Unix Systems Books

I loved this book. The software the author talks about is on the cd rom with documentation! There are
a lot of nice extras on the cd-rom. Great sense of humor and kind of hard to put down. Twice already
I've used it as a reference. I will look to buy other books from this author. I can't believe he covers both
command line and gui apps that either do or almost do the same thing! Now I can get work done no matter
what with my small home network.

~~~~~
I picked this book up out of pure curiosity - a chimpanze on the cover of a Linux book? As I looked inside, I thought, "Gee, I really DIDN'T know you could do that in Linux!" My curiosity soon turned to amazement "Hey, you can't even do that in Windoze!" Next, I realized, "Hey, I have to DO this!" and bought the book.

The author has a refreshing sense of humor that makes you grin as you learn. He provides dozens and dozens of hard-to-find applications and tells you exactly what to type to implement the program. The CD includes helpful utilities, entertaining games, and even a full office suite. (Try to get THAT in your Windows O.S.!) Most of the programs on the CD include complete source code as well as a binary executable file. Many of the tools can run right off the CD.

This book is hard to beat if you want to get that "extra edge" in Linux. Your friends will be amazed and exclaim, "Gee, I didn't know you could do THAT with Linux!!!"

Lloyd W. Cary
~~~~~

I just bought this book. It contains 50 tips and tricks on using Linux. It also includes a CD-Rom with RPM's (for Red Hat 6.x) and lots of .tgz files. It has usefull info like how to undelete files and info on what applications are available to make Linux a real desktop OS ("real" replacement for Windows 98). It's a book for everyone and most software mentioned in the book is on the CD-Rom included. This book is definitly worth the price. Buy it!

I loved this book. The software the author talks about is on the cd rom with documentation! There are
a lot of nice extras on the cd-rom. Great sense of humor and kind of hard to put down. Twice already
I've used it as a reference. I will look to buy other books from this author. I can't believe he covers both
command line and gui apps that either do or almost do the same thing! Now I can get work done no matter
what with my small home network.

I have been using Linux for the last 5 years, and I have read quite a few books. I read this book just to refresh what I have learned throughout the years, and I can honestly say, this book is the only one I have actualy been able to sit down and read. This is a must-read for anyone getting into linux, or just want a refresh. It covers many useful topics, and is very easy to follow.

Roderick Smith has put together a heuristic tome that tells you all you need to know to put Linux to work in your office by using its strength as a network OS.

Beginning at the beginning, he starts off with the basics and goes into enough detail to give the reader a good context for his instruction and, at the same time, gives the reader good, useful information about networking in general.

After the basics, its onto the "meat" of networking: IP addresses and their classes, subnetting and other network-related tasks--too many to mention here.

If you are seriously thinking about using Linux in a networked environment at the office or even at home, then buy this book. It's all you'll need to get started and up and running in no time!

This book is targeted at the person who wants to build an intranet for a small to medium sized business using Linux servers.

A well written and well structured book it starts with the basics of configuring Linux (using Red Hat), building a kernel suited for networking, configuring Ethernet and dialling using PPP. After this thorough grounding it goes on to file sharing using NFS, Samba and netatalk and printer sharing. Once you've covered these sections you can connect to your Linux server from other Unix boxes, Windows or a Macintosh, indeed using this book I set up a Linux server to act as a bridge between Macs, Windows 95 and NT servers and two Sun workstations.

It then covers remote login, either using shell protocols telnet or ssh, or X logins using VNC or X Server. Finally it has two chapters on IP masquerading and firewalls.

OK, go over that list again - every aspect of building an intranet is covered.

Having used this book extensively I've found its flaw. When everything works this book is great. Once you run into problems it is less useful. The large amount of ground covered means that Smith has glossed over likely problems and solutions. Troubleshooting is ignored almost entirely.

I would recommend this book as a good beginners guide to building an intranet around Linux to almost everyone with the caveat that you may need more specific information in some areas when you run into serious trouble. If nothing else it is marvellous inspiration.

