Managing Linux Systems With Webmin

honestpuck writes "Webmin is a pretty neat tool for administering a server using a GUI, particularly remotely. Managing Linux Systems with Webmin, written by Webmin's author, Jamie Cameron, is an extensive look at using and extending it, a good guide not without flaws." Read on for honestpuck's take on this book's good / bad ratio. Managing Linux Systems With Webmin author Jamie Cameron pages 765 publisher Prentice Hall rating 6 - Serious flaws in structure in an otherwise excellent book reviewer Tony Williams ISBN 0131408828 summary Good guide to using Webmin flawed by lack of structure

The book is structured as 60 chapters, without any division into sections and I have serious arguments with the order of chapters; why are the chapters about configuring Webmin at the end, for example. That said, the book has a fine index and the usual two-level contents make it a fraction easier to find what you want.

I do, however, have a little digression about the 'Bruce Peren's Open Source Series,' of which this book is a member. Frankly, I think they all need, and deserve, a much stronger hand in editing. With this volume it is the bad structure and order; with "Intrusion Detection Systems with Snort" I found myself engrossed by the information and furious at the appalling grammar and sentence construction, particularly in the introductory chapters. The others in the series look significantly better at first glance but could still use better editing.

Once again we have an author or publisher who throws Linux into the title to make sure that it gets found by the greatest mass of likely readers while the tool described is more (not that I criticise the practice, they want to sell books.) Any *nix system can be controlled using Webmin -- including a great deal of Mac OS X not available through 'System Preferences.' Indeed, I'd recommend the tool to all OS X users who want to gain better control and install better tools for the underlying BSD layer in OS X. I use it myself for just this reason. If you run any other *nix system don't be put off by the 'Linux' in the title: very little of this book is Linux specific.

This one is well written -- Cameron has a light, informative style that I look for in a tech book. The book is well laid out, he gives good examples, good explanations and screen shots.

Cameron starts out with three introductory chapters on Webmin, its installation and security before launching into forty three chapters on using various Webmin modules, but with no real pattern to the order of most of the chapters. Why, for example, is the NFS module at chapter 4 while the Samba module is discussed in 43? I could list another half dozen examples without raising a sweat.

There is then a chapter on Usermin, the Webmin system for ordinary users. This is followed by three chapters on the server clustering system, a few on Webmin configuration and logging before the volume ends with chapters on building modules and themes.

Some of the chapters on the modules within Webmin border on merely stating the obvious, others are extremely useful. Overall they constitute a good manual to using the system, Webmin users who have not spent a great deal of time administering servers will find them particularly useful. The chapters on clustering, using Webmin on multiple servers to perform the same task at the once on many machines, are a good guide to administering and using this useful facility. I found the chapters on writing your own module more than adequate, I'm well under way to writing my first one after only a short time with the system and book.

One final complaint. Where in this book does it tell you how to start Webmin? I didn't want Webmin running from boot, so I answered No to that question and Webmin then ran. Nowhere did it tell me how to restart Webmin after I rebooted my computer and having the script 'start' in the directory specified as the config directory is a little less than intuitive.

Prentice Hall have a page for the book that has an author bio, the Preface and a sample chapter. Though this book is supposedly 'open content,' I couldn't find an electronic version anywhere. It might have helped, as it would give me a way to search the book faster.

In conclusion, this is a good book. With a little work on the structure it would be an excellent book, rising from a rating of six to an eight or nine. the lack of structure makes it unduly hard to find what you are after. I would recommend Webmin, as a tool, to almost everyone running a supported server. If you have no need for the section on clustering and writing your own modules you could buy The Book of Webmin for a few dollars less or browse the same book (even download a PDF version free) at Swelltech, which is less comprehensive but much better structured (and tells you how to restart Webmin). If you want a guide to Webmin that includes notes on writing your own module then this will do until something better comes along, or they release a second edition with greater thought to structure and order.

You can purchase Managing Linux Systems With Webmin 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

What's a GUI?

[g0hare]

GUI's are for WIndows users! U r a loser! Get down with the scripts or die!

Webmin is a pretty neat tool

[Anonymous Coward]

Replace "Webmin" with "honestpuck" and "neat" with "gay" for my review.

Not meant as a troll

[2names]

manage linux systems through a GUI == military intelligence == jumbo shrimp == clever woman etc etc etc.

Re:Rub my cock in a steady manner

[Anonymous Coward]

Other works of art from ~(TK)Dessimat0r, to demonstrate why Slashdot accounts modded -1 too many times should be automatically erased:

POLICE! A PEEDOPHILE IN PARENT WANTS BABY XXX Friday October 03, @03:10PM Replies:1 Score:-1
attached to Schools to Avoid: University of Florida
Eat my cock, whole like mules do Tuesday September 23, @04:54PM Score:-1
attached to Free VoIP for Dartmouth Students
Most erect cock record broken! Tuesday September 23, @08:55AM Score:-1
attached to Wi-Fi World Record
TrollKore Orbital insertion into Uranus Sunday September 21, @02:47PM Score:-1
attached to Galileo, Consumed by Jupiter
YOU ARE A FAILURE Sunday September 21, @01:59PM Score:-1
attached to Galileo, Consumed by Jupiter
Dogmuck and penises don't mix? Monday September 15, @09:30AM Score:-1
attached to Electronics & Planes Don't Mix?
Extract the Juice Sunday September 14, @01:42PM Replies:1 Score:-1
attached to International Bigfoot Symposium
Erect Penis Going Up Saturday September 13, @12:53PM Score:-1
attached to Space Elevator Going Up
MODS: MOD THIS DOWN, CONTAINS OFFENSIVE TEXT Thursday September 11, @04:11PM Replies:1 Score:-1
attached to Linux Most Attacked Server?
Trollkore: Most attacked GNAA! Thursday September 11, @04:08PM Replies:1 Score:-1
attached to Linux Most Attacked Server?
Enhance my cock with the cream of viagra soup! Monday September 01, @10:43AM Score:-1
attached to Linux Gets Mobile(phone)
Fucking Whore Interviewed Saturday August 30, @06:16PM Score:-1
attached to Wendy Seltzer Interviewed
TrollKore's Fart Sound Updated Sunday August 24, @01:43PM Score:-1
attached to Dave Phillips' Linux Sound Updated
I prefer ATI Thursday August 21, @08:24PM Score:-1, Troll
attached to ATi FireGL X1 Vs. NVIDIA Quadro FX 2000
Paedophile hunt police find human skull Thursday August 21, @08:16PM Score:-1
attached to ATi FireGL X1 Vs. NVIDIA Quadro FX 2000
I FAIL IT Monday August 18, @03:58PM Score:-1
attached to Sony Shoots For 4-Filter CCD, 8 Megapixel Camera
Frosty piss Monday August 18, @03:56PM Replies:1 Score:-1
attached to Sony Shoots For 4-Filter CCD, 8 Megapixel Camera
Paedophile hunt police find human skull Tuesday August 05, @10:25AM Replies:1 Score:-1
attached to Five Power Supplies Compared
FUCK YOU, I SAID Sunday August 03, @01:36PM Score:-1
attached to Jonathan Zittrain On The Spiderweb of Copyright Law
At the point of ejaculation Sunday August 03, @01:32PM Score:-1
attached to Jonathan Zittrain On The Spiderweb of Copyright Law
Sooo.. Friday August 01, @11:02AM Replies:1 Score:-1
attached to Low-power FM Transmitters Banned in UK
THE KING IS ON HIS THRONE Friday August 01, @10:45AM Score:-1
attached to Low-power FM Transmitters Banned in UK
Re:No takers for "subscription"? [Somewhat OT] Tuesday July 29, @08:42PM Score:-1
attached to Python 2.3 Final Released

Lamest /. reviewed book ever!

[MasTRE]

What do you do when Webmin crashes? Oooops, all your customers are fsck'd.

Re:Duh

[bogie]

"samba is a kludgy addon to play nice with windows"

How surprising coming from a WinTroll like you.

This is from the same person who brings you lovely quotes like this:

Subject: Linux Heh

"I pick better kernels out of my turds after a feast of corn on the cob."

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=80883&cid=71 20 503