Short and to the point books.
That's the trend you'll notice after reading stuff like The Book of PF, Building a Server with FreeBSD 7 and BSD Unix Toolbox. X Power Tools happily joins the mentioned groups... with distinction.
The book is divided in 15 sections which are further organized into articles going over subjects such as the history of the Xorg server, configuration (how to build a xorg.conf), advanced configuration (including multiple displays) and troubleshooting in the book's Part I.
Client oriented subjects are brought in with Part II, which covers many of the rather unknown applications that are part of Xorg, e.g. xmag, xset, xdpyinfo, xfontsel and many others.
Part III exposes the reader to color, fonts and keyboard configuration.
Using X remotely is covered to a reasonable extent in the book's Part III. Here X tunneling with SSH and VNC are discussed alongside XDMCP and xauth.
In a rather unexpected way, the author chose to wrap-up the book by going over the details of configuring X for a kiosk.
As a side note it was nice to see that the author didn't focus only on Linux but also took into account FreeBSD when writing the book (moused settings are analysed).
It should be pointed out that the book was printed in late 2007, so HAL device configuration of keyboard, mouse and displays aren't discussed. However, in my opinion anyone wanting to read this book has already dealt with the situation and is looking into expanding his knowledge of Xorg into less focused things such as fonts, raw X terminal, xinit, etc.
X Power Tools is very handy and well structured making it a good alternative to those that avoid reading Xorg's extensive man page (such as yours truly).
If the Xorg subject appeals to you buy the book. Though a bit expensive, the book is a must have if you want to dwell on Xorg from a very hands-on approach.
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Book Review: The Best of FreeBSD Basics
Having read Lucas' Absolute FreeBSD any other BSD book I read ends up being measured against it.
The Best of FreeBSD Basics (TBFB) is essentially a compilation of Dru Lavigne's articles at O'Reilly Media and this is exactly the books weakness: there is no backbone, no underlying purpose or scope. When one picks up Absolute FreeBSD BSD that person will know that network/system administration is the book's focus, when one pick Builing a Server with FreeBSD 7 service installation and configuration is the core, with BSD Unix Toolbox the reader will acquire knowledge on tons of system configuration commands.
However with TBFB its purpose isn't discernible; sometimes it's a tip, on occasion a tutorial, at times advices, all in a very disconnected way between each other. Also, sometimes during the book you'll come across stuff that is just duplicated from a previous section/chapter which is just wrong.
The book does have its shinning stops. It brinks with Dru's love for the operating system by presenting small details that you won't find in any other BSD book. In this perspective the book is an adventure through the wonderful world of FreeBSD much like a blog dealing with one's notes of his adventure in exploring a new OS (like my own blog for instances).
Noticeable is the fact that some of the articles were "updated from FreeBSD 4 and 5 to reflect the usage on FreeBSD 6 and 7" as the book's back states. And that just comes back to haunt you, namely when csup and supfile usage is discussed in a way that's just outdated for FreeBSD 7.
Now... do I recommend it? First get Absolute FreeBSD. Next if you are into system administration get BSD Unix Toolbox and get yourself Building a Server with FreeBSD 7 if you are planning on building a personal server. After you've gone through these dive ahead and get The Best of FreeBSD Basics.
As an end note, I'd really like to see a BSD book by Dru written from scratch maybe even focusing on the BSD certification initiative. Now that would be pure gold ;)
The Best of FreeBSD Basics (TBFB) is essentially a compilation of Dru Lavigne's articles at O'Reilly Media and this is exactly the books weakness: there is no backbone, no underlying purpose or scope. When one picks up Absolute FreeBSD BSD that person will know that network/system administration is the book's focus, when one pick Builing a Server with FreeBSD 7 service installation and configuration is the core, with BSD Unix Toolbox the reader will acquire knowledge on tons of system configuration commands.
However with TBFB its purpose isn't discernible; sometimes it's a tip, on occasion a tutorial, at times advices, all in a very disconnected way between each other. Also, sometimes during the book you'll come across stuff that is just duplicated from a previous section/chapter which is just wrong.
The book does have its shinning stops. It brinks with Dru's love for the operating system by presenting small details that you won't find in any other BSD book. In this perspective the book is an adventure through the wonderful world of FreeBSD much like a blog dealing with one's notes of his adventure in exploring a new OS (like my own blog for instances).
Noticeable is the fact that some of the articles were "updated from FreeBSD 4 and 5 to reflect the usage on FreeBSD 6 and 7" as the book's back states. And that just comes back to haunt you, namely when csup and supfile usage is discussed in a way that's just outdated for FreeBSD 7.
Now... do I recommend it? First get Absolute FreeBSD. Next if you are into system administration get BSD Unix Toolbox and get yourself Building a Server with FreeBSD 7 if you are planning on building a personal server. After you've gone through these dive ahead and get The Best of FreeBSD Basics.
