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Review: Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Editionby Chris Silva <csilva@daemonnews.org>
Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd EditionThe Complete Guide to FreeBSD by Michael W. Lucas Pages: 744 Price: $59.95 USD No Starch Press ISBN-10 1-59327-151-4 ISBN-13 978-1-59327-151-0 This book is your typical FreeBSD book when it comes to the quality and quantity (744 pages) you have come to expect with any *BSD book. While geared towards running FreeBSD as a server, the content should easily translate to a desktop user. As I read through this book I found myself comparing it to the Grand-Daddy of FreeBSD books, The Handbook itself. Chapter 3 (Start Me Up! The Boot Process) is very well done giving great examples of the boot process, the loader files, and taking you for a walk on how to setup and use serial consoles. Near the end of this chapter the author goes darn-near line for line of the contents of the /etc/rc.conf file. While this could be along chapter, it's kept short (wisly) by letting the user know that /etc/defaults/rc.conf is the file you need to look at for examples of what could be modify and added to /etc/rc.conf. While continuing to read this book however, I found the flow of topics didn't seem to transition well. Case in point: Chapters 7, 8, and 9 (Securing Your System, Disks And FileSystems, and Advanced Security Features, respectively). These three chapters while well written, seemed to be out of place in both logic and flow. Chapters 12, 13, and 18 (Advanced Software Management, Upgrading FreeBSD, And Disk Tricks with GEOM) are the highlight of reading for me. Chapter 12 touches on topics such as SMP settings, schedulers, and Linux Emulation. Buried within this chapter is a great refresher for all. This section is the start-up and shut-down scripts. The example of a typical rc script is well done and the author does a great job dissecting the example. I found this chapter 13 (Upgrading FreeBSD) to be the most rewarding of the reading. I have been rebuilding and compiling FreeBSD since version 2.2.8 and have developed a long love-affair using the many ways of maintaining ports/packages/userland. While there isn't one correct way to do these tasks, the author does a really great job of distinguishing what these tasks are, what they do, and why they do it. This book, like the other FreeBSD books I own, has not let me down when it comes to showing me a new way of doing an old task or defined explanation of how or why something is. That being said, a well rounded Unix Admin should read as many variations on the same subject matter as possible to develop a better understanding of the subject. This book adds another layer of understanding to your FreeBSD experience. The author put a lot of effort gathering and articulating the information in this book. I enjoyed it and it makes a great addition to my growing FreeBSD library. |