MAC OS X UNIX Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for the Mac OS X [Paperback]

Christopher Negus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0470478365 | ISBN-13: 978-0470478363 | Edition: 1

Explore a ton of powerful Mac OS X UNIX commands

This handy, compact guide teaches you to use Mac OS X UNIX systems as the experts do: from the command line. Try out more than 1,000 commands to find and get software, monitor system health and security, and access network resources. Apply the skills you learn from this book to troubleshoot networks, lock down security, and uncover almost anything you care to know about your Mac OS X system.

Expand your Mac OS X UNIX expertise in these and other areas:

• Using the shell

• Finding online software

• Working with files

• Playing with music and images

• Administering file systems

• Backing up data

• Checking and managing running processes

• Accessing network resources

• Handling remote system administration

• Locking down security

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher Negus served for eight years on development teams for the UNIX operating system at the AT&T labs, where UNIX was created and developed. He also worked with Novell on UNIX and UnixWare development. Chris is the author of the bestselling Fedora and Red Hat Linux Bible series, Linux Toys II, Linux Troubleshooting Bible, and Linux Bible 2008 Edition. He now works as a trainer for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and is RHEL certified.

Francois Caen hosts and manages business application infrastructures through his company Turbosphere LLC. As an open-source advocate, he has lectured on OSS network management and Internet services, and served as president of the Tacoma Linux User Group. He is a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE).

Thomas Myer is a consultant, speaker, and writer. He has become closely involved with various aspects of Mac OS X and iPhone programming. He has switched his entire web development business to Mac-based systems.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470478365
• ISBN-13: 978-0470478363
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #495,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > Mac OS X UNIX
  • #82 in Books > Computers & Technology > Apple > Mac OS X

More About the Author

I was born in the Republic of Panama to an American father and Panamanian mother. My mother's side of the family is ginormous--she had 7 brothers and sisters, and each of them had at least 3 or 4 kids (good Catholics!) so it turns out that there is a plenitude of cousinage.

I went to school in what was known as the Panama Canal Zone, graduating from Balboa High School shortly before the bombs fell on Noriega in 1989. I attend Panama Canal College before transferring to UT San Antonio, where I earned a bachelor's in English and met my lovely wife Hope.

After graduating from UTSA in 1992, I attended SUNY-Binghamton in upstate, frozen tundra New York to get my Master's degree (part Medieval English Lit, part Linguistics, part Comparative Lit). Then we returned to San Antonio where I started my career as an editor for The Psychological Corporation, a division of Harcourt Brace.

In 1996 I got my big break in hi-tech, joining a little startup called WheelGroup Corporation, where I was part-time Webmaster and full-time technical writer for a UNIX-based intrusion detection product line. What an education! Wow.

We were acquired by Cisco Systems in 1998, which meant a move to Austin TX. The first thing we noticed was how different Austin was from the rest of Texas--like light and day. I don't think Austin has ever voted majority Republican for president in the last 30 or 40 years (okay, maybe Reagan).

I had been involved with XML before Cisco, but within days of becoming a Ciscoite, I got roped into various XML-related projects and undertakings. I learned a lot about XML document analysis and the pure politics of markup languages.

In 1999 I moved on to Vignette Corporation, where I was a technical writer and information architect. There we worked on various portals and CMS engagements. That lasted until 2001, when I left to go out on my own full time.

I've been running Triple Dog Dare Media ever since. In 2004 I was approached by SitePoint to write a basic XML book, and that eventually became No Nonsense XML Web Development with PHP.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fully loaded, July 30, 2009

By 

A. Maupin (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: MAC OS X UNIX Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for the Mac OS X (Paperback)

This booked is packed with well organized examples, but, the authors assume you already know a bit about about UNIX or Linux. However, the examples are so well done that even a complete newb to UNIX can figure it out (albeit with more effort and more slowly than someone who is already familiar with UNIX or Linux--difficult, but, not impossible). Great for a support tech, like me, who's been supporting Windows for years, but, has been suddenly (and joyfully) tossed some Macs to support.

I'm giving it 4 stars as the publisher, Wiley Publishing Inc., decided to go cheap and print the book on paper thats usually used for mass market paperbacks. For a reference book I think that's a bit unacceptable--especially for the price.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the beginner, March 1, 2010

By 

Jeremy Raven - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: MAC OS X UNIX Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for the Mac OS X (Paperback)

To be fair I haven't finished reading this book yet but after reading the first few chapters its pretty clear that this is indeed a book for people who have used command line on other Unix systems or have a solid understanding on how systems operate. Although there appears to be a tonne of wealth here about OS X Terminal commands, the author only briefly explains the 'why' and then dives straight into the 'how'. For a newbie like me I was looking for a manual that would de-mystify the multitude of Terminal commands and throw in clear explanations on when and why. Having said that this book is still really easy to read even though it is assumed you know what is being talked about.

18 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book!, May 29, 2009

By 

Strom (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: MAC OS X UNIX Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for the Mac OS X (Paperback)

excellent book, lots of great commands to get you used to the command line. Only downfall is Amazon is not packaging their books well anymore, I ordered $100 worth of books that were all thrown in a box and arrived all banged up! This is the 2nd order in a row, I will think twice about ordering again as I dont care for my books being all banged up! They used to use a cellofane wrapper to hold them all together but guess it was a cost cutting measure, sad to see damaged books..