Book Description
The FreeBSD book and CDROM set offers you a complete reference to utilize FreeBSD to its fullest. The book comes with four CDROMs that contain the complete FreeBSD OS and over 2 GB of utilities, applications, and on-line documents. From installing the operating system to customizing network servers, this book and CDROM set provide the ideal solution. You will read detailed descriptions on sharing your machine between FreeBSD and other systems; installing and configuring the X Window system: reconfiguring the FreeBSD kernel to suit your needs, and much more!

FROM THE PUBLISHER

BSD is one of the foundations of modern UNIX and UNIX-like systems, and has earned a reputation for unparalleled performance and stability. It is also the source of much Internet technology. FreeBSD, an open source operating system, is by far the most popular version of BSD. The Complete FreeBSD is a classic text published for many years by FreeBSD distributer Walnut Creek. The book is an eminently practical guide that explains not only how to get a computer up and running with the FreeBSD operating system, but how to turn it into a highly functional and secure workstation or server that can host large numbers of users and disks, support remote access, and provide web services, mail service, and other key parts of the internet infrastructure.

This edition is based on the Version 5.0 of FreeBSD, which includes a number of new features, notably improved support for multiprocessor systems. New topics include wireless LAN support, DHCP, proxy servers, the KDE desktop, and how to write CD-ROMs. The book is written for novices as well as moderately knowledgeable readers who have picked up some experience using UNIX. The book covers a wide range of topics central to the system administration of hubs. Among the many topics are installation and updates, backups, printers, RAID, several Internet services, firewalls, and the graphical X Window System. Many readers over the years have praised this book for anticipating their problems and providing signposts pointing toward the solutions.

SYNOPSIS

FreeBSD comes with the industry standard X Window system (X11R6) for the PC,XFree86. You also get a rich set of ready-to-run X applications and environments,including Gnome, KDE, Netscape, Open Look, Tcl/Tk and hundreds more.

The system comes with complete source code. FreeBSD provides a tightly integratedbuild system that lets you recompile the entire operating system and support softwarefrom source with just one command.

FreeBSD also comes with complete development environment with GNU C, C++ andegcs compilers and gdb debugger. It also comes with packages such as Perl, Python,Scheme, Tcl and GNU Emacs. For printing you get Groff, TeX, Ghostscript and AFMfonts. The bash, csh, zsh and tcsh shells give you a wide choice of environments.FreeBSD supports ISO 9660, RockRidge and Joliet format CDs.

Walnut Creek CDROM, the publisher of this book, relies exclusively on FreeBSD topower its Web site and its FTP site, ftp.cdrom.com. The busiest site in the worldaccording to independent auditors, it uses FreeBSD to manage 5,000 users, 4 GB RAM,and over 500 GB of hard drive space. It transfers a terabyte of data downloads everyday. And what makes Yahoo! scream? FreeBSD!

Requirements: Intel platform: Standard ISA, EISA, VL, or PCI bus based PC (386sx toPentium III/Xeon), minimum 8 MB RAM. 100 MB disk space for a binary-only systemand 500 MB for development system. MCA not supported.

Alpha platform: Most Alpha machines with SRM firmware and SCSI disks. 32 MBRAM, and 400 MB hard disk.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal