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Solaris 9 For Dummies
I'm pretty intimate with the ...For Dummies book formula. I worked at the company a few years ago. The ownership of the book series has changed a bit, as has its cover art, but the basic setup remains.
Solaris 9 For Dummies is, as with many ...For Dummies books, a starter guide and reference. This isn't a book for administrators, and says so.
Solaris 9 For Dummies maintains the book series' reputation as strong general references for users who are thrust (sometimes unwillingly) into new or different technology and need the basics in getting around, fast.
Author Dave Taylor is no stranger to UNIX, having written several notable UNIX beginner, intermediate and advanced references on UNIX in general, including books on Red Hat Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X.
Solaris 9 For Dummies works for SPARC hardware as well as Intel-based hardware. More about Dave Taylor's work can be found at his web site, Intuitive.com.
The ...For Dummies series books are pure references. They aren't meant to be read from cover to cover, which gives the author an advantage by writing topics and chapters without a lot of preamble. The information is just shallow enough to understand but never trivial, giving readers typically only what they require. The typical cross-references and tips are available to guide you along. Chapters delve into topics you expect from discussing a UNIX such as Solaris, such as moving about the new GNOME interface (which will replace the old CDE interface over time), running the basic applications and utilities, and the like. In the traditional format of these books, Solaris 9 For Dummies comes with a tear-out cheat sheet. This cheat sheet gives readers a basic CDE and GNOME interface menu command tree to make it easily to find, say, the Empty Trash command.
The book's topics include details on:
- File management
- Making a decent password
- Shells
- Text editors
- Using Writer and StarOffice
- Internet, Web, and Mail access
- Essential system administration
Solaris 9 For Dummies will not make your whites brighter, increase your personal intimate pleasure, or bring peace to the Middle East, and it's certainly not flashy. It's just a good book for the Solaris newbies, plain and simple. If you hack your kernel just for pleasure (gotta shave your palms regularly, I'm sure), you can be reasonably guaranteed this isn't the book for you. However, if you are an Solaris administrator and get plagued with user questions about basic tasks, maybe you should have your boss buy a few copies of Solaris 9 For Dummies for your users so you can continue your Quake3 fragfest uninterrupted.
You can purchase Solaris 9 For Dummies from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Amazon has it $2.50 (almost 15%) cheaper
http://www.teachmesun.com
probably just as good
vodka, straight up, thank you!
I have actually learned recently that the for Dummies books seem to be quite good. The Personal Finance for Dummies book I bought is one of the most highly recommended books on the subject. Dummies books are apparently published by the people who do Cliff's Notes, and I always found those handy, too. (Of course, I was one of those weirdos who read the book and then read the Cliff's Notes...)
I haven't used many of the computer-related Dummies books (the C one I looked at years ago looked awful, but I'm sure it's been through six revisions by now) but for other subjects I know little about but need a good introduction, they seem very good. I'm planning on getting Automotive Repair for Dummies (or whatever they call it) sometime soon.
Some of the Idiot's guides also seem to be pretty good, but more of them seem to be misses.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
The best part of Solaris 9 is that it will run all progs for Linux natively w/o recompile. So if you run Solaris x86, you can take progs for x86 Linux distros, and run them.
Many people don't like Solaris because of it not being free, and they don't understand it. Remember, it is probably the most developed *nix. It is far more stable than Linux.
The reason they switched to GNOME is because they wanted to have a common look and feel to the *nix family, and now that they are using it, will probably help develop it to a point where it is as easy to configure as some of the other ones.
I agree with you about M$ windows being good w/ app availability, but you have to consider its purpose, hard-core data processing, and the web. I personally run winXP pro (striped down) and Mandrake 9. I have played w/ Solaris quite a bit, and when I get money, will get a Blade 150 or Blade 2k.
Im glad
McNealy: 'I'm thrilled to death SCO can't revoke our Unix licence'
The most useful Dummies book I've read is C++ for dummies. I am an experienced C programmer, and I wanted to learn C++. The C++ for Dummies book was designed for people like me, and it was the perfect book for the job. It had very clear explanations of all the new features, especially classes. What I liked most about the book was that it managed to stay clear and very understandable without making me feel like the author assumed I was an idiot. In many cases dummies books are also perfect as quick reference manuals on a subject, and many advanced programmers I know use them often. For those of you who sneer at dummies books, you may want to rethink your attitude and take a serious look at a couple of them.
On the other hand, your typical techno-wannabe has a very fragile ego and would generally not be secure enough to even be seen flipping through one at the bookstore. It's a classic scenario, typically seen in gender issues (asking for directions, watching "chick flicks," etc.)
I'm a professional programmer and have been for 6-7 years, but I think the "* For Dummies" guides are pretty good for what they are. I'm not embarassed to read them. In fact, they suit my learning style really well... I like to be shown the basics and get a good overall understanding of how something works. Then, on my own, I'll dig into the nitty-gritty details where necessary.
If you think about it, even if you don't buy "Dummies" books, you probably learn this way anyway. You buy some big 1,200-page tome about Solaris (or whatever). You read the first few intro chapters to get a nice overview of things, and then use the rest of the book as a reference on an as-needed basis. All told, from the time of purchase to the time when you throw the book out, you probably read 300-400 pages, max. It's not a whole heck of a lot different than buying the Dummies book for the overview and looking up the rest of the crap as you need it.
And for the record- I'm a guy, I hate chick flicks, and I hate asking for directions.
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It incluces information on Solaris, even though it says Sys V (hint: look at the cover).
So this is where the chess club wound up.
Actually, there's no such thing as Solaris 5.8.
SunOS 5.8 == Solaris 2.8 == Solaris 8.
--
"No, it proves anyone who buys a Dummies book really is a complete idiot"
No, there is another line of books for Complete Idiots!
Stanford University Networks
Im glad
You need to learn a bit more about Sun. If there are a couple things they absolutely excel at it is supporting their shit and backwards compatibility. Solaris 2.6 is still supported and they are still writing patches for it. Hell I think 2.5 has just be de supported.