As an end note, I'd really like to see a BSD book by Dru written from scratch maybe even focusing on the BSD certification initiative. Now that would be pure gold ;)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Book Review: Building a Server with FreeBSD 7
I just love this book. Refreshing concept, clean, straight to the point and very very lean. In it you won't find any desktop related topics, this is an 100% server oriented book.
This is the book to get if you want to step up a server running services such as Apache, FTP, SAMBA, DNS, DHCP, NTP, VPN and so on. Chapter 1, presents the reader on clear and very straight to the option instructions on how to install FreeBSD and perform core administrative actions.
After this chapter we move to the core of the book: services. For here on the reader can choose the service he wants to install/configure and jump right to it.
For each service the author describes the application's background and history, software version used in the book, needed dependencies, install and configurations instructions. The book also shows how to test the service and points to further information. All this is a very systematic and streamlined manner.
BASWF7 is 288 pages long and makes a nice companion to set up services on FreeBSD for anyone acquainted with UNIX like systems. It's also a good complement to FreeBSD's own Handbook by moving into the territory where the Handbook falls short: third parties application configuration.
The book however isn't perfect. It should have in my opinion instructions on how to set up NFS and provide security hardening instructions/advice such as how to build a simple firewall to protect the server.
To sum up: I full hearty recommend this book to anyone wanting to build a server with FreeBSD.
This is the book to get if you want to step up a server running services such as Apache, FTP, SAMBA, DNS, DHCP, NTP, VPN and so on. Chapter 1, presents the reader on clear and very straight to the option instructions on how to install FreeBSD and perform core administrative actions.
After this chapter we move to the core of the book: services. For here on the reader can choose the service he wants to install/configure and jump right to it.
For each service the author describes the application's background and history, software version used in the book, needed dependencies, install and configurations instructions. The book also shows how to test the service and points to further information. All this is a very systematic and streamlined manner.
BASWF7 is 288 pages long and makes a nice companion to set up services on FreeBSD for anyone acquainted with UNIX like systems. It's also a good complement to FreeBSD's own Handbook by moving into the territory where the Handbook falls short: third parties application configuration.
The book however isn't perfect. It should have in my opinion instructions on how to set up NFS and provide security hardening instructions/advice such as how to build a simple firewall to protect the server.
To sum up: I full hearty recommend this book to anyone wanting to build a server with FreeBSD.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Book Review: Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD, 2nd Edition
In the past holidays I bought a few books about FreeBSD: Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD 2nd Edition, The Best of FreeBSD Basics, The Book of PF and Building a Server with FreeBSD 7.
I'm pretty happy with all of them and I recommend them, under certain criteria, to anyone looking into FreeBSD. Why under certain criteria? If you're looking for a book on desktop usage of FreeBSD you'll find The Book of PF pretty disapointing.
Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD, 2nd Edition is the perfect combination for FreeBSD's own Handbook. At times the Handbook might seem too straightforward by not offering advices or sharing experiences. Michael Lucas' Absolute FreeBSD on the other hand presents the reader with rich information, background, advice and reasoning although focusing on the network administrator and setting aside the desktop user.
If you are looking into a nice FreeBSD book to get your feet wet on Unix-like systems so that you can carry out mundane desktop tasks then I'm afraid that Absolute FreeBSD simply isn't for you. If you on the other hand enjoy FreeBSD, know Unix basics and want to expand your horizons and maybe setup a personal server and even make a living out of FreeBSD, Absolute FreeBSD is definitely for you.
I don't have an IT background though I know my way around Unix-like systems so I've found chapters like Chapter 6: The Network extremely useful to cement some disperse concepts that I have (had thanks to Lucas' book).
People new to FreeBSD and Unix-like systems in general will find the first two chapters filled with helpful advices on how to prepare yourself for the tasks of installing FreeBSD and seeking help, especially the Preinstall Decisions section. To help explore FreeBSD Chapter 10: Exploring /etc is simply golden as it goes over the files available in /etc while describing what each does.
I found Chapter 3: Start me Up! The Boot Process very insightful. Chapter 4 brought RCS to my bag of tricks. The security chapters (7 and 9) were also very interesting reading namely the part regarding Jails.
Personal favorites were Chapter 5: Kernel Games, Chapter8: Disks and Filesystems, Chapter 11: making your system useful, Chapter 12: Advanced Software Management, Chapter 13: Upgrading FreeBSD, Chapter 18: Disk Tricks with GEOM. These are the chapters I'll ended reading time and time again and are largely FreeBSD focused.
Chapters 15 and 17 focus on adding services to FreeBSD and go over SSH, FTP, NTP, Inetd and Apache web server. Pretty useful as I'm planning on setting up some personal web serving stuff.
