Unix for Mac : Your visual blueprint to maximizing the foundation of Mac OS X [Paperback]

Sandra Henry-Stocker (Author), Kynn Bartlett (Author)

Book Description

Series: Visual | Publication Date: March 7, 2003

* Mac OS X combines the Unix power developers need with Mac's ease of use, offering a unique combination of technical elements with enhanced performance, compatibility, and usability
* Shows readers how to use the Terminal application and the command interface, and explores the many Unix applications using step-by-step screen shots
* Readers will learn how to manage, create, edit, and transfer files; configure the Unix environment; navigate permissions, directories and files; run Unix utilities; and configure and run the Apache Web server

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Welcome to the only guidebook series that takes a visual approach to professional-level computer topics. Open the book and you’ll discover step-by-step screen shots that demonstrate over 160 key Unix tasks you can do on Mac OS X, including:

• Using the terminal application
• Navigating the file system
• Working with pico, vi, and emacs text editors
• Customizing the shell
• Writing shell scripts
• Sharing files between computers
• Using system administration commands
• Installing and using Internet applications
• Running the X Window System
• Developing new Unix applications

Productivity tools and much more on CD-ROM!

• OpenOffice.org, a free office productivity software suite
• Gimp, a GNU image manipulation program
• XFree86 to run X Window System applications
• Plus a searchable e-version of the book

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Visual (March 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076453730X
• ISBN-13: 978-0764537301
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,402,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great intro to working with Unix in OS X, June 14, 2003

By 

Jeff Schlies (Alaska, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unix for Mac : Your visual blueprint to maximizing the foundation of Mac OS X (Paperback)

Unix for Mac introduces itself with a succinct history of BSD (Unix), the meaning of Open Source, and the role GNU plays in Open Source programming. It avoids bogging the reader down with excessive information while, at the same time, providing a very good introduction. My typical response to the historical and explanatory information was: "Oh, okay. That makes sense." This response was consistent through the entire book. Following the short historical introduction, the book continues with instruction on the Terminal application (the Unix interface in OS X - also known as the terminal shell), proceeds through basic Unix commands, and then describes some of the more intermediate-level activities that can be accomplished on the Mac via Unix.

Unix for Mac is very easy to read and rather personable - if such a thing can be said about a book. Its target audience is the user with some or no Unix knowledge, so it fit quite well with my ability level. The book covers a very broad assortment of topics yet provides easy and useful instructions complete with screen examples, helpful hints, and concise historical explanations. I found this approach to be extremely helpful in removing the intimidation I felt of working with a command prompt interface. Additionally, having read some rather esoteric computer manuals, I was pleased to note that when the text provides a command or a command set that is particularly helpful, such as pushd / popd (which causes switching between directories in a single shell), it draws attention of the command's usefulness to the reader. This prevents readers who are unfamiliar with Unix, and perhaps feeling a little overwhelmed, from missing the advantages that a particularly useful but unanticipated command can provide. (An anticipated command being either the move or copy command - one the reader would expect and look for.)

Another aspect of Unix for Mac that I like is its emphasis and re-emphasis on referring to the Manual (Man) Pages. This, even from my limited experience, is the hallmark of good instruction concerning Unix. The reason being, as the text points out, that while Unix commands do have their own logic, they are not necessarily intuitive nor are the command options consistent from command to command.

Concerning any possible negatives, for better or worse, Unix for Mac never seeks to explain or question why one might wish to access the Unix underpinnings of OS X. It merely presumes you wish to do so for your own reasons and provides instruction on just about every conceivable activity one might wish to perform in a Unix environment - whether it is easier in Aqua or not. While I actually liked this feature because I believe this approach helped preserve the book's conciseness, some people, particularly new Mac users in general, may not appreciate the lack of interface comparisons.

In conclusion, Unix for Mac is the first published book I have read that specifically addresses working with Unix on the Macintosh via the Terminal application so I do not know how others compare; that said, I liked the book very much. It was certainly a much easier read than most of the cryptic resources I have found on-line. In fact, as I progressed through the book, I found myself thinking it was very much like having an extremely knowledgeable friend looking over my shoulder who could give me the operational basics with some advanced insights into the inner workings of Unix. Questions that I had were answered as they occurred to me. Background information was presented so that I had a good understanding of what I was attempting to do and how I was accomplishing it. In my estimation, Unix for Mac won't be last reference book one uses if serious about working with Unix in OS X, but it should be the first.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crystal clear, detailed, comprehensive. As-good-as-it-gets!, January 8, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Unix for Mac : Your visual blueprint to maximizing the foundation of Mac OS X (Paperback)

If you want to use the "Terminal" and play around with your unix capabilities, just get this book and go! It comes with a CD rom containing an e-version of itself, which is very convenient.

The crystal clarity comes from the presence of examples - **as they would appear on your terminal - below the actual text, and also the organization:
each concept is covered within two facing pages.

Much more detail appears here than in the O'Reilly book, which is mainly just a quick run-through based on their old unix-intro book. O"Reilly book does not even cover something as basic as text editing(!).

THe book is also superior to the "Visual Quick Start", whose author seems to have done very little work to make himself/herself clear and simple. In the very first chapter of Visual QS, there is a sidebar "explaining" the difference between
a "filesystem" and a "Filesystem" - and nothing could be more muddy than that
sidebar!

Get this book!!! I feel very strongly.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful book and really easy to read!, September 25, 2005

By 

Alex Vox (Winnetka, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unix for Mac : Your visual blueprint to maximizing the foundation of Mac OS X (Paperback)

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.
Try Linux and UNIX for a beginner complete training suite, 4DVDs + 2CDs ed.2008
The book is unfortunately contains some mistakes that undermine the trust to the text.