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BSD Hacks 100 Industrial Tip & Tools

By Dru Lavigne
May 2004
Pages: 448
Series: Hacks
ISBN 10: 0-596-00679-9 | ISBN 13: 9780596006792
starstarstarstarstar (Average of 6 Customer Reviews)

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Description

Looking for a unique set of practical tips, tricks, and tools for administrators and power users of BSD systems? From hacks to customize the user environment to networking, securing the system, and optimization, BSD Hacks takes a creative approach to saving time and accomplishing more with fewer resources. If you want more than the average BSD user--to explore and experiment, unearth shortcuts, create useful tools--this book is a must-have.
Full Description

In the world of Unix operating systems, the various BSDs come with a long heritage of high-quality software and well-designed solutions, making them a favorite OS of a wide range of users. Among budget-minded users who adopted BSD early on to developers of some of today's largest Internet sites, the popularity of BSD systems continues to grow. If you use the BSD operating system, then you know that the secret of its success is not just in its price tag: practical, reliable, extraordinarily stable and flexible, BSD also offers plenty of fertile ground for creative, time-saving tweaks and tricks, and yes, even the chance to have some fun. "Fun?" you ask. Perhaps "fun" wasn't covered in the manual that taught you to install BSD and administer it effectively. But BSD Hacks, the latest in O'Reilly's popular Hacks series, offers a unique set of practical tips, tricks, tools--and even fun--for administrators and power users of BSD systems. BSD Hacks takes a creative approach to saving time and getting more done, with fewer resources. You'll take advantage of the tools and concepts that make the world's top Unix users more productive. Rather than spending hours with a dry technical document learning what switches go with a command, you'll learn concrete, practical uses for that command. The book begins with hacks to customize the user environment. You'll learn how to be more productive in the command line, timesaving tips for setting user-defaults, how to automate long commands, and save long sessions for later review. Other hacks in the book are grouped in the following areas:
  • Customizing the User Environment
  • Dealing with Files and Filesystems
  • The Boot and Login Environments
  • Backing Up
  • Networking Hacks
  • Securing the System
  • Going Beyond the Basics
  • Keeping Up-to-Date
  • Grokking BSD
If you want more than your average BSD user--you want to explore and experiment, unearth shortcuts, create useful tools, and come up with fun things to try on your own--BSD Hacks is a must-have. This book will turn regular users into power users and system administrators into super system administrators.

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Great, but missing some important bits,  May 18 2006
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by Michael Soulier   [Respond | View]

I just recently got into looking at FreeBSD, as a full-time Linux developer. This book is good on both platforms, as many of the tips work on any Unix.



I constantly found myself wondering how to do the same tasks I'm used to from Linux on FreeBSD, and this book did help me greatly for that.



Unfortunately, I did find it lacking, missing some very important areas for me, at home on an ADSL connection.


  1. running PPPoE

  2. running NAT

  3. setting up ipf (rc.conf, and the kernel module)

  4. replacing sendmail


I found these conspicuously missing, which is why I'm only giving the book four stars.



I also found that some simple concepts about ports were not properly explained


  1. Using portupgrade on a single package

  2. Using portupgrade to replace one package with another

  3. Fixing the multiple installed packages of different versions problem




Luckily, the FreeBSD community, the handbook, and some other community websites filled in these gaps. Still, these are important hacks that should have been covered.



A great read, and quite handy. Just missing some not-so-obvious but very important details.




Good style, outstanding content,  October 05 2004
Submitted by Frankye   [Respond | View]

The style is clear and to the point, very easy to follow, and very sysadmin-to-sysadmin.
Since it's a collection of small independent sections you can read it a piece at a time without problems (even randomly, there are many cross references).

The content is outstanding, I'm pretty unix savvy but I've found out some *really* nice tricks I did not know about.


Backbone,  September 16 2004
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by mindmerge   [Respond | View]

This book is fantastic. This is one of those books that sets O'Reilly apart from other publishers. BSD Hacks is easy to read, extremely informative and very low on fluff!

My particular favorite hacks:
- Protecting Password with Blowfish Hashes (hack 29)
- Strip the Kernel (hack 54)
- Tune FreeBSD for Different Applications (hack 69)
- Traffic Shaping on FreeBSD (Hack 70)

Many more good hacks, this is a must have. BSD books have not been plentiful in the past years in comparison to other OS's. This book more than makes up for that lack of attention.

This book helps to form the strong backbone of the hacks body of books. Thank you Dru, and thank you O'Reilly for this series that cuts straight to the point.

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Great Book For All,  August 21 2004
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by stakys   [Respond | View]

Hi, every BSD lover must have this book! It's really powerfull (informative) and well understandable for all of us.

My final words would be: MUST HAVE IT!!!


WOW!,  August 13 2004
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by BSD Fanatic   [Respond | View]

Finally! A book written for BSD sysadmins by a BSD sysadmin. Absolutely worth every single penny. Dru tells the reader how to setup Snort, ACid, mysql, Apache *AND* PHP in a simple concise manner. And that is just ONE HACK! An incredible amount of material. This one goes on the bookshelf. I'm a Dru fan now.


ehhh...,  August 12 2004
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by drew   [Respond | View]

i'm a big fan of the "hacks" books. and this book isn't too shabby, though i liked linux server hacks a bit better.

then again, at 25 bizzles a pop, you can't afford to not have this gem in your collection.

just buy it ya cheap bastards.


BSD Hacks Review,  March 25 2004
Rating: StarStarStarStarStar
Submitted by Marcelo Araujo   [Respond | View]

<center> Difinity and exclusive book </center>

Powered BSD System

Media reviews "'BSD Hacks' is the first book that is almost solely focused on hacks for sysadmins, without boring you with the details for basic operating system installation and configuration that has been so well documented elsewhere. BSD Hacks is not just for sysadmins, though. Intermediate and advanced BSD users will also find the book an excellent tool...With 100 listed hacks, multiplied by an impressive level of detailed angles for each, Dru provides an array that demands the placement of this book right in your server room, not in a pile of 'must-read-at-some-distant-point-in-the-future' texts...Whether you're a sysadmin managing hundreds of servers, or a power user ready to go beyond the obvious, BSD Hacks belongs next to your CRT."
--Slashdot.org, July 2004
http://bsd.slashdot.org/bsd/04/07/27/161251.shtml?tid=122&tid=192&tid=218

"Dru Lavigne's 'BSD Hacks' is an enormously useful resource for systems administrators and end-users alike...No single book or site that provides the depth and breadth that Dru provides. It's a project that no one individual is capable of doing. Dru managed to tap into the thoughts of dozens of developers and sysadmins around the world, greatly enhancing the variety of hacks in this book. Whether you're a sysadmin managing hundreds of servers, or a power user ready to go beyond the obvious, 'BSD Hacks' belongs next to your CRT. Spend a weekend working through this book. You won't regret it."
--George Rosamond, DaemonNews.org, July 2004
http://ezine.daemonnews.org/200407/bsdhacks.html


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