Mac OS X Unleashed [Paperback]

John Ray (Author), William C. Ray (Author), William C Ray (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0672322293 | ISBN-13: 978-0672322297 | Publication Date: November 14, 2001 | Edition: 1st

Mac OSX Unleashed is a complete guide and reference for Mac OS users. For an average Mac user, experiencing a command line for the first time can be an unpleasant experience. This book will take the approach of demonstrating familiar actions and tools, and then provide the equivalent information within the BSD environment. For advanced users, this book will cover system administration ranging from advanced configuration of FTP servers, SSH tunneling, to installing secure E-mail and Web servers. The progression of the text is designed to move from simple "using" topics through advanced configuration--making it easier for beginners and experienced users to find what they're looking for.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Mac OS X Unleashed is a complete guide and reference for Mac OS users. The power of OS X is largely in its underlying BSD implementation. For an average Mac user, experiencing a command line for the first time can be an unpleasant experience. This book will take the approach of demonstrating familiar actions and tools, and then provide the equivalent information within the BSD environment. For advanced users, this book will cover system administration ranging from advanced configuration of FTP servers, SSH tunneling, to installing secure E-mail and Web servers. The progression of the text is designed to move from simple "using" topics through advanced configuration - making it easier for beginners and experienced users to find what they're looking for.

In short, Mac OS books have never had to deal with issues beyond the Macintosh GUI. This book will bridge the gap between the user interface and the BSD subsystem in a way that is accessible to users who are unfamiliar with UNIX and other multi-user systems.

About the Author

John Ray is an award-winning developer and security consultant with more than 16 years of programming and administration experience. He has worked on projects for the FCC, the National Regulatory Research Institute, The Ohio State University, Xerox, and the State of Florida, as well as serving as IT Director for Blue Cosmos Design, Inc. John has written or contributed to more than 10 titles currently in print, including Special Edition Using TCP/IP, Sams Teach Yourself Dreamweaver UltraDev 4 in 21 Days, and Maximum Linux Security. He bought his first Macintosh in 1984, and remains a strong proponent for the computer and operating system that revolutionized the industry. Dr. Will Ray is a mathematician turned computer scientist turned biophysicist who has gravitated to the field of bioinformatics for its interesting synergy of logic, hard science, and human-computer-interface issues. A long-time Macintosh and Unix enthusiast, Will has owned Macs since 1985, and has worked with Unix since 1987. Prior to switching his professional focus to the biological sciences, Will spent 5 years as a Unix programmer developing experimental interfaces to online database systems. Shortly after migrating to biophysics, Will developed a Macintosh- and Unix-based computational biology/graphics laboratory and training center for The Ohio State University's College of Biological Sciences. At the facility, which he managed for five years, Will introduced hundreds of students and faculty to Unix, and provided training and assistance in the development of productive computing skills on the paired Macintosh and Unix platforms. Will is currently a researcher at the Wexner Research Institute of Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where he is developing Web-based database tools and working to build a core computational research and training facility.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1500 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 1st edition (November 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672322293
• ISBN-13: 978-0672322297
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,506,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of two very good books, February 14, 2002

By 

Michael Weingartner (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mac OS X Unleashed (Paperback)

I had the luxury of buying several books on OS X recently in an effort to find the right content to get me up to speed on the new OS. The two that turned out to be the most informative were Mac OS X, The Missing Manual and Mac OS X Unleashed. I place them in that order to represent their levels of complexity and coverage.

The Missing Manual is a great read on the OS and the new applications. It also includes a section at the end that covers the tcsh shell. But it is definitely directed at the general user.

The first ~400 pages of Mac OS X Unleashed covers the basics and then rapidly heads off into the details of the underlying Unix operating system at the heart of OS X. If you are determined to get to the details of what makes your new OS tick then this book should be on your list. From common shell commands to process management, shell scripting, and even porting Unix code. It's all here and well written.

One book I strongly recommend taking off your list is Mac OS X the Complete reference. the writing style is not up to these two volumes and the content is too light.

I come from the perspective of someone who wrote software for the Mac many years ago and had to leave the platform for career direction reasons. Mac OS X represents an opportunity for me to get back to a platform that combines what was good about the Mac with what is good about a modern operating system. From that perspective, I recommend this book highly.

If I had to choose just one, it would be Mac OS X Unleashed. But that is due to my background. Power users that are non programmers would likely be very happy with Pogue's book "The Missing Manual".

72 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mac OS X power users pocket guide, December 23, 2001

By 

tmay (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mac OS X Unleashed (Paperback)

It's Christmas and I've just purchased Mac OS X Unleashed.

The thing weighs a ton (1,464 pages!) but is one of the best computer books I've bought. The guys who wrote it are obviously Unix heads but they are also very much in love with the Mac as well so it's got a good feel when reading it.

A long time Mac user I've just started to dig into the Unix side of things, attributes, permissions, owners, mounting volumes as directories, etc... it's actually quite interesting.

If you're going to delve into Mac OS X beyond clicking around in the GUI this is the book to invest in.

I'm currently formatting my "man" pages <rolling my eyes and laughing>

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but..., June 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Mac OS X Unleashed (Paperback)

If this book only had a better index, I would give it 5 stars in a heartbeat. It pretty much contains everything you ever wanted to know about Mac OS X's Unix subsystem (with 1,500 pages probably more than you ever wanted to know!), but finding the information is sometimes a struggle. Remember, this book is seriously techie, don't go here if you're the occasional Mac user that wants to learn the Aqua interface -- get "Mac OS X The Missing Manual" for that. This is for people that want to get their hands dirty with Unix.