying out the stuff in this book.

a good book to have in your arsenal
This book was a highly recommended reference book at my previous job at an embedded systems company.As the title of the book suggests, this text gives the reader a good foundation on the concepts required to build an embedded Linux system.

Building Embedded Linux Systems
I'm a beginner in embedded development on Linux. I find the book very good. It's compact, very well written and has detailed descriptions of the procedures to building embedded Linux systems. ... Read more

Product Description
If you're new to Unix, this concise book will tell youjust what you need to get started and no more. Thisfifth edition is the most effective introduction toUnix in print, covering Internet usage for email,file transfers, and web browsing. It's an ideal primerfor Mac and PC users who need to know a little aboutUnix on the systems they visit.The new edition also contains many major and minorupdates to help the reader navigate Unix'sever-expanding capabilities. In response to thepopularity of Linux, the book now focuses on thepopular bash shell preferred by most Linux users.A new chapter explains how to use ftp, pine for mail,and offers useful knowledge on how to surf the web.And the author has included tips throughout the texton security basics, especially in the Internet andnetworking sections. The book includes a completelyupdated quick reference card to make it easier forthe reader to access the key functions of the command line.Amazon.com Review
Part basic primer, part reference guide, this slim volume will make your life with UNIX much simpler. This book is specifically designed for those who are new to UNIX and contains neither introductory-level condescension nor advanced-level gibberish. Well-indexed and clearly mapped, Learning the UNIX Operating System will show you how to use and manage files and get your e-mail as well as how to perform more advanced tasks, such as redirecting standard input/output and multitasking your processes. Those new to the UNIX world will appreciate its concise presentation, and those reasonably familiar with UNIX will learn many new shortcuts, tricks, and tools. --Jennifer Buckendorff ... Read more

Customer Reviews (44)

Perfect for Linux beginners
This book is absolutely perfect for Linux beginners who are yet to become familiar with the command line environment. I got this book when I was a college freshman, and even now, when I am in grad school, I often find myself going through it for a quick reference.

However, if you are looking for a deep detailed UNIX guide, then this would not serve your purpose.

I wouldn't if I were you
This was an optional text for an Intro Unix/Linux course.I am so glad the required book is a lot better than this one.Some of the code samples are in the paragraphs and it is hard to tell what is text and what is a unix command.If I only had this text, I doubt I could get through the class.It provides no new information.

Learnin Unix Op Sys
Excellent program - I just decided that I would not be able to use Linux while in school

Good stuff to start with
This book is a great book to start-up on your Unix commands.The examples re-iterate their meaning and I think this book is a great start to the world of Unix.

The X Win discussion though I thought could have been at the end of the book instead of the beginning.

Excellent Beginner Book!
I didn't know anything about Unix at all.After reading the reviews here, I decided on this book.It's for beginners like me.After finishing the book and practicing the exercises, I believe that I'm ready to go to the next level.And I didn't need any over-priced DVDs to go with it (and neither do you!) ... Read more

Product Description

We can all be Linux experts, provided we invest the time in learning the craft of Linux administration. Pro Linux System Administration makes it easy for small to medium–sized businesses to enter the world of zero–cost software running on Linux and covers all the distros you might want to use, including Red Hat, Ubuntu, Debian, and CentOS. Authors, and systems infrastructure experts James Turnbull, Peter Lieverdink, and Dennis Matotek take a layered, component–based approach to open source business systems, while training system administrators as the builders of business infrastructure.

If you want to implement a SOHO or SMB Linux infrastructure, Pro Linux System Administration clearly demonstrates everything you need. You’ll find this book also provides a solid framework to move forward and expand your business and associated IT capabilities, and you’ll benefit from the expertise and experienced guidance of the authors. Pro Linux System Administration covers

• An introduction to using Linux and free and open source software to cheaply and efficiently manage your business
• A layered model that allows your infrastructure to grow with your business
• Easy and simple–to–understand instructions including configurations, examples, and extensive real–world hints and tips

Customer Reviews (6)

Great Current Treatment
Computer books on important topics have been rather slow
in appearing lately.This is an excellent update for
Linux system administrators, needed because Linux is
constantly evolving.Highly recommended.

Good for average User
The book assumes some basic knowledge in the command line and requires a heavy backround in configuration of either windows or linux. Would have been better written to have each chapter independant of each other instead of referencing work you should have done five chapters prior.

great book
love the book, it's been a big help, easy and enjoyable to read.not dry, but to the point. Now I'm running a nice system running centOS with just over 20 work stations, and two servers.

