Learning Unix for Mac OS X Panther

Dave Taylor

The stable, adaptable Unix underpinnings of Mac OS X surely have contributed to the operating system's fantastic success in the market. The trouble for the Mac loyal, though, is that nothing could be further removed from the friendly Mac user interface than the Unix shell environment. There's a learning curve to be surmounted by Mac users who want to get the most out of their new System, and that's where Learning Unix for Mac OS X Panther comes into the picture. It's an introductory Unix and shell-scripting text tailored to the specificities of Mac OS X, suitable for someone who's never worked with Unix before.

Because the capabilities of the Unix shell are vast, the authors devote many pages to showing how key commands (like ls and chmod) work in the most commonly encounter scenarios. More usefully (because Unix help screens explain the basics pretty well by themselves), they carefully explain a lot of recipes that solve problems everyone encounters--like the fact that Unix and many Mac applications encode the line breaks in text files differently. The authors' style consistently succeeds in communicating both facts about Unix and a sense of adventure about what you can do with it. This is a real treasure for anyone wanting to get the most out of the latest Mac OS. --David Wall

Topics covered: How to use the Unix operating system that underlies Mac OS X. Specifically, the authors show how to manage files, edit text with pico and vi, print text and graphics, and connect to the Internet. Special coverage shows how to explore the large assortment of open-source software suited to the Mac.

1 ben bon, pour un nouveau adepte de Mac
Ce livre donne l'occasion au nouveau utilisateur de Mac OS X de comprendre les dessous de OS X qui sont sembleble au systme Unix.
RecommandŽ.

2 What you need to get started in UNIX on a Mac
I was one of the people that winced when Mac made the leap from O9 to the unix based OSX. The "old" command line did nothing for me in the early 80's and I didn't truly fall in love with mac until the GUI interface and the mouse came along. Once I was forced to make the move to OSX I began to hear about all these powerful unix commands and things you could do beyond the scope of aqua from my IT friends. It intriqued me enough that I picked up Learning Unix for Mac OS Panther. It was a true eye opener. In no time at all I was using the terminal for ftp, I even had Pine (a unix email program) configured and was speedily browsing the web with Lynx (the unix text-based browser).

The book is clearly written, and a breeze to use. I usually buy about one software book a month, but this is one of the few that has become dog earred, filled with marginalia and rife with stickie notes. It is a great starting point for anyone who wantes to learn more about the unix underpinnings of Panther. It's like learning about a whole new, previously unseen, side of your mac.

3 A (re)view from Alaska
As with many books, I often flip immediately to the back to look over why the publisher thinks that I should read have this book. In the case of Learning Unix for Mac OS X Panther, by Dave Taylor & Brian Jepson, the statement which caught my eye was that this "compact book provides a user-friendly tour of the Mac's Unix base for the uninitiated."

As for being new to the Anchorage Apple User's Group (AAUG), allow me to introduce you to my background. I have been a fan of Apple computer's since my first computer, an Apple IIc, twenty years ago. Since then, I have stayed with Macintosh, through the SE, SE/30, IIci, and my trustworthy beige G3. Since arriving in Anchorage in October, I upgraded to a Powerbook G4 and I've been in heaven ever since.

At the same time, I've worked (reluctantly) with Unisys proprietary systems, MS-DOS systems, Windows 95-present (and I even have XP operating on my Powerbook, by way of Virtual PC), and Sun's workstations. Through working on Sun's unix based operating system (Solaris), I began to know some basics of what unix is all about.

I had heard that Apple had made OS X revolutionary through its version of unix as a basis for this new operating system. And I had even read a little about some tricks and treats available to the "everyday" user of the Mac, but I was still reluctant and hesitant to do anything with something titled (so appropriately, I thought) as the "Terminal."

And one more note prior to discussing the book itself ... this book is for the uninitiated, but be warned, I believe you need to have a serious interest in learning the unix operating system. Gratefully, for those of you who love the Mac for what you can do, not what you "have" to do, you can remain blissfully unaware of any of the unix which runs so very well hidden, out of sight, and out of mind.

But, since you've stayed with this book review thus far, I assume you have some interest in what exactly is going on "underneath it all", on what makes Panther such a great operating system. So, I recommend you read book. It is an ideal starting point for the uninitiated. I highly recommend it both as a "how to" and a "reference" book.

Dave Taylor and Brian Jepson, the authors, start off by explaining "Why unix?" This first chapter helped me a good deal, even though I had already used a version of unix on another platform (the Sun workstation.) The overview and history of how unix grew as an operating system, and how it came to be on the Mac was very interesting. Additionally, the starting point (the Terminal application) was explained succinctly; similar to how a train station is known as a terminal, the authors helped me get on the path to successful learning of this unix stuff.

As the book progressed into the file system and file management, I found myself frequently switching between having the book in hand, and the Terminal up and running on screen with the computer in my lap. And doing exactly as the title described ... I was learning unix for Mac OS X Panther.

A part of the O'Reilly series, the authors follow in a familiar pattern with just enough instruction, including practice assignments, balanced by shared experience and cautious warnings. I found myself spending about one hour on each chapter, and going back and forth practicing some of my newly acquired talents and skills.

By no means do I consider this book to have made me very smart, but it allows me just enough confidence to continue and look into other parts of how unix works in the Mac world, including using this operating system to help make life better. I even find myself wanting to get into one of the related books in the series, Mac OS X for Unix Geeks.

4 Introduction for those who want to use the OS X Terminal
This is definitely a beginners book. The first four chapters, which are an introduction to the basics about file management and shells is the best part. In particular chapter three, about the file system, is excellent. The later chapters tend to get a little too heavy a bit too quickly for my taste. But they cover their content and do it thoroughly.

The Fink coverage, as with OS X for Unix Geeks, is too light. This is an important utility for those that want to use OS X as a Unix machine and it deserves more coverage than it got.

Overall the book is a good introduction and reference, but it is light on opinion. There are lots of ways to work and to organize stuff in Unix flavored operating systems and the book gives little in the way of advice or opinion. Which is sad, but not unusual. I can't penalize the book for that though. I just wish that more technical books would state opinions from experience.