I am a system administrator and work on UNIX workstations and servers every day. This book is a well of knowledge. It is written so that the beginner will understand how to do what needs to be done, to set up an office network. Very good. I have alot of pages dog eared. I am very glad I bought this book. Good job Roderick W. Smith.

Get this book to start building your intranet. It covers from basic networking and implementing Linux as intranet server. It's a great book !

This book has been nothing but a pleasure to read -- and not because the subject is pleasant, either. The author knows the subject so well, he is able to walk the fine line between too much information and not enough, at just the right time.

Also, the book is very well organized. The author knows which subjects need to be covered before others. You may be urgent to get to a specific subject, but if you patiently read "prerequisite" chapters (i.e. in the order presented), you won't be disappointed with the wait.

He does cover command line options, usually first, but also includes equivalent GUI tutorials (e.g. linuxconf). He also uses RedHat 6.0 throughout as the preferred example distro. However, he doesn't leave the non-RH user out in the cold by any means.

I bought "Linux Network Servers 24 Seven" beforehand and was lost within the first three chapters. Bought this book to help get a lighter start at leaning Linux networking and it's had all the right information at the right time. (Now I can get my money's worth out of that 24 Seven book).

One special word of advice: No "be all" book seems to cover Samba to a sufficient extent (at least to my satisfaction). In other words, be prepared to also buy a book dedicated to the subject of Samba configuration.

"MacOSX Panther Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips &Tools" is an updating of the earlier "MacOSX Hacks" to address the newest operating system from Apple, OS 10.3, popularly known as "Panther". The Panther OS update continues to provide opportunity for basic users and power users to customize, tweek, and hack their machines. Unlike all previous Apple operating systems, the OSX iterations incorporating Unix underpinnings, legacy OS9 and Classic components, and a continuing evolving Mac GUI, provide unusually rich and complex textures allowing for all kinds of customizations.

The book is a compilation of 100 ideas, hacks, tips, and tweeks contributed by a large handful of developers and power users covering mostly productivity-enhancing items, but also security and maintenance items, and some fun and geeky items. It is designed for the adventurous spirits who may need some guidance in customizing their machine and applications.

There are nine chapters of such hacks. Chapter 1 covers the user interface including how to customize the Apple-provided animations like the "genie-effect". Available third-party applications for customizing the user interface, like Konfabulator, are noted and evaluated (Hacks #2).Others include launchers, desktop applications, keyboard shortcuts and the like. (Hacks 3-9).

Other sections include an introduction to Applescript, Safari tips and tricks, multi-media tricks, file and device synchronization, and Unix tips and tricks, including how to use the Terminal application. Hack #27 is a guide to the hidden debug menu, which provides access to otherwise unknown Safari and browser features. Hack #30 informs how to use RSS with the Mac. You can learn to build your own MPS server from Hack #41 and build an emergency boot volume with iPod in Hack #52.

Many of the hacks are quick and easy. Some require geek-level knowledge. The most interesting and perhaps most valuable sections deal with Panther maintenance and security. Hack #93 is a 19-page security primer useful for both basic and power users.

OS X UNIX is amazingly friendly and accessible. Some people who had never used it before type commands and work with the operating system directly as a "cool guys" in movies! This book is very helpful and well written and it is serves as a very nice reference. I paired this book with that "UNIX Essentials" DVD I found here on Amazon and it is complete UNIX course recorded and this book and a video they contribute one another greatly. You improve the reading and by reading you improve what you have seen.
The book is very particular about the subjects that related to OS X and because there are some differences between OS X and other UNIXes it is nice to have a book that deals with it.

....do that??!!

Once cracking this book open, it didn't take me long to have a "eureka!" experience. "I didn't know I could do that!" I heard myself say to myself. I learned something new that I bet no one else knows....or do they?

