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Learning Unix for Mac OS X, Second Edition

By Dave Taylor, Brian Jepson
December 2002
Pages: 158
ISBN 10: 0-596-00470-2 | ISBN 13: 9780596004705
starstarstarstarstar (Average of 2 Customer Reviews)

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Book description

This compact book provides a user-friendly tour of your Mac's Unix base. As you explore Terminal and familiarize yourself with the command line, you'll also learn about the hundreds of Unix programs that come with your Mac and begin to understand the power and flexibility of Unix. Updated to cover Jaguar (Mac OS X, 10.2), this book will keep you current with the latest features of your Mac.
Full Description

Elegant, sleek, powerful, and stable, Mac OS X has delighted many a loyal Mac user, and gone one step further--it's turned them into Unix users, too. Perhaps you're already familiar with Unix, just not on the Mac. Or perhaps you opened your Utilities folder, spotted the Terminal icon and double-clicked on it just to see what it does. Suddenly faced with a command line interface, you probably asked what does it mean, and the more pressing question, why on earth would you ever want to venture into this seemingly user-unfriendly territory? The new edition of Learning Unix for Mac OS X answers these questions and more. This compact book provides a user-friendly tour of your Mac's Unix base. As you explore Terminal and familiarize yourself with the command line, you'll also learn about the hundreds of Unix programs that come with your Mac and begin to understand the power and flexibility of Unix. And if Unix isn't new to you, you'll discover how it translates into this new Mac incarnation. Updated to cover Jaguar (Mac OS X, 10.2), this book will keep you current with the latest features of your Mac. The book begins with a quick but in-depth introduction to Terminal and the command line interface. After learning about launching and configuring the Terminal application, you'll find out how to manage, create, edit, and transfer files. You'll find all the common commands simply explained with accompanying examples, exercises, and opportunities for experimentation. There are even problem checklists to help you along the way if you get stuck. You'll learn how to:
  • Customize your shell environment
  • Manage files and directories
  • Successfully print from the Unix command line
  • Edit and create files with the vi editor
  • Perform remote logins
  • Access Internet functions
  • Understand pipes and filters
  • Use background processing
  • Use Fink, an easy way to install open source Unix software on Mac OS X
With Terminal, you'll access areas of your Mac that you just can't get to from the desktop. You may find yourself turning to Terminal for greater efficiency on a particular task or to use one of the thousands of open source programs that are now available to you. Unix continues to thrive as an operating system because of its power, flexibility, and simplicity, and the vast community that supports it. Learning Unix for Mac OS X, Second Edition can be your key to understanding all of it. The book has been reviewed by Apple for technological accuracy and brandishes the Apple Development Connection (ADC) logo.

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Learning Unix for Mac OS X, 2nd Edition Review,  June 04 2003
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by Brian Jepson   [Respond | View]

(in response to Robert Broen's question about sending email via smtp.mac.com):

You should be able to use the following setting for your smtp-server in ~/.pinerc:

smtp-server=smtp.mac.com/user=YOURUSERNAME

(Replace YOURUSERNAME with your .Mac user name.)

If you get an error message about an invalid certificate, you may want to try appending novalidate-cert, which tells Pine to accept smtp.mac.com's SSL certificate, even though it cannot be verified by a certifying authority:

smtp-server=smtp.mac.com/user=YOURUSERNAME/novalidate-cert


Learning Unix for Mac OS X, 2nd Edition Review,  June 02 2003
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by Robert Broen   [Respond | View]

A very good book to start on the terminal stuff. I'm feeling more and more comfortable in the shell. Be sure to practice everything in the book extensively.

Possible errata: I still haven't got Pine to send email using smtp.mac.com. One million configuration options and no smtp authentication!?

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Media reviews "Two books from O'Reilly, 'Learning Unix for Mac OS X'...and 'Mac OS X for Unix Geeks'...should certainly be on your shelf. Both are recommended by the Apple Developer Connection (ADC). 'Learning Unix for Mac OS X' is aimed at Mac OS users who are interested in learning about Unix; 'Mac OS X for Unix Geeks' is amied at long-time Unix users who are 'switching' to Mac OS X. Whivhever group you see yourself in, I'd recommend adding both books to your shelf--if one doesn't address your questions, the other probably will."
--Vicki Brown, "MacTech," September 2003

"If you are running OS X and want to explore 'Terminal,' this book is your travel guide. Even if you have never used a command-line operating environment, it will lead you along an easy path to learning the 'Darwin' version of Unix...This is a practical and exceptionally well-written introduction for Mac OS X users."
--Major Keary, Book News, 2003 No. 3

"This book does a great job of laying out the basics of Unix for people who have little or no Unix experience...This book does a great job of laying out the basics of Unix for people who have little or no Unix experience."
--Amazon.com Reader Review, May 18, 2003
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0596004702/

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