I agree with my fellow reviewers, but I does deserve 4 stars
Turnbull, Lieverdink & Matotek should do a public service to PRO Linux Administrators and possibly drop the Pro from their Pro Linux System Administration book. For once I totally agree with all the other reviewers (never mind there are only two) of this book in the fact that this is NOT an advanced server title. That is about the only serious complaint I have since accidentally enough since I am not anywhere close to being a seasonal Linux user, much less a PRO.
Now lets suppose I managed to liquid-paper those three words from the cover: I have got the BEST RH/Ubuntu_LTS beginners administration and setup book available; do mind that before purchasing this title. By the way, those are the only two flavors of Linux Server covered in the book which is very fine to me: One paid one free.
In my case I did my homework while looking to replace my previous Linux books: Red Hat Bible and Amazon's bestselling Linux Server book (titles and authors intentionally incomplete.) I have read both of them AND 80% of this one so far.
What I am surprised about is the fact that I did not know there was a student course in Linux book writing, complete with a very strict TOC and Topic coverage. I have come to believe that ALL THE authors of Linux books, at least those available at my local book store, did attend. If you read most Linux Server books or at least browse through their TOC-even regular Linux flavor titles-they cover THE SAME TOPICS: Firewalls, DHCP/DNS/Apache, Networks, SSH, OpenLDAP, etc. I spent a couple of afternoons flipping through pages of these titles and I was very surprised that the topics were not really similiar; THEY WERE THE SAME. My question at that point was: Is there any difference in the book you buy besides the amount of coverage to each topic?
Then I found this book which is not at first sight much more different than the rest. But what sets this title apart is the fact that apparently Mr. Turnbull & company did go to my imaginary Linux Book Writting 101 crash course, but decided to attend some advance courses as well. I found that, at least in the relevant chapters, this book goes the extra mile and provides some fairly interesting material related to it. Chapters like MySql/Ldap/Apache/Mail servers, among others provide interesting examples and sometimes complete follow through of real life applications you can use. The book finally hits a nail in this 'plus' thing with a complete chapter on a collaborative Open Source suite (Zimbra) which was the main reason I was setting up Linux in the first place. After a quick look up, there are no other books that cover this and in my limited knowledge open source groupware is very limited.
I ended up with a server that provides local secure IMAP/Groupware/Time Server services all using this book with minimal references to other books or the internet. For a beginner Linux user setting up and even connecting to the box remotely that IS a big deal.
The errors on the book are very scarce (at least in the relevant chapters I used) but by no means is the book perfect. The utility that is supposed to update the free Antivirus engine still has not updated anything (no coverage on how to check this either), the ClamAV file checker for some reason started to work after a couple of days (it was written by Mr. Turnbull himself??), and for God's sake; WHAT IS IT with these Linux authors that cannot EXPLAIN IN SIMPLE WORDS how to setup remote GUI access? Please! Enough with SSH, half the setups in Linux CAN be done via GNOME or other! Me to ALL Linux Authors: INCLUDE A CHAPTER ON VNC SERVER, NOMACHINE, OR ANYTHING that begins with an X and comes free; PLEASE.
I guess references on the internet were more common that I care to recall.
Anyhow very good book, I'll try and revise this review when done with the book, and thanks for reading this review. If you want to set up a box for home/small or even medium size server load, for nothing more than the cost of the box AND this book, this will get you a pat in the back from your users.

Contains Linux system administration advice and recipes.
I have found this book useful, being a Windows admin who doesn't drop into a Linux terminal session very often. The book contains the usual man pages, "history of Linux", etc. The real reason to purchase it is the included advice and recipes. Every chapter that I have read has a real "I've done this many times" feeling to it. I have yet to find a technical mistake in the information that I have gotten from this book (I can't say that about most websites).

This book is not a complete reference to the most popular utilities or the newest distributions. It falls short of a complete Linux reference due to the fact that the authors seem to only discuss tools that they have personal experience with. This book also won't teach you how to become a top-notch Linux System Administrator. What it will do, is quickly point a non-Linux system administrator in a possible direction when they need to make configuration changes. I have also found that this no-batteries-or-Internet-required reference comes in handy when working on Linux machines in remote locations.

A Windows or Mac system admin may find this book a welcome addition to their technical library. A Linux system admin may want to look elsewhere.
... Read more

Product Description
Linux continues to evolve, and Sybex is there to keep you abreast of the new developments with a revised edition of Linux System Administration, the book selectedas one of the "Most Indispensable Linux Books" in the 2001 Linux Journal Readers Choice Awards. Fully updated to cover the latest Linux kernel, 2.4 and the newest version of Red Hat Linux, v. 7.3, this second edition provides clearly written and focused explanations of the real-world issues that Linux systems administrators can expect to encounter on the job. The authors begin with Linux installation and configuration, then move on to setting up user accounts, implementing security, and managing file systems, printing, and serial communications. This book is the cornerstone title in the Craig Hunt Linux Library, which has earned the reputation as the most comprehensive, well-written, and appropriately targeted Linux series available. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Definetly a keeper
Wonderfully written. This is a great book on this subject and now occupies a permanent place in my personal library. About the only issue I take is with the slight focus on a gui tool for system administration and some leaning towards Redhat ... but given when it was written and the fact that other major distributions such as Debian (which am fond of) and Suse are covered ... I cant complain

