Reviews of FreeBSD Books Posted

Amazon.com just published my four star review of BSD UNIX Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD by Christopher Negus and Francois Caen . From the review:

BSD Unix Toolbox (BUT) is a straightforward system administration book that could apply to many Unix-like operating systems. The title mentions "BSD" but the BSD-specific material is FreeBSD-oriented. The non-FreeBSD sections (such as using a shell) could apply to any Unix-like OS, so in that sense other BSDs like OpenBSD or NetBSD are "covered." However, sections like Ch 2 (Installing FreeBSD and Adding Software) have no OpenBSD or NetBSD equivalents. Nevertheless, I recommend BUT for anyone looking for a rapid introduction to BSD system administration.

Amazon.com also just published my three star review of Network Administration with FreeBSD 7 by Babak Farrokhi. From the review:

I am always glad to see new books on FreeBSD. The best authors look at the current market, identify gaps, and fill or expand beyond them with good material. I believe Network Administration with FreeBSD 7 (NAWF7) could be that book if the author takes a look at the competition and decides where his book should fit. Right now it's a combination of standard FreeBSD system administration advice plus fairly interesting, higher-end guidance. I strongly suggest the author remove all of the standard material, tell the reader to look elsewhere for basics, and focus squarely on advanced FreeBSD system administration. Add a copyeditor who proofs for grammar (in addition to the technical editor who proofs for content) and you could see a five star second edition.

Comments

Anonymous said…
well, haven't tried BSD. this book should be a great introduction for BSD.

thanks for the information.
1:24 PM
Chris Buechler said…
Richard,
You totally stole my thunder on NAWF7. :) Packt sent me a review copy a couple months ago, I read most of it and wrote most of my review several weeks ago. Got caught up in a number of projects and didn't have time to finish until this past weekend. I wrote a very similar review to what you did, now I'm looking at how to make it different. :)

Glad to see another FreeBSD book, but given that apparently there was no technical review or copyediting, this is unfortunately a pretty poor one overall.
2:07 AM
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