My favorite hack so far is using the services menu under the application menu. It's an amazing thing and has been used more often than anything else I read in the book. The next thing I'm going to do is use more scripting and attach those scripts to my file folders. Fortunately, the authors provide lots of great examples. Whew...I don't "do" Apple scripting.....yet. I will after reading this book.

The authors don't exclude the use of other applications in "hacking" the OS but they sure do provide a lot of helpful ways to use them. My very favorite hack in that way was their suggestion to "Clutter Your Desktop with Music." In that hack, #42, they suggest using a little iTunes add on called Clutter. Ohh...I don't want to give all of it away. I want everyone to have a copy of this book. You just have to use this little app. It's a great helper if you love your iTunes.

Some of these chapters will require return visits for me as I managed to find out that I knew very little about some aspects of "hacking" Panther. The book now resides on my desktop and will for the foreseeable future.

No one will lose by getting Mac OS X Panther Hacks and will surely be surprised at what they don't know when they get through this wonderful volume. Be sure to check one out for yourself very soon. You won't regret it.

This book has a little bit of everything for everyone. O'Reilly publishes a lot of OS X titles, but this one is the most unique of those that I have read (and I have read most of them). The reason is the insane breadth of the book. It covers everything from how to use Quicksilver (the best application for OS X, bar none) to how to share desktops, to script iPhoto with perl. If you want to see in just how many ways you can hack your Mac you have to check this book out. It's one of a kind, and for those with the need to really see how they can tweak their Mac, this is a must have.

The hacks in this book seem to end up in one of three categories. Useful to me, useful to somebody else, and just plain weird (but good for a laugh). The last is represented by Hack #60 - iOscillate. Think iChat, iSight, some adhesive, and a stripped down oscillating fan. Mac people have all the fun...

I found the hacks involving bluetooth, cellphones and your Mac worth the price of the book. Prior to this I "wanted" a bluetooth phone. Now I "need" a bluetooth phone. =) I was also happy to find the info on getting the Postfix Mail Server running.

The great thing about the hacks, IMHO, is that despite there only being 10 hacks or so that you might find useful enough to start using right away, you're bound to come up with another few on your own. For example, by combining what I learned from a few of the hacks, I was able to set up Virex to scan my Mail inbox for viruses every 15 minutes. So far, I've only found W32 viruses, but you can never be too cautious. =)

If you want to feed your inner geek, this book is for you.

This was an excellent book; well researched, well written, and well organized. This book provided a remarkable contrast to "The Cathedral and the Baazar", which, while interesting, was generally poor in its organization and far too biased to take seriously. Although the author is obviously biased towards open sourse, this is the most objective book I've read coming from the open source community. Rosenberg often objectively points out the challenges the open source debate will face legally and philisophically in the near future. This is a great reference book for anyone interested in the open source debate.

Open Source: The Unathorized White Papers is a real contrast to the other more well known book I've read on the subject, The Cathedral and the Bazaar. While Cathedral and Bazaar reads like a series of unorganized USENET posts and random musings, Open Source is very well organized, and professionally written and edited. It contains up to date and accurate information about a range of topics relating to open source, including history, examples of businesses, and licensing.

The book's coverage of licensing is easily the most complete source for understanding a very complex subject. There are so many misconceptions of what licensing means in terms of software that the book is a must read if you either run a software company or are considering investing in one.

The only issue I have with the book is its description of the Java programming language as not having "a community". Being on the board of directors for the local Java User's Group I naturally take issue with that characterization, but for the sake of brevity, as well as sticking to the topic at hand, I will refrain from bringing out the voluminous amount of evidence to the contrary. :-)

For disclosure, I must admit to having met Mr. Rosenberg in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina. This isn't hard to do, considering he attends meetings of nearly every technical group I can think of, and is an expert on "people" networking.

This book presents an excellant overview of the open source development arena: who is playing, why they are playing, where are they headed, etc. It also provides an excellant grounding in the forces that shaped the movement, as well as the individuals who found themselves leading a movement (when they really thought they were just good programmers).

