FreeBSD Handbook (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Nik Clayton (Author), Murray Stokely (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001

The FreeBSD Handbook is the primary source of documentation produced by the FreeBSD Documentation Project. This new edition contains over 650 pages of material about FreeBSD and has been completely updated to reflect FreeBSD 4.X and 5.0-CURRENT.

The FreeBSD Handbook comes with the full FreeBSD Operating System on CDROM. FreeBSD is a powerful, professional quality UNIX-compatible operating system. This book is the most comprehensive documentation set available from the FreeBSD Documentation Project. It covers installation, day-to-day use of FreeBSD, advanced system administration topics, and much more.

The following changes have been made since the first edition:
- A complete index has been added.
- All ASCII figures have been replaced by graphical diagrams.
- A standard synopsis has been added to each chapter to give a quick summary of what information the chapter contains, and what the reader is expected to know.
- The content has been logically reorganized into three parts:(1)Getting Started, (2)System Administration and (3)Appendices.
- Chapter 2 ("Installing FreeBSD") was completely rewritten with many screenshots added to make it easier for new users to grasp the text.
- Chapter 3 ("Unix Basics") has been expanded to contain additional information about processes, daemons, and signals.
- Chapter 4 ("Installing Applications") has been expanded to contain additional information about binary package management.
- Chapter 5 ("The X Window System") has been completely rewritten with an emphasis on using modern desktop technologies such as KDE and GNOME on XFree86 4.x.
- Chapter 6 ("Configuration and Tuning") is a new chapter for this edition!
- Chapter 7 ("The FreeBSD Booting Process") has been expanded.
- Chapter 12 ("Storage") has been rewritten from what used to be two separate chapters on "Disks" and "Backups". We feel that the topics are easier to comprehend when presented as a single chapter. A section on RAID (both hardware and software) has also been added.
- Chapter 14 ("Sound") is a new chapter for this edition!
- Chapter 17 ("Advanced Networking") has been expanded with many new sections about DNS, connection sharing, and more.
- Chapter 18 ("Electronic Mail") has been expanded to include more information about configuring sendmail.
- Chapter 20 ("Linux Compatibility") has been expanded to include information about installing Oracle and SAP/R3.

Product Details

• Paperback: 653 pages
• Publisher: Walnut Creek; 2nd edition (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571763031
• ISBN-13: 978-1571763037
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,422,372 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Computers & Technology > Operating Systems > BSD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best way to learn UNIX, June 16, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: FreeBSD Handbook (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This book is by far the best source of info for those new to UNIX. It takes a step by step approach explaining all aspects of the FreeBSD environment and basic UNIX concepts. Even if you never install FreeBSD, this book is a great reference that is applicable to any UNIX/Linux environment. For you cheap skates, this same book is available on line at the FreeBSD website.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book to Hold in Your Hand, November 28, 2001

By 

Annelise Anderson (Portola Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: FreeBSD Handbook (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

With this second edition, the FreeBSD Handbook comes of age. It even has an index now!
Nik Clayton and Murray Stokley (and many contributors) have rewritten a good deal and clarified more, and added real screen shots.
Yes, it's available on your hard drive. But for me a book is a better random access device than computer file (or a bunch of html files)--I have a better chance of finding what I need and keeping it open on my desktop (the real one) while I'm working.
The handbook tends to be less task-oriented than other books (of which there are still only a handful) and focuses more on FreeBSD itself than on UNIX in general, but it's an essential reference.
I think the editors and contributors did a great job.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, but a bit confusing...., July 31, 2003

By 

CT Pennell (Concord, North Carolina United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: FreeBSD Handbook (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

I am a complete FreeBSD newbie. I got this book hoping to be able to set up a FreeBSD server, and accomplished it with help from the book, but there were some differences and some confusing points in this book, but that's to be expected with revisions in FreeBSD itself. The only true complaint I have with this book is that it does not go into full descriptions on certain things; Example they begin talking about topic one, then branches off from there going into depth about topic two, then topic three, while your still wondering what topic one was still all about. That happened maybe twice in this book. Other than that, its a great beginners book.