Mac OS X for Unix Geeks

This slim volume neither aims to teach its readers UNIX nor introduces them to the Mac, but rather to show how Apple has implemented UNIX. It's a fast read that assumes--as the title implies--rather a lot of UNIX knowledge. With that requirement satisfied and this book in hand, you're likely to discover aspects of Aqua much more quickly than you otherwise would have.

The authors spend lots of time explaining how administrative tasks--such as managing groups, users and passwords--are handled in the Mac OS environment. They document netinfo fully, and call attention to its limitations (such as its inability to create home directories for users) by explaining how to do the job on the command line. They also cover C programming in the Darwin universe at greater length than any other book, providing explicit instructions for such important tasks as creating header files and linking static libraries. A guide to the command line (they call the reference section "The Missing Manpages") provides good value at this book's conclusion. --David Wall, Amazon.com

Amazon.com
It's about time: Mac OS X for Unix Geeks arrives on the scene none too soon for UNIX aficionados who, having heard that the latest editions of Mac OS are based on a UNIX variant, want to see how the platform compares to more venerable versions of the eminently configurable operating system. This book highlights some key differences between the Darwin environment and more conventional UNIXs, enabling people with UNIX experience to take advantage of it as they learn the Mac OS X way of doing things at the command line.

This skinny volume neither aims to teach its readers UNIX nor introduce them to the Mac, but rather to show how Apple has implemented UNIX. It's a fast read that assumes--as the title implies--rather a lot of UNIX knowledge. With that requirement satisfied and this book in hand, you're likely to discover aspects of Aqua more quickly than you otherwise would have.

The authors spend lots of time explaining how administrative tasks--such as managing groups, users, and passwords--are handled in the Mac OS environment. They document netinfo fully, and call attention to its limitations (like its inability to create home directories for users) by explaining how to do the job on the command line. They also cover C programming in the Darwin universe at greater length than any other book does, providing explicit instructions for such important tasks as creating header files and linking static libraries. A guide to the command line (they call the reference section--groan--"The Missing Manpages") provides good value at this book's conclusion. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to get around in Darwin, the UNIX implementation built into Mac OS X. Sections deal with basic maneuvering at the command line, LDAP services, C programming, and graphical user interfaces under Aqua. There's a short section on building the kernel itself, but it's limited in scope.

Dem Buch fehlt etwas der rote Faden, es besteht vielmehr aus einer Aneinanderreihung von verschiedenen Themen. Insgesamt finde ich, dass das Buch inhaltlich nicht den Qualitaetsanspruechen eines O'Reilly Buches gerecht wird. Nichtsdestotrotz, fuer den Unix Umsteiger ist das Buch stellenweise dennoch lesenswert.


Gut haette etwas umfangreicher sein koennen   April 8, 2003
1 aus 4 fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich

Insgesamt ein sehr fundiertes sauber strukturiertes Buch fuer Admins und Entwickler. Sehr gut das Kapitel ueber Directory Service. Insgesamt vom Umfang (189 Seiten) etwas duenn, haette bei der Qualitaet viel mehr sein duerfen.


Empfehlung!   Februar 13, 2003
1 aus 5 fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich

Koennte etwas vollstaendiger sein, aber ich schaetze mal, auch schon in dieser form sollte es jeder Mac OS X-Programmierer unbedingt im Schrank haben.