I'm not much into email and DNS stuff so I didn't payed much attention to chapters 14 and 16, however if the reader is into the subjects I'm sure he'll find both chapters very important.
Props to chapter 20, 21 and the Afterword expand on what FreeBSD is, what it can be, how can you interact with it and what can you do to improve it.
To sum up, just go out and buy the book. It's worth every penny and more.
I'm pretty happy with all of them and I recommend them, under certain criteria, to anyone looking into FreeBSD. Why under certain criteria? If you're looking for a book on desktop usage of FreeBSD you'll find The Book of PF pretty disapointing.
Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD, 2nd Edition is the perfect combination for FreeBSD's own Handbook. At times the Handbook might seem too straightforward by not offering advices or sharing experiences. Michael Lucas' Absolute FreeBSD on the other hand presents the reader with rich information, background, advice and reasoning although focusing on the network administrator and setting aside the desktop user.
If you are looking into a nice FreeBSD book to get your feet wet on Unix-like systems so that you can carry out mundane desktop tasks then I'm afraid that Absolute FreeBSD simply isn't for you. If you on the other hand enjoy FreeBSD, know Unix basics and want to expand your horizons and maybe setup a personal server and even make a living out of FreeBSD, Absolute FreeBSD is definitely for you.
I don't have an IT background though I know my way around Unix-like systems so I've found chapters like Chapter 6: The Network extremely useful to cement some disperse concepts that I have (had thanks to Lucas' book).
People new to FreeBSD and Unix-like systems in general will find the first two chapters filled with helpful advices on how to prepare yourself for the tasks of installing FreeBSD and seeking help, especially the Preinstall Decisions section. To help explore FreeBSD Chapter 10: Exploring /etc is simply golden as it goes over the files available in /etc while describing what each does.
I found Chapter 3: Start me Up! The Boot Process very insightful. Chapter 4 brought RCS to my bag of tricks. The security chapters (7 and 9) were also very interesting reading namely the part regarding Jails.
Personal favorites were Chapter 5: Kernel Games, Chapter8: Disks and Filesystems, Chapter 11: making your system useful, Chapter 12: Advanced Software Management, Chapter 13: Upgrading FreeBSD, Chapter 18: Disk Tricks with GEOM. These are the chapters I'll ended reading time and time again and are largely FreeBSD focused.
Chapters 15 and 17 focus on adding services to FreeBSD and go over SSH, FTP, NTP, Inetd and Apache web server. Pretty useful as I'm planning on setting up some personal web serving stuff.
I'm not much into email and DNS stuff so I didn't payed much attention to chapters 14 and 16, however if the reader is into the subjects I'm sure he'll find both chapters very important.
Props to chapter 20, 21 and the Afterword expand on what FreeBSD is, what it can be, how can you interact with it and what can you do to improve it.
To sum up, just go out and buy the book. It's worth every penny and more.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Book Review: SUSE Linux Toolbox (follow-up)
Roughly a month after buying the book I've finished reading it.
All my initial impressions were right on the spot: it is really a great book and was worth every euro.
During the holidays I managed to read the remaining chapters and learned a lot and also refreshed some concepts. Loved chapters 3 "Using the shell", 4 "Working with files" and 5 "Manipulating text". All 3 chapters were really useful and covered with tips applicable to the everyday use of the shell.
Chapter 6 "Playing with multimedia" was one of those chapters that I left for the end as the subject didn't appeal much and thought I wouldn't enjoy it. Well I was wrong, it was very enjoyable and didn't regret reading it one bit.
The only chapter I found lacking was the last one "Locking down security". I was expecting security tips to harden my server but the entire chapter was very light and shallow, and ended up not learning anything new or helpful for that matter.
Appendix A, B and C are top notch specially for anyone using Vim.
When at the computer during my holidays I did browse it as a quick-reference whenever I couldn't remember that exact command in Vim and also used it to fine tune some aspects of a recent OpenSUSE 11.0 install. The book's straight to the point approach is very practical, which aligned with the fact that the book is around 300 pages makes it ideal to carry around and quickly consult it.
Now I'll be searching for another gem but if I don't manage to find anything in the local bookstore I'll probably order something online. Absolute FreeBSD, FreeBSD Basics and Building a Server with FreeBSD have caught my eye so I'll try to get my hands on them.
All my initial impressions were right on the spot: it is really a great book and was worth every euro.
During the holidays I managed to read the remaining chapters and learned a lot and also refreshed some concepts. Loved chapters 3 "Using the shell", 4 "Working with files" and 5 "Manipulating text". All 3 chapters were really useful and covered with tips applicable to the everyday use of the shell.
Chapter 6 "Playing with multimedia" was one of those chapters that I left for the end as the subject didn't appeal much and thought I wouldn't enjoy it. Well I was wrong, it was very enjoyable and didn't regret reading it one bit.
