The key difference between Microsoft Windows and UNIX is that Windows is meant to be easy to learn, while UNIX is meant to compensate for a steep learning curve by providing extraordinary flexibility to knowledgeable users. Linux: Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition is the best book on the market in terms of flattening that learning curve. The author, Paul Sheer, uses this book as the text for a class he teaches, and its instructional value is unquestionable. Rather than attempt to make analogies for the way things are done in Windows or in Mac OS, or try to satisfy readers' requirements with mere recipes, Sheer tries to inculcate his readers into the Linux way of thinking. The idea is that work gets done differently in Linux, and you have to get a few concepts clear in order to work effectively in the environment.

Take, for example, Sheer's discussion of the /etc/passwd file, which is at the core of user authentication. He provides a listing of a typical /etc/passwd file, then explains what each element on each line is for. This leads smoothly into a discussion of /etc/shadow, the shadow password file, and its capacity for hiding passwords behind a one-way hash algorithm. Sheer's prose is unfailingly clear and detailed, which is good because he's chosen to omit graphics altogether (which means, incidentally, that this book focuses on the command shell--bash, to be precise--and even the chapter on X Windows lacks screen shots). Aside from a few weird typographical choices (a tiny picture of a penguin invariably follows the word "Linux" in body text, for example), this is a faultless book. The CD-ROM contains a comprehensive HTML copy of the paper book--every last paragraph and table appears on the disc. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to be a competent Linux user, familiar with the command line, key utilities like "sed," and important related skills like C programming, shell scripting, and regular expression creation. There's coverage of server software--notably HTTPd, Sendmail, and Exim--and coverage of the PostgreSQL server.


From Book News, Inc.
This guide book covers the major aspects of system administration, including user management, security, networking, services, package management, C programming, kernel compilation, and hardware configuration. Shell scripting and Unix access controls receive particular attention. Examples illustrate key points. A companion CD-ROM contains an electronic version of the book in HTML format. Sheer is a programmer and an IT consultant.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


Book Description
The only comprehensive system administration reference that's portable across all Linux distributions. Presents in-depth, real-world coverage of every key aspect of system administration: user management, security, networking, Internet services, package management, C programming, kernel compilation, hardware configuration, and much more. Softcover.


From the Back Cover
The only Linux sysadmin guide that's been tested and proven by 50,000+ Web users! The proven Linux sysadmin's guide—read by 50,000+ Web users worldwide! The only comprehensive system administration reference that's portable across all Linux distributions Networking, security, shell scripting, kernel, TCP/IP, DNS, Web, mail, Samba, and much more CD-ROM includes a complete HTML version of the book—the perfect portable reference! Ready to truly master Linux system administration? Rely on the book that's been tested and proven by more than 50,000 Web users and Linux trainers worldwide: Paul Sheer's LINUX: Rute Users Tutorial and Exposition. Sheer presents in-depth, real-world coverage of every key aspect of system administration: user management, security, networking, Internet services, package management, C programming, kernel compilation, hardware configuration, and much more. Unlike many competitive guides, it also contains extensive coverage of shell scripting and UNIX access controls. Real-life examples give working sysadmins a powerful resource for streamlining their work. It even contains detailed cross-references to LPI and RHCE certification topics, making it an exceptionally useful resource for exam preparation. Linux configuration files-in extraordinary detail Comprehensive networking coverage: TCP/IP, routing, Apache, Exim, Sendmail, Samba, name server configuration, and more Linux commands, regular expressions, processes, and environment variables Key Linux environments: from vi to X to postgreSQL Linux filesystem permission model and organization Linux device configuration: audio, Ethernet, PCI, SCSI, serial devices, CD-RW, and more No matter what kind of Linux systems you're managing, no matter which distributions you use, LINUX: Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition presents the techniques you need to succeed. CD-ROM INCLUDED The accompanying CD-ROM contains a complete electronic version of the book in HTML format—the perfect portable reference for the mobile system administrator!


About the Author
PAUL SHEER owns Paul Sheer Consulting IT Services, a firm specializing in Linux consulting, programming, and training; Web database integration; cryptography; embedded systems; and related technologies. The electronic version of his LINUX:Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition has become one of the Web's most popular resources for mastering Linux administration. Sheer is based in Cape Town, South Africa.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
PrefaceWhen I began working with GNU/LINUX in 1994, it was straight from the DOSworld. Though UNIX was unfamiliar territory, LINUX books assumed that anyoneusing LINUX was migrating from System V or BSD—systems that I had never heardof. It is a sensible adage to create, for others to share, the recipe that you would mostlike to have had. Indeed, I am not convinced that a single unifying text exists, evennow, without this book. Even so, I give it to you desperately incomplete; but there isonly so much one can explain in a single volume.I hope that readers will now have a single text to guide them through all facetsof GNU/LINUX.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The only Linux sysadmin guide that's been tested and proven by 50,000+ Web users! The proven Linux sysadmin's guide—read by 50,000+ Web users worldwide! The only comprehensive system administration reference that's portable across all Linux distributions Networking, security, shell scripting, kernel, TCP/IP, DNS, Web, mail, Samba, and much more CD-ROM includes a complete HTML version of the book—the perfect portable reference!

Ready to truly master Linux system administration? Rely on the book that's been tested and proven by more than 50,000 Web users and Linux trainers worldwide: Paul Sheer's LINUX: Rute Users Tutorial and Exposition.

Sheer presents in-depth, real-world coverage of every key aspect of system administration: user management, security, networking, Internet services, package management, C programming, kernel compilation, hardware configuration, and much more. Unlike many competitive guides, it also contains extensive coverage of shell scripting and UNIX access controls. Real-life examples give working sysadmins a powerful resource for streamlining their work. It even contains detailed cross-references to LPI and RHCE certification topics, making it an exceptionally useful resource for exam preparation. Linux configuration files-in extraordinary detail Comprehensive networking coverage: TCP/IP, routing, Apache, Exim, Sendmail, Samba, name server configuration, and more Linux commands, regular expressions, processes, and environment variables Key Linux environments: from vi to X to postgreSQL Linux filesystempermission model and organization Linux device configuration: audio, Ethernet, PCI, SCSI, serial devices, CD-RW, and more

No matter what kind of Linux systems you're managing, no matter which distributions you use, LINUX: Rute User's Tutorial and Exposition presents the techniques you need to succeed. CD-ROM INCLUDED

The accompanying CD-ROM contains a complete electronic version of the book in HTML format—the perfect portable reference for the mobile system administrator!

SYNOPSIS