Product Description

Beneath Mac OS X Tiger's easy-to-use Aqua interface lies a powerful Unix engine. Mac users know that Unix is at their fingertips, if only they knew how to access it. Learning Unix for Mac OS X Tiger provides Mac users with a user-friendly tour of the Unix world concealed beneath Mac OS X's hood and shows how to make the most use of the command-line tools. Thoroughly revised and updated for Mac OS X Tiger, this new edition introduces Mac users to the Terminal application and shows you how to navigate the command interface, explore hundreds of Unix applications that come with the Mac, and, most importantly, how to take advantage of both the Mac and Unix interfaces. Readers will learn how to:

• Launch and configure the Terminal application
• Customize the shell environment
• Manage files and directories
• Search with Spotlight from the command line
• Edit and create text files with vi and Pico
• Perform remote logins
• Access internet functions, and much more

Learning Unix for Mac OS X Tiger is a clear, concise introduction to what you need to know to learn the basics of Unix on Tiger. If you want to master the command-line, this gentle guide to using Unix on Mac OS X Tiger is well worth its cover price.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #279060 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-02
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

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Customer Reviews

A clear explanation that isn't just for dummies
Learning not only one but two new operating systems can be a challenge (I have used computers since they filled rooms and ate punch cards, but this is my first foray into Mac ownership). As with all O'Reilly books, this one is well written, explains things clearly, and doesn't assume the reader is a dope. I know the Mac OS world has moved on to Leopard now, but this book is all I need to give me a solid understanding of the underpinnings of the operating system before I move on as well.

Very good introduction to Unix
A small amount of background. I started out using Dos 3.0 - and have always used Microsoft products. Up until about the year 2000 when I got a job as a computer tech as a high school that used alot of Macs. I learned to love the Mac almost overnight and haven't purchased a PC since. When OS X came out I was apprehensive about the shell. I knew DOS like the back of my hand, but I didn't know ANY unix commands and really wanted to learn. The unix books I ordered all seemed to be more advanced or for ABSOLUTE beginners. This book is more like the books on DOS I remember, showing you step by step how to command the shell in Mac OS X, and since the shell is always the same in OS X (unless you customize it) you know this books' information will work. Now after reading this book, I'm going back to the more advanced Unix books and they are making much more sense to me - and the best part is I've been recently learning Linux (Ubuntu to be precise) and have had to troubleshoot a video card issue. Without having read this book, I would be totally lost! If you've got a Max with OS X and want to learn Unix this book is perfect!

An excellent book to know Unix basics
The book seems to me an excellent reference in order to introduce the reader in the language which supports Mac OS X. I think the interested user of Mac has, with this book, the opportunity to know something more than doing click on a series of windows. The author points out in his preface the existence of such projects as the Fink and DarwinPorts ones whose purpose is to develop free software for Mac. In my opinion, that's useful and valuable since not only the standard user of Mac does not know those projects, but also because being involved with this kind of software, the user is forced to learn something more than doing click on the appropriate window menus. The author explains concepts clearly so that the reader can understand them easily. Probably, the book is not intended to help the experienced user; I think that such a user is concerned with Unix, not Unix for operating systems based on it.