The only chapter I found lacking was the last one "Locking down security". I was expecting security tips to harden my server but the entire chapter was very light and shallow, and ended up not learning anything new or helpful for that matter.
Appendix A, B and C are top notch specially for anyone using Vim.
When at the computer during my holidays I did browse it as a quick-reference whenever I couldn't remember that exact command in Vim and also used it to fine tune some aspects of a recent OpenSUSE 11.0 install. The book's straight to the point approach is very practical, which aligned with the fact that the book is around 300 pages makes it ideal to carry around and quickly consult it.
Now I'll be searching for another gem but if I don't manage to find anything in the local bookstore I'll probably order something online. Absolute FreeBSD, FreeBSD Basics and Building a Server with FreeBSD have caught my eye so I'll try to get my hands on them.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Book Review: SUSE Linux Toolbox
I like reading and I like Linux/BSD/Unix. So when I hop to the bookstore I have a tendency to check out any book related to Unix-like operating systems.
In the past Monday I came across SUSE Linux Toolbox on the Linux section. As the Linux section is always very small it caught my attention and decided to flip a couple of pages.
As I picked up the book I thought "A book for dummies, full of stupid GUI screenshot with no depth I bet". Well I couldn't be more wrong!
As flipped through I was amazed: the book was entirely focused on the CLI on a very straight to the point fashion. It was love at first sight and I ended up spending about 15 minutes in the bookstore reading a couple sections/topics.
My girlfriend was also checking out a book and as we were leaving she gazed upon my sad face as I took the book back to the shelf and suggested that I should buy it. I just thought "It's a book about SUSE and that's not exactly my favorite distro" so decided to place it back in the shelf. As I got there the bookstore guy had just finished re-arranging the shelf and there wasn't any room where the book originally was. It was destiny: I just had to buy the book!
So I did. For the past days I've gone through 4 of its 14 chapters and read several sections/topics of a couple more chapters and so far haven't come across a single incongruence.
It really is a great book and a wonderful purchase.
I've been running Linux for about one and a half years and gone through distros such as Debian, Gentoo, OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS and on the BSD side FreeBSD. I know my way around, I'm no guru but nor am I a newbie, and SUSE Linux Toolbox fits like a glove to anyone who enjoy tinkering with their system and learning.
The book contains tons of information that aren't distro specific while identifying SUSE only things such as the zypper's use on chapters 1 and 2.
Chapter 3 is all about the shell and how to use it. Chapters 4 and 5 expand on subjects like working with files and manipulating text.
From chapter 7 onwards it focuses on my main area of interest which is administration and does a damn good job at it in my humble opinion.
To sum up, great buy for anyone into Linux, CLI and widely applicable to any other distro. I for one am glad of the purchase.
On a final note there are 2 other books on the series: Ubuntu Linux Toolbox and Fedora Linux Toolbox.
In the past Monday I came across SUSE Linux Toolbox on the Linux section. As the Linux section is always very small it caught my attention and decided to flip a couple of pages.
As I picked up the book I thought "A book for dummies, full of stupid GUI screenshot with no depth I bet". Well I couldn't be more wrong!
As flipped through I was amazed: the book was entirely focused on the CLI on a very straight to the point fashion. It was love at first sight and I ended up spending about 15 minutes in the bookstore reading a couple sections/topics.
My girlfriend was also checking out a book and as we were leaving she gazed upon my sad face as I took the book back to the shelf and suggested that I should buy it. I just thought "It's a book about SUSE and that's not exactly my favorite distro" so decided to place it back in the shelf. As I got there the bookstore guy had just finished re-arranging the shelf and there wasn't any room where the book originally was. It was destiny: I just had to buy the book!
So I did. For the past days I've gone through 4 of its 14 chapters and read several sections/topics of a couple more chapters and so far haven't come across a single incongruence.
It really is a great book and a wonderful purchase.
I've been running Linux for about one and a half years and gone through distros such as Debian, Gentoo, OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS and on the BSD side FreeBSD. I know my way around, I'm no guru but nor am I a newbie, and SUSE Linux Toolbox fits like a glove to anyone who enjoy tinkering with their system and learning.
The book contains tons of information that aren't distro specific while identifying SUSE only things such as the zypper's use on chapters 1 and 2.
Chapter 3 is all about the shell and how to use it. Chapters 4 and 5 expand on subjects like working with files and manipulating text.
From chapter 7 onwards it focuses on my main area of interest which is administration and does a damn good job at it in my humble opinion.
To sum up, great buy for anyone into Linux, CLI and widely applicable to any other distro. I for one am glad of the purchase.
On a final note there are 2 other books on the series: Ubuntu Linux Toolbox and Fedora Linux Toolbox.
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