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Linux System Administration
Bob Uhl writes "I've just finished reading a review copy of O'Reilly's latest GNU/Linux title, Linux
System Administration. It's a handy introduction for the beginner
GNU/Linux sysadmin, and a useful addition to an experienced sysadmin's
bookshelf. The book is essentially a survey of various Linux system-administration
tasks: installing Debian; setting up LAMP; configuring a load-balancing,
high-availability environment; working with virtualization. None of the
chapters are in-depth examinations of their subjects; rather, they're
enough to get you started and familiar with the concepts involved, and
headed in the right direction." Read below for the rest of Bob's review.
Linux System Administration
author
Tom Adelstein & Bill Lubanovic
pages
279
publisher
O'Reilly
rating
3 out of 4 stars
reviewer
Bob Uhl
ISBN
0-596-00952-6
summary
Good survey of various Linux software and technologies
I like this approach, as it increases the likelihood that any particular admin will be able to use the material presented. I've been working with Apache for almost a decade now, but I've not done any virtualization; some other fellow may have played with Linux for supercomputing, but never done any web serving with it; we both can use the chapters which cover subjects new to us.
I really like some of the choices the authors made. A lot of GNU/Linux 'administration' books focus on GUI tools — I've seen some which don't even bother addressing the command line! I've long said that if one isn't intimately familiar with the shell — if one cannot get one's job done with it — then one isn't really a sysadmin. Linux System Administration approaches nearly everything from the CLI, right from the get-go.
The authors also deserve praise for showing, early on, how to replace Sendmail with Postfix. In 2007, there's very, very little reason to use Sendmail: unless you know why you need it, you almost certainly don't. Postfix is more stable and far more secure.
Another nice thing is how many alternatives are showcased: Xen & VMware; Debian, Fedora & Xandros; CIFS/SMB & NFS; shell, Perl, PHP & Python and so forth. One really great advantage of Unix in general and GNU/Linux in particular is choice — it's good to see a reference work which implicitly acknowledges that.
The authors are also pretty good about calling out common pitfalls — several got me, once upon a time. It'd have been nice to have had a book like this when I was cutting my teeth...
Lastly, I liked that the authors & their editor weren't afraid to refer readers to books from other publishers, in addition to O'Reilly's (uniformly excellent) offerings. Not all publishers would be so forthright; O'Reilly merits recognition for their openness.
The book's not quite perfect, though. I wish that PostgreSQL had at least been mentioned as a more powerful, more stable (and often faster in practice) alternative to MySQL, and one doesn't actually need to register a domain in order to set up static IP addressing. Still, these are pretty minor quibbles.
I'd say that the ideal audience for this book is a small-to-medium business admin who'd like to start using Linux, or who already is but doesn't really feel confident yet. It covers enough categories that at least a few are likely to be relevant. Even an experienced admin will probably find some useful stuff in here.
You can purchase Linux System Administration from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
I like this approach, as it increases the likelihood that any particular admin will be able to use the material presented. I've been working with Apache for almost a decade now, but I've not done any virtualization; some other fellow may have played with Linux for supercomputing, but never done any web serving with it; we both can use the chapters which cover subjects new to us.
I really like some of the choices the authors made. A lot of GNU/Linux 'administration' books focus on GUI tools — I've seen some which don't even bother addressing the command line! I've long said that if one isn't intimately familiar with the shell — if one cannot get one's job done with it — then one isn't really a sysadmin. Linux System Administration approaches nearly everything from the CLI, right from the get-go.
The authors also deserve praise for showing, early on, how to replace Sendmail with Postfix. In 2007, there's very, very little reason to use Sendmail: unless you know why you need it, you almost certainly don't. Postfix is more stable and far more secure.
Another nice thing is how many alternatives are showcased: Xen & VMware; Debian, Fedora & Xandros; CIFS/SMB & NFS; shell, Perl, PHP & Python and so forth. One really great advantage of Unix in general and GNU/Linux in particular is choice — it's good to see a reference work which implicitly acknowledges that.
The authors are also pretty good about calling out common pitfalls — several got me, once upon a time. It'd have been nice to have had a book like this when I was cutting my teeth...
Lastly, I liked that the authors & their editor weren't afraid to refer readers to books from other publishers, in addition to O'Reilly's (uniformly excellent) offerings. Not all publishers would be so forthright; O'Reilly merits recognition for their openness.
The book's not quite perfect, though. I wish that PostgreSQL had at least been mentioned as a more powerful, more stable (and often faster in practice) alternative to MySQL, and one doesn't actually need to register a domain in order to set up static IP addressing. Still, these are pretty minor quibbles.
I'd say that the ideal audience for this book is a small-to-medium business admin who'd like to start using Linux, or who already is but doesn't really feel confident yet. It covers enough categories that at least a few are likely to be relevant. Even an experienced admin will probably find some useful stuff in here.
You can purchase Linux System Administration from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
I bet you never forgot the problem again. That's the thing, by researching these problems, you come across similar problems and pitfalls and you learn more looking it up.
The second thing is, many times, these pitfalls disappear after a release or so, so having them documented in a book that's updated after several releases can be a waste. On the other hand, when you have a boss/customer breathing down your neck, learning be damned, you got to get this sucker up and running!
I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
I am glad that these issues are being addressed by O'Reilley now. The last Linux Administration book that I purchased from O'Reilley was nothing more than DNS/DHCP and NFS.
I would still like to see more about LDAP, authentication and authorization, single sign-on, etc. Ususally O'Reilley practices become the de facto best practices, and after a few years in a quasi-management role, I am learning the difference between implementation and implementation based upon industry standards. The latter can be an ass-saver.
Inability to set up Sendmail properly is in and of itself a security risk. You may quib that any admin who cannot set up Sendmail properly shouldn't be an admin, but this elitist attitude is counterintuitive.
The variety of responsibility is different within any organization, from 10 employees to 10,000, there is a huge variability of skillsets required. Do you think a small home business grossing $10,000 monthly can afford to hire an admin who would take at least half of that? Like it or not, open source software is a huge boon to small businesses and we should strive to empower them with easy to use software, not bash them for not hiring better administrators.
You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/17192
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/8641
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/8649
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/6991
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/6548
etc...
I couldn't find any "critical security flaws" for postfix. I did, however, find this: http://cr.yp.to/maildisasters/postfix.html
for sending mail. that's my guess, anyway.
Even worse, your server never have downtime...at least human babies take nap here and there.
I can see the Microsoft tow picture ad now, top picture harried sysadmin with the linux box, screen showing * WORK * WORK * WORK * in ugly green pixelated courier on black. In the next picture, the same (now) MS based admin is leaning back on his chair with a big smile with his feet propped up, on the screen - white on pretty blue - is "Server down, please reboot" in nice friendly Arial TTF letters.
And the quote, "Even sysadmins deserve a break from sever management, Microsoft will give it you."
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
How does it hold up to Linux Administration Handbook by Evi Nemeth et al?
This is a book that I've used for years and years (since before it forked into a Linux book and a Unix book) teaching Linux system administration classes, and I never found its match. Strongly recommended for novices and masters alike.
"Total destruction the only solution" - Bob Marley