The book is well written and organized, with interesting side stories that provide a drill-down view of key areas. There is also good discussion of the strategy that is behind the key players in the game today, as well as insights into emerging opportunities.

For anyone who wants a good overview of this revolutionary method of software development, this is it.

Sometimes a home run is little more than a hit causing an increment tick to a stat, but once in a while it's a powerful work of art that changes the game--Donald Rosenberg's book is the latter. It is, by far, the best book on Open Source written to date.

As someone involved with open source strategies at a large corporation in the computer industry, I found Donald's book to be objective, insightful, and current which reflects an intimate knowledge of someone on the inside.

The level-headedness of this book makes it an essential read for anyone trying to understand the counter-intuitive nature of open source or protect themselves from the FUD, emotions, and convoluted conversations that plague Open Source.

This book is a compilation of essays on open source from the author. He covers the origins and history, as well as a responsible coverage of the licensing models. While there is an over emphasis of Linux, it does talk about various business models that can be used in the open source context. It also includes the text of some of the major open source licenses.

Very useful for someone who wants to learn to use Unix on the Mac and has prior knowledge of command line languages.

Mark G. Sobell and Peter Seebach's A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO UNIX FOR MAC OX S USERS is a reference the UNIX/Mac user simply must have at hand: nearly a thousand pages of reference material on everything from basic and advanced shell programming to Mac's OS X filesystem and utilities modules make this the best reference on the market for users who seek either a step-by-step tutorial or a basic browser's reference for problem-solving. Exercises to test knowledge boxed highlights of information make it easy to either refer to for at-a-glance troubleshooting or sit down and study for step-by-step methodology.

This is the book I've been looking for. Not just 'OS X for Unix Geeks' or 'OS X in a Nutshell', I wanted more. As much as possible, in one resource. 1000+ pages signaled a big yes.

I have yet to read it all the way through, but so far this is a very good guide for those who want not only to learn the general 'Unix way' of computing, but dive under the surface of OS X and examine its specificities in the command line interface, aka the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal)

No, this isn't a 'hacks' book, and there's no mention of rsync, for example, but you'll find ample documentation of the underside of OS X--there's a lot more to it than just a GUI, folks.

Educational, yes. Hence 'Practical Guide'; you'll learn a good deal, in almost textbook fashion. Recommended to enhance the power and fun of your OS X experience!

I have several of Mark Sobell's Unix based books and this one is as good as the others which are all excellent. You don't nessecarily need all of them but they are truly tailored to the platform and are a quick way to get to what's important when a new platform presents itself.

If you want to know the underlying MAC, this is for you.

I got this book as someone who had used UNIX before, but this was many years ago, and I had forgotten a lot. This book is great for picking up the functionalities of various UNIX tools - the explanations are clear and concise. It also works very well as a quick reference. The bulk of the book is devoted to bringing you up from a potentially zero-experience user to someone who can work with ease with editors, shells, and more. Simple examples are included throughout. The back of the book has a 250-page command reference section for quickly looking up how to use a particular command. You could read the whole book and progressively work with UNIX as a self-taught course, or just reference the sections you need.

The best I've seen in the practical application of multi-threading technology on the UNIX platform. In fact, I managed to implement this technology into the construction of a communication server quickly and succesfully after reading this book. Well worth the money

Must have book that anybody interested in threading should have. Certainly not for beginner. Explains the basic constructs of threading and then takes specific instances where threading can be applied.

The Book assume the reader has background in threading and OS internal related concepts (althouth pthread is for applications, it has strong similiarity with OS design issue). It gives a concise introduction to the pthread interface and semantics, then quickly (yeah, I like such way) go into application and related issue discussions. I find such way is very intuitive and meet my taste.

There are two drawbacks from general point of view, one is the book is not appopriate for Unix beginner. The other one is the examples are taken from handy code, not well trimmed to only pinpoint the topics, but it make me feel more natural and practical.

Wholeheartedly agree with the others. This is an excellent treatment of threading with a wealth of examples. I especially like the Advanced Topics where they address cases and situations that seem very common in practice yet are not documented elsewhere.

