By Robin Burk and David B. Horvath
Our highly popular first edition brought comprehensive, up-to-date information on UNIX to a wide audience. That original edition was already 1,600 pages. The new topics covered in this edition have obliged us to split the second edition into two volumes, namely, the System Administrator's Edition and the Internet Edition, which we'll refer to jointly as "the new" or the second edition. Though each volume can stand alone and may be read independently of the other, they form a complementary set with frequent cross-references. This new edition is written for:
- People new to UNIX
- Anyone using UNIX who wants to learn more about the system and its utilities
- Programmers looking for a tutorial and reference guide to C, C++, Perl, awk, and the UNIX shells
- System administrators concerned about security and performance on their machines
- Webmasters and Internet server administrators
- Programmers who want to write Web pages and implement gateways to server databases
- Anyone who wants to bring his or her UNIX skills and knowledge base up-to-date
A lot has happened in the UNIX world since the first edition of UNIX Unleashed was released in 1994. Perhaps the most important change is the tremendous growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Much of the public Internet depends on UNIX-based servers. In addition, many corporations of all sizes have turned to UNIX as the environment for network and data servers. As UNIX fans have long known, the original open operating system is ideal for connecting heterogeneous computers and networks into a seamless whole.