ISBN:0596005164Book Description
FreeBSD is by far the most popular version of BSD®, the legendary operating system that has contributed a great deal to every version of Unix® in use today (including Mac OS® X). Originally a community effort by the University of California at Berkeley, FreeBSD was aimed at making Unix a little friendlier and easier to use. By the time other free operating systems came along, BSD was firmly established and very reliable. And it continues to be today. For seven years, the FreeBSD community has relied on Greg Lehey's classic, The Complete FreeBSD, to guide them through its configuration and administration. The 4th edition, covering version 5 of FreeBSD, is now available through O'Reilly Community Press. The Complete FreeBSD is an eminently practical guidebook that explains not only how to get a computer up and running with the FreeBSD operating system, but also how to turn it into a highly functional and secure server that can host large numbers of users and disks, support remote access, and provide web service, mail service, and other key parts of the Internet infrastructure. The book provides in-depth information on installation and updates, back-ups, printers, RAID, various Internet services, firewalls, the graphical X Window system, and much more. Author Greg Lehey is a member of the FreeBSD core team and has been developing, documenting, and advocating for FreeBSD for nearly ten years. Whether you're an experienced Unix user or just interested in learning more about this free operating system and how you can put it to work for you, this do-it-yourself BSD documentation will provide the information you need. The Complete FreeBSD is the second release in the O'Reilly Community Press Series. Unlike classic O'Reilly animal books, which are created to fill an information void, the Community Press titles provide convenient printed copies of documentation that is already available online. O'Reilly's role in the series is limited to providing manufacturing and distribution services rather than editorial development, so that each Community Press title reflects the editorial voice and organization of the community that has created it./p>
Reviews From AMAZON.COM
A Must Have, But Could Be Better
The two books that I use most frequently when administering my FreeBSD server, are this one by Lehey and UNIX System Administration Handbook by Nemeth et al. Lehey's book is easy to understand, and covers most instances where FreeBSD varies from other Unix varieties.
My chief complaint with the book (and hence only 4 stars), is that Lehey seems to be a bit conflicted as to whether he wants his book to be a tutorial or a reference book. I have only read the 4th edition, and I suspect some of this problem is due to hauling along portions of the book that used to be necessary which really are not anymore. For example, when it comes to explaining the installation process, the book does not add much value to the free online guide, "FreeBSD Handbook" available on the FreeBSD website. In fact, due to the ever evolving nature of software, the "FreeBSD Handbook" is often more up to date than Lehey's book. In particular, Lehey's book still explains how to install XFree86, while the current version of the OS used XOrg.
Lehey does excel in giving a more thorough overview of most other aspects of FreeBSD that do not change quite as quickly. He also does a decent job of pointing the reader to other resources for further information.
Lehey created the Vinum Volume Manager (which I admittedly know nothing about, and I skipped his chapter on it), so it is no surprise that the chapter on it is in the top third largest chapters in his book.
My advice, if you are just trying out FreeBSD, you can probably get by with the free "FreeBSD Handbook" online. If you plan on maintaining a FreeBSD machine, this book is definitely handy to have on the bookshelf.
Not the book to learn FreeBSD
I bought this book based on the reviews here. I know very little about using Unix. I flipped through the book and found it easy to read as well as covering all the topics that other books missed. What bothered me was the size of the book which made me think some topics might get skimmed over.
This book lacks focus. It may start on a topic then wander off, never to return. Some topics are introduced but never explained. Others go into more detail as you go deeper into the book...maybe.
At times I felt the writer assumed you had some knowledge of FreeBSD/Unix but, if this is true, why would he explain some very basic operations, including installation?
I would return this book if I had not marked it up as I started reading. I had almost bought "FreeBSD Unleashed" having read part of it a year ago at the library and now I wish I did.