This book should have been called "Introduction to Posix threads in Solaris and multithreading issues".

Pros:

- covers Posix threads, including more complex aspects, which are "usually neglected by ... implementors" to quote the authors. Includes threads cancellation and fork behaviour.

- a set of ideas, problems and methods that you may encounter while developing multithreaded software. Most of them are on the simpler side though.

- compact, highly informative chapters (average to 20 pages each).

Cons:

- No word on differences between Unix flavours. Basically it's all refers to Solaris, which I can understand, since Mr. Kleiman is the head of Sun Solaris threading dept (also Posix threads committee member).

- C API only, no existing C++ implementations behaviour or really anything C++ related.

- Mostly recommendations. Nothing on the _existing_ practices, libs or whatever. One or two of the existing bigger pieces of software could have been surgically dissembled to show how it's done. Some math analysis is shown, but it ends with yet another recommendation.

- The methods and problems covered could be more deep, otherwise it's sort of an introduction.

- Some of the samples are too big.

Overall:

- Gives you an impression that the authors are very knowledgeable (yeah, right, see note on who one of the authors is), and capable of explaining complex things with simple words, but a little bit ignorant in that they consider the reader not worth sharing more knowledge with.

- Certain chapters must be stripped out, and more pure theoretical info added.

- A recommended book all in all.

P.S. A stylish cover.

I found the author's walk through of Sybase installation to be of great use. Each section of the book provided enough detail to get you started, without overwhelming you with a vast tome. Not a lot of fluff in the book.

If you want to step up to a more powerful relational database on Linux, the Database Servers chapter is a must read. The book also provides an excellent head start on using PHP scripting on Apache to access Sybase or PostgreSQL.

This book has been very helpful to me in learning the basics of Linux. It is well written in an easy to understand format. The front cover graphics could be a little better. But what do I know; I'm just a little troll.

This book has been very helpful to me in learning the basics of Linux. It is well written in an easy to understand format. The front cover graphics could be a little better. But what do I know; I'm just a little troll.

This book has been very helpful to me in learning the basics of Linux. It is well written in an easy to understand format. The front cover graphics could be a little better. But what do I know; I'm just a little troll.

This book has been very helpful to me in learning the basics of Linux. It is well written in an easy to understand format. The front cover graphics could be better. But what do I know; I'm just a little troll.

I don't setup a network without this book. It's as complete as any book I have on any subject.

Excellent. Plenty of examples with notes about the differences in the major flavors of Linux. Also, good background information on TCP/IP and basic strategy for including SAMBA in your network.

This book is now 2 years old but still the best reference available. I only say that because I have spent $$$ getting everything on the subject I can. With the recent changes in Microsoft licensing every sensible IT professional should be exploring alternatives. A SAMBA server is a great alternative. Mr. Litts book is all you need to go from knowing next to nothing to knowing enough to impress your geeky Network Admin friends.

This book is well written, clear and expansive. I didn't read it cover to cover (not at first anyway) I found pieces I needed, applied it, digested it, reviewed it and then went on to the next morsel I needed. If I missed something it was easy to find. By the way, it works with Win2K and WinXP neither of which is well documented by anyone anywhere.

I'm just glad they didn't charge me for what it was really worth! (most books I buy I quickly regret wasting the money unfortunately)

I recently installed Samba on a couple of Solaris servers in my organization to integrate these servers with our Windows NT domain. I needed a good reference book that could fill in the gaps left by the "man" pages, and other online docs. I looked at just about every other Samba book around but found something to my disliking with each of them. Even the O'Reiley book, which is very well rated, seemed disjointed and too cursory on some topics that were important to me. Then I saw Samba Unleashed and it was a solid winner! This book is EXTREMELY thorough and guides you through various configuration scenarios from beginning to end in great detail. Additionally, this book does an excellent job of explaining the underlying networking and communication principles involved. One could almost argue that this book is TOO inclusive because at 1200 pages, it's a monster! But I like a little hand-holding now and then and this book does exactly that. I also enjoyed the "special interest" sections one of which covered the nuances of Samba in a Solaris environment. This is the best Samba book out there right now, IMHO of course!

