Sebastopol, CA--Once relegated to a lonely back room, the Linux server has earned its place in the enterprise. No longer an eccentric whim, it is now a high performance system for routing large amounts of information through a network connection. The job of the Linux system administrator is to pull all the power and performance out of it that's possible, while not getting lost in the details of administrative tasks. For help with this task, there's basic documentation online, but there is much beyond the basics that a competent system administrator needs to know. The best source for this type of knowledge is from people who have hands-on, real-world experience--people who have worked through the same challenges and found efficient solutions. This is the kind of "know-how" that can be found in Linux Server Hacks by Rob Flickenger (O'Reilly, US $24.95).
"Linux Server Hacks" is a collection of industrial-strength, real-world, tested solutions to practical problems. The book contains one hundred independent but related tips, tools, and scripts that solve common but frequently difficult administrative tasks. Some of the hacks are subtle, many of them are non-obvious, and all of them demonstrate the power and flexibility of a Linux system. The book offers hacks devoted to tuning the Linux kernel to make one's system run more efficiently, as well as using CVS or RCS to track the revision to system files. There are hacks covering alternate ways of doing backups, using the system monitoring tools to track system performance, and a variety of secure networking solutions. "Linux Server Hacks" also includes tips on managing large-scale web installations running Apache, MySQL, and other open source tools that are typically part of a Linux system. Every hack can be read in just a few minutes, but will save hours of searching for the right answer.
"This book is for administrators who use Linux every day, and want to use their systems more effectively," explains Flickenger. "While it contains one hundred directly applicable hacks that solve common but frequently difficult tasks, 'Linux Server Hacks' is also intended to convey a particular methodology to be used when solving technical problems. When properly applied, Linux becomes a powerful and expressive medium in which to create elegant solutions to common problems, all while being educational and even entertaining along the way. This methodology is the hacker's attitude, and is the spirit which drives Linux as a living, evolving solution to technical problems."
Written by experts for intelligent, advanced users, O'Reilly's new Hacks Series have begun to reclaim the term "hacking" for the good guys. In recent years the term "hacker" has come to be associated with those nefarious black hats who break into other people's computers to snoop, steal information, or disrupt internet traffic. But the term originally had a much more benign meaning, and you'll still hear it used this way whenever developers get together. Our new Hacks Series is written in the spirit of true hackers--the people who drive innovation.
Hacking is "an appropriate application of ingenuity...whether the result is a quick-and-dirty patchwork job or a carefully crafted work of art, you have to admire the cleverness that went into it."
--Eric S. Raymond, "New Hacker's Dictionary"
Additional Resources:
Complete information about O'Reilly's new Hacks Series
The article, How to Become a Hacker, by Eric S. Raymond
More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bio, and samples
Linux Server Hacks
Rob Flickenger
ISBN 0-596-00461-3, 221 pages, $24.95 (US), $38.95 (CAN), 17.50 (UK)
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