Again a must-have

Four stars because its out of date
I rated this at 5 stars; however since it is well out of date, I think it should be a 4 stars. There are few linux books (or none) as well written as this. I thought the chapters on the boot process and startup scripts was much better detailed described than any of the half dozen Linux books that I have read so far: It broke it down to the BSD style vs the Sys V style. Nice comparatives. Great read across *ALL* chapters. My only problem is that this book was published in 2002. Today I'm looking for a handy reference for 2008. Even though its a bit dated, I still refer to this book. Nearly all the Craig Hunt Linux Book series are fantastic which makes me wonder why the author is not reassembling another Craig Hunt book crew to update all of the books in the shelf -- most are 2002 or earlier.

Finally I begin to understand Linux
Microsoft's introduction of XP also introduced outrageous Microsoft user agreements I could never accept.Furthermore I was sick of Windows security issues, viruses, instability, and software conflicts.The GNU/Linux FREE as in freedom philosophy made sense to me, so I chose Linux FREEdom over Mac's wanna-be a monopoly world.A copy of Mandrake Linux sat on my shelf awaiting a Linux guru to help me install it, until late one night when Windows irrevocably crashed in the middle of a project I had to finish before bed.In a panic I installed Linux (along with a broad suite of apps) on an old hard drive I had, recovered my files from the Windows drive, and was working on my project again within 45 minutes.That was more than two years ago and I never looked back.I have a fast, stable, secure, virus free operating system with more and better apps than I could afford with Windows.

However, until a month ago, when I bought a copy of Linux System Administration, I could only use Linux as if it was Windows or Mac.The full power of GNU/Linux is accessible through the shell command line, and this power was beyond my grasp.It wasn't that I hadn't tried.I bough half a dozen books about Linux in order to learn how to access and use this power.But the books I bought, though highly recommended, all required prerequisite knowledge I lacked, had no logical explanation, or they were too simplistic.Nor have I been able to find anyone to hold my hand through the process of learning the real power of Linux.Linux System Administration is exactly the book I needed.Linux System Administration is not in any way dumbed down.It is simply very good at introducing and explaining Linux.This is not a beginner's book inadequate to provide any real understanding.It is a solid book suitable for use by a Linux system administratior that a beginner can begin with.Linux System Administration is empowering me to be the system administrator of my computer and LAN (and more if I want to or need to).Linux System Administration is making available to me the FREEdom, control, and power that GNU/Linux is all about.

I also recommend Linux In A Nutshell, and Linux Cookbook.Running Linux, recommended by "Linux Journal" (along with Linux System Administration and Linux In A Nutshell), had been beyond me, but maybe after I fully assimilate Linux System Administration I'll be able to make use of it.

Is it worth the hype?
Well, I picked up second edition of the book "Linux System Administration" soon after I read excellent "introductory" type of the book, "Linux for Windows Administrators" by Mark Minasi. It was a logical next step for Unix/Linux newbie like me to pick up more advanced guide for Linux SA.Now, I can only confirm that the book is worth the Linux Journal award in 2001 as being "One of the most indispensable Linux Books".
It's well written, thought technical dry and less fun to read than the book from Mr. Minasi!
The impression that I got is that book is geared more toward novices and beginners in the field of system administration (in general) than for some seasoned Unix sysadmin on her/his way to Linux. (If you're Windows admin that successfully installed Linux box or two, with solid general knowledge of the hardware than this book is for you!)
Book is organized in four parts (Basics, Managing Users and Processes,Networking and System Optimization)and as such covers most tasks and duties of Linux SA.
Layout of the book is nothing special, it's simple and with some unnecessary screenshots (like that of xrost and BRU screenshot, webmin) and lengthy scripts (such as sample netfilter startup file) - this kind of material belongs to appendix of the book.
Overall good book that you can use on a daily basis but not as a complete reference! I found book useful as a reminder of some basic principles and commands, which I later explore with the help of other books and online documentation. Have fun!

Brings the beginners to the next level...
This book is perfect for the person who has been tinkering with Linux long enought to have started outgrowing the GUI based tools that the distros are spoon feeding users with.

This book takes a reader who is ready to leave webmin or other "wizard" approaches behind and wants to take the bull (er... config files) by the horns and REALLY control their machines.

The vendor/distro neutral coverage is fair and even handed, giving time to both Redhat based distros as well as Debian.

If you are itching to stop having to point and click all over the place to change a line in a config file, and are ready to learn the faster, quicker, less error prone way... here you go!

Become an SA :) ... Read more