This book is awesome. Covers all of the basic Samba configuration as well as the "sticky" NT domain issues & Win2000 as well. Also provides real-world examples as well as some pretty complex issues I was never able to solve before. Holds your hand if you need it, but is also an outstanding reference book if you don't. Definitely recommended for anyone considering using Samba to replace WinNT servers on their network & needs real-world examples of interoperability does & don'ts and how-to's.

This is definitely a book for systems administrators. You won't learn the basics about sendmail, or get an introduction. This book is for folks who generally know sendmail, but are having specific issues with it.

The first chapter has a lot of very specific fixes for a bunch of operating system specific issues. After that the solutions become a bit more general.

The two standout chapters are chapter four, on relaying, and chapter six on spam filtering. Both of these have great introductions and in-depth techincal descriptions, with effective graphics, covering the topics.

I recommend this book for systems administrators and for people actively using with sendmail.

The first killer application of the Internet was email. For over twenty years, the most common program used to handle this was sendmail, written by Eric Allman. Over this time, sendmail has become a fully fledged language, with a very inelegant syntax. To learn how this, you need the book "Sendmail" by Costales and Allman.

The basic problem is that twenty years of ever increasing complexity in mail handling has created concomitant complexity in sendmail. For system adminstrators, the sendmail configuration files are probably the most complicated things they have to understand and maintain.

The rub is that most sysadmins have many duties, and little time to thoroughly read the above book. What is needed is a crib sheet, that lets you quickly solve very common sendmail configuration issues. Wherein the need for this book. Hunt takes a pragmatic approach. He tells you enough to handle these common issues. Sometimes, this comes at a slight cost. For example, he never really fully explains the the sendmail class notation. For a rigorous explanation, you still need Allman's book. But as a practical matter, you probably not that curious about the notation anyway. Hunt's approach may solve your problems quicker!

An interesting aspect of this Cookbook is that it shows the recent evolution of sendmail, as seen in the subtitle at the top of the cover, "Spam-Fighting". Sysadmins who dealt with sendmail from 5 years ago or earlier will recall nothing pertaining to antispam techniques.

But just as email was the first killer application, the second killer application was the browser, starting in 1992-3. The third killer application was spam, often viewed via the second application. In the last 5 years, spam has grown amazingly. So much so that it has been debated on the floors of the US Parliament! It has gotten to the point that some alarmists are even claiming that this third killer app might be crippling the first app!

Well, this Cookbook has several sections, including an entire chapter, focussed on various antispam techniques, like procmail parsing, or hooking up to Real Time Block Lists like spamhaus.org. The efficacy of such methods may vary widely, but you do get a choice. Though none of these currently appear to offer a truly effective countermeasure. You are still getting tons of spam, aren't you?

Perhaps some genius in the not too distant future can help us!

Great book, exactly what I needed. I'm pretty good with Sendmail, but there is nothing like just looking up an issue and following through a solution. I would recommend this to anyone who works with Sendmail!

This book has something about sendmail for everyone.
I know sendmail very well, and have used it for years.

But even I and sendmail gurus I work with learned a lot.

this is a great book.

Working with sendmail can be very challenging at times; while the documentation for it is very complete, finding real-life use-cases can be tough and messing up a configuration is very easy. Fortunately the sendmail authors and community adopted the m4 language to help make building and managing sendmail configurations less painful (I remember having bad dreams about sendmail configuration language when I started learning it). Even with m4, understanding what goes where when and why in a sendmail configuration file can be a real challenge.

O'Reilly helped we mere mortals out tremendously with the publication of "Sendmail: The Definitive Guide," a book that helped demystify and clarify many of sendmail's inner-workings and configuration options. Even with this book, it was still hard to answer real-life use case questions, like how to enable SMTP AUTH for sendmail, how do I use LDAP with sendmail, how do I use sendmail to accept email for multiple domains in a virtual hosting environment, how do I use blackhole list services?

