UNIX Unleashed, System Administrator's Edition

by Robin Burk and David B. Horvath, CCP

Our highly popular first edition brought comprehensive, up-to-date information on UNIX to a wide audience. That original edition was already 1,600 pages. The new topics covered in this edition have obliged us to split the second edition into two volumes, namely, the System Administrator's Edition and the Internet Edition, which we'll refer to jointly as "the new" or the second edition. Though each volume can stand alone and may be read independently of the other, they form a complementary set with frequent cross-references. This new edition is written for:

• People new to UNIX
• Anyone using UNIX who wants to learn more about the system and its utilities
• Programmers looking for a tutorial and reference guide to C, C++, Perl, awk, and the UNIX shells
• System administrators concerned about security and performance on their machines
• Webmasters and Internet server administrators
• Programmers who want to write Web pages and implement gateways to server databases
• Anyone who wants to bring his or her UNIX skills and knowledge base up-to-date

A lot has happened in the UNIX world since the first edition of UNIX Unleashedwas released in 1994. Perhaps the most important change is the tremendous growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Much of the public Internet depends on UNIX-based servers. In addition, many corporations of all sizes have turned to UNIX as the environment for network and data servers. As UNIX fans have long known, the original open operating system is ideal for connecting heterogeneous computers and networks into a seamless whole.

What's New in UNIX Unleashed, Second Edition

This edition of UNIX Unleashed includes a substantial amount of new information describing Internet and World Wide Web technologies in UNIX. New topics include:

• Programming Web pages with HTML
• Object-oriented programming in C++
• Programming Common Gateway Interfaces (CGI) using Perl, C/C++, HTML, and the UNIX shells
• MIME, the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension
• HTTP, the HyperText Transfer Protocol
• Web servers and server performance

As UNIX becomes the platform of choice for critical network and data applications, UNIX vendors have placed increased emphasis on system maturity, ease-of-use, and security capabilities. Even with the growth of Microsoft Windows NT, UNIX still has a place in the industry. It is more mature, more stable, more scaleable, and has a wider array of applications than NT. Many people claim that NT is the open operating system of the future; that may be true (I have my own personal opinion), but for now, UNIX holds that place.

We've also updated this edition of UNIX Unleashed to bring you current information regarding:

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the most popular variants of UNIX
• Security issues and the technologies you can use to protect your system and its information against intruders and malicious users
• The most popular Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)

As with the original edition, we set out to bring users the most comprehensive, useful, and up-to-date UNIX guide. To meet this goal, we've added nearly two dozen new chapters and have revised much of the original material in the book. The resulting book is so large that it is now divided into two volumes. The System Administrator's Edition introduces UNIX and contains much of the information required for basic users and for systems administrators. The Internet Editionincludes advanced information for programmers, Internet/Web developers, and those who need detailed information regarding specific UNIX flavors.

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