Customer Reviews

Aix for Breakfast: A Guide for Programmers and System Administrators

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Unfortunately, this book adds no insight into using or configuring AIX. A large portion of the pages are covered with screen shots of various SMIT screens (the AIX administration tool) and the text surrounding these screen shots does not provide any meaningfull insight.

I've spent a considerable amount of time with this book and have put it away permanently in favor of The AIX Survival Guide.

This book is *not* for the seasoned admin. The topics covered are quite base and new AIX folks can merely hit the <F1> button in the SMIT panel to get the very same explanation that the book regurgitates.

I implore you to not waste your money on this book. It tells the reader nothing new and gives no insight to the wonders of AIX. I think this is the worst AIX book out there. There has to be one and this is it.

I would give it zero stars if I could.

I was pleased to find that the author understood the trepidation which new system administrators feel when they don't know what will happen next in a series of menus and screens. Showing each SMIT screen and explaining what would happen has given me far greater confidence in using SMIT.

I have found in particular, that the section on complex printer setup has been a life saver. The approach has kept setup of 3rd party printers to a minimum of concern.

I think that this book is one of the best for new UNIX users who find themselves facing AIX without a strong background in UNIX. The book is well indexed and has been my best technical resource for AIX.

This is a great book to get started and understand some fairly
advanced techniques for AIX (like 3rd party printer setup). I
especially liked the boilerplate scripts and configuration
files provided on diskette (I think all RS/6000s have a
diskette drive). This shell code has probably saved me over a
hundred hours of development time for defining profiles and
building menu scripts, etc.

AIX for Breakfast gives the new AIX sysadmin a real jump on IBM's SmoothStart service. Instead of being at the mercy of IBM field organization, the systems- (but not necessarily AIX-)savvy admin can quickly learn enough to make it through IBM configuration utilities.

I read one chapter a night for a week or two. I slept well, and gained insight into AIX 4.3 at the same time!

I recommend this book.