Enter "Sendmail Cookbook." This clear, easy to read, well-indexed book contains a wealth of useful recipies that make previously difficult to figure out tasks quite easy. The book is organized in typical Cookbook fashion; each chapter or section stands on it's own, and if it does require knowledge of other sendmail configuration topics, the section includes cross-references to other relevant recipies and references to appropriate sections in the "Sendmail: The Definitive Guide" book, which is a nice additional feature.

This cookbook starts with recipies that step the reader through building and installing sendmail, with sections on configuring the build so that sendmail compiles with SSL/STARTTLS support, LDAP support, and SASL support. Chapters that follow deal with everything from enabling and configuring SMTP AUTH, to securing sendmail itself, to controlling spam. Recipies use m4 whenever possible and only dip into the sendmail configuration language when necessary, another feature I found very impressive.

I own quite a few O'Reilly books; this is one of a small number that I enjoy just picking up and flipping to a random page and reading; I always find something that I either didn't know or had forgotten. I wish I had this book seven years ago when I was struggling to learn the basics of sendmail configuration and administration; I might have more hair left if I had! I highly recommend this book to anyone who works with sendmail, be that daily administration or occassional troubleshooting.

This book will save you time digging up newsgroups and mailing lists for answers regarding tuning sendmail. It's surprising to know after years of being a postmaster with a happy system I've never thought various info mentioned would help anticipate future mail problems. This will not only help you configure sendmail but understand what's going on inside it.

i never knew there was so much under the engine of sendmail.

sendmail Performance Tuning is a great book and a lot of help.

Nick Christenson delivers exactly what the title promises, all the way through this book. Every paragraph is completely on topic and packed with the sort of information that would be hard or impossible to find anywhere else. Furthermore, you know that unlike something scrounged off Usenet, you can trust this information thanks to Nick's considerable experience in the field, which he shares frequently.

I'd say this book provides a major strategic advantage to anyone whose business depends upon e-mail performance.

When I first picked this up I really didn't expect much. I expected that this would be a rather ordinary rehash of typical performance tuning advice. How much could you possibly have to say about sendmail specifically?

Boy, was I wrong. Nick Christensen has a lot to say about tuning mail systems. The attention to detail here is simply wonderful, and his clear writing style makes it enjoyable too.

You can learn a lot about sendmail here, but you'll also gain a deeper understanding of how complicated performance tuning really is; how seemingly unrelated factors can really affect performance. Nick covers it all- nothing left out, nothing glossed over.

If you are interested in sendmail, you'll want this book. If you are running any other Unix mail system you still will want it because much of the advice and discussion is relevant to other systems. In fact, f you are just interested in performance tuning on any system, this is a worthwhile read.

Eric Allman (the original author of sendmail) says "This book is great". Eric is wrong. This is much better than that. This is an impressive work, and I've enjoyed it thoroughly.

When I first picked this up I really didn't expect much. I expected that this would be a rather ordinary rehash of typical performance tuning advice. How much could you possibly have to say about sendmail specifically?

Boy, was I wrong. Nick Christensen has a lot to say about tuning mail systems. The attention to detail here is simply wonderful, and his clear writing style makes it enjoyable too.

You can learn a lot about sendmail here, but you'll also gain a deeper understanding of how complicated performance tuning really is; how seemingly unrelated factors can really affect performance. Nick covers it all- nothing left out, nothing glossed over.

If you are interested in sendmail, you'll want this book. If you are running any other Unix mail system you still will want it because much of the advice and discussion is relevant to other systems. In fact, f you are just interested in performance tuning on any system, this is a worthwhile read.

Eric Allman (the original author of sendmail) says "This book is great". Eric is wrong. This is much better than that. This is an impressive work, and I've enjoyed it thoroughly.