Buying Options
Mac OS X for Unix Geeks
This product is no longer available.

Please consider the latest edition.

Product Editions

  1. Mac OS X for Unix Geeks (Leopard), Fourth Edition - September 2008
  2. Mac OS X Tiger for Unix Geeks, Third Edition - June 2005
  3. Mac OS X Panther for Unix Geeks, Second Edition - February 2004 (out of print)
  4. Mac OS X for Unix Geeks - September 2002 (out of print)
Description

If you're one of the many Unix developers drawn to Mac OS X for its BSD core, you'll find yourself in surprisingly unfamiliar territory. Even if you're an experienced Mac user, Mac OS X is unlike earlier Macs, and it's radically different from the Unix you've used before, too.

Enter "Mac OS X for Unix Geeks" by Brian Jepson and Ernest E. Rothman, two Unix geeks who found themselves in the same place you are. Their new book is your guide to figuring out the BSD Unix system and Mac-specific components that are making your life difficult and to help ease you into the Unix inside Mac OS X.

Full Description
Table of Contents
  1. Getting Around

    1. Chapter 1 The Mac OS X Command Line

      1. Mac OS X Shells
      2. The Terminal and xterm Compared
      3. Using the Terminal
      4. The Services Menu
      5. Using the tcsh Shell
      6. Mac OS X’s Unix Development Tools
    2. Chapter 2 Startup

      1. Booting Mac OS X
      2. Adding Startup Items
      3. Scheduling Tasks
    3. Chapter 3 Directory Services

      1. Understanding Directory Services
      2. Programming with Directory Services
      3. Configuring Directory Services
      4. NetInfo
      5. NetInfo Utilities
      6. NetInfo Command Reference
      7. Managing Groups
      8. Managing Users and Passwords
      9. Managing Hostnames and IP Addresses
      10. Exporting Directories with NFS
      11. Flat Files and Their NetInfo Counterparts
      12. Restoring the NetInfo Database
  2. Building Applications

    1. Chapter 4 Compiling Source Code

      1. Compiler Differences
      2. Compiling Unix Source Code
      3. Architectural Issues
    2. Chapter 5 Libraries, Headers, and Frameworks

      1. Header Files
      2. The System Library: libSystem
      3. Shared Libraries Versus Loadable Modules
      4. Library Versions
      5. Creating and Linking Static Libraries
      6. Prebinding
      7. Interesting and Important Libraries
    3. Chapter 6 Creating and Installing Packages

      1. Fink
      2. Creating Fink Packages
      3. GNU-Darwin
      4. Packaging Tools
  3. Beyond the User Space

    1. Chapter 7 Building the Darwin Kernel

      1. Darwin Development Tools
      2. Getting the Source Code
      3. Building and Installing the Kernel
      4. Kernel Configuration
    2. Chapter 8 System Management Tools

      1. Diagnostic Utilities
      2. Kernel Utilities
      3. System Configuration
    3. Chapter 9 The X Window System

      1. Installing X11
      2. Running XDarwin
      3. Desktops and Window Managers
      4. X11-based Applications and Libraries
      5. Making X11 Applications More Aqua-like
      6. AquaTerm
      7. Connecting to Other X Window Systems
      8. Virtual Network Computers
      9. Conclusion
  4. Appendixes

    1. Appendix The Mac OS X Filesystem

      1. Files and Directories
    2. Appendix Command-Line Tools: The Missing Manpages

  1. Colophon

View Full Table of Contents
Product Details
Title:
Mac OS X for Unix Geeks
By:
Brian Jepson, Ernest E. Rothman
Publisher:
O'Reilly Media
Formats:
  • Print
Print Release:
September 2002
Pages:
224
Print ISBN:
978-0-596-00356-2
| ISBN 10:
0-596-00356-0
Customer Reviews
About the Authors
  1. Brian Jepson

    Brian Jepson is an O'Reilly editor, programmer, and co-author of Mac OS X Panther for Unix Geeks and Learning Unix for Mac OS X Panther. He's also a volunteer system administrator and all-around geek for AS220, a non-profit arts center in Providence, Rhode Island. AS220 gives Rhode Island artists uncensored and unjuried forums for their work. These forums include galleries, performance space, and publications. Brian sees to it that technology, especially free software, supports that mission.

    View Brian Jepson's full profile page.

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Mac OS X for Unix Geeks is a foxhound. The foxhound's coat is short, hard, and glossy and can be black, tan, white, or a combination of these colors. Foxhounds are generally free of many of the heritable defects that afflict other large dog breeds. They usually stand 21 to 27 inches tall at the shoulder, and their average weight is 55 to 75 pounds.

The English foxhound traces its ancestry back to the 1600s. Foxhounds were bred specifically to hunt foxes, so they require great stamina, strength, and speed. They are known for their superior scenting powers and strong, melodious voices. Amerian foxhounds, developed from stock brought over from England in the 1650s, are hardier and finer-boned than their English counterparts. They were bred to adapt to more rugged terrain, where they hunted foxes, coyotes, and deer.

Foxhounds are friendly, intelligent, courageous pack hounds with a cheerful, determined disposition. They tend to be easygoing and affectionate, and although they can be strong-willed, they are not aggressive. Foxhounds were bred mainly as hunting dogs, rather than as family pets. They are a very active breed, requiring lots of exercise, and they tend to be happiest with owners who live in rural areas or on large farms. Foxhounds enjoy the company of other dogs and can become bored if kept alone. Claire Cloutier was the production editor and copyeditor for Mac OS X for Unix Geeks. Ann Schirmer was the proofreader. Ann Schirmer, Linley Dolby, and Jeffrey Holcomb provided quality control. Claire Cloutier, Kimo Carter, and Genevieve d'Entremont were the compositors. Brenda Miller wrote the index.

Emma Colby designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Royal Natural History. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1, using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Rachel Wheeler.

  • Book cover of Mac OS X for Unix Geeks