Solaris 9 For Dummies

Spencerian writes with a review combining two things you might not expect in one volume: the "For Dummies" label and Sun Solaris. (Raise your hand if you've never, ever looked through a "For Dummies" book.) Read on for Spencerian's summary of Solaris 9 For Dummies, which he says is a good book for the Solaris newbies, but not for everyone. Solaris 9 For Dummies author Dave Taylor pages 354 publisher Wiley Publishing rating 8 reviewer Kevin Spencer ISBN 0764539698 summary A" ...For Dummies" book like Solaris 9 For Dummies will never make you popular with other geeks. However, if you are a Solaris admin, perhaps giving this book to your users might stop them from asking you the same questions over and over.

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

The author knows that UNIX isn't UNIX without a certain level of geekspeak, and so provides readers with a well-crafted introduction in the use of command lines and how they can be a Good Thing when using Solaris often for particular tasks. Many UNIX writers (especially developers) wrongly assume that anyone who uses a UNIX knows where and how to find or do what most might consider a routine task. In a ...For Dummies book, this thinking is not allowed, so the author adds enough background for you to get the gist, guides you on the essentials, and provides information that points you to find more complex answers elsewhere.

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.

Comments

Solaris 9

[sstory]

I would love to try Solaris on x86, but I don't know if a couple essential programs are available. Are there many companies which offer their products for x86 solaris? Mathematica, for instance, is essential. Though I've tried everything from BeOS to Mandrake to Win2k (my fave), I can't use an operating system which has a weak selection of apps.

Re:Well of course

[The Bungi]

Some of the titles in my collection:

"Being Nice to Foriegners", a French government publication
"How To Be A Good Sport", by Tonya Harding (feat. Mike Tyson)
"How To Win The Super Bowl", by Jim Kelly
"The Engineer's Guide to Fashion", a ThinkGeek Book
"Easy to use Linux", by Theo de Raadt
"Corect Sppeling and Gramar in,, english", by The Slashdot Crew
"Business Ethics" by Ken Lay
"How to Tell the Truth" by Bill Clinton
"Successful Business Plans Using Linux", a Loki Games publication
"How to Write Software People Would Want to Buy" by Richard Stallman
"Successful Dictatorships", by Saddam Hussein

Sun officially on endangered species list

[Ars-Fartsica]

Sun's latest revenues show a company cut off at the knees. The Sparc architecture is essentially dead in the eyes of the market. Solaris has little new adoption or new mindshare.

This company is in big trouble and trash-talking Scott McNealy's act is getting very old. Some advice:

1. Fire McNealy. Sun can never go forward while this dinosaur of the software wars is in the chair. Thanks for the memories Scott, but Sun lost the war.

2. Get out of the hardware business. Sun hardware is not coming back. Ever. Sell the maintainence business to IBM or HP.

3. Turn Sun into a software company focusing on Java. This means saying YES to Windows and Linux in a big way.

Re:Next From Wiley Publishing

[cant_get_a_good_nick]

• the Federal Budget for Dummies

Does Bush have one of these?

• Nuclear Engineering for Dummies

For Bush, thats Nookyular Engineering for Dummies...