Books: A Users Report

Elizabeth Zinkann

This months column highlights an outstanding networking book, a classic fourth edition, a premier book about an editor, a survey of a dictionary, and some notes of interest. Specifically, I reviewed: Networking: A Beginners Guide by Bruce Hallberg (Osborne/McGraw-Hill Network Professionals Library); DNS and BIND, Fourth Edition by Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu (OReilly & Associates, Inc.); Vi IMproved-Vim by Steve Oualline, Foreword by Bram Moolenaar, Creator of Vim (New Riders, Open Publication License); and the Dictionary of Internetworking Terms and Acronyms by Cisco Systems Inc. (Cisco Press). I also have included Notes on Secrets & Lies: Digital Security In A Networked World by Bruce Schneier (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) and the Linux Journal 2001 Buyers Guide (Linux Journal, Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.)

Notes: Secrets & Lies: Digital Security In A Networked World by Bruce Schneier (ISBN 0-471-25311-1, $29.99), which was reviewed in the November, 2000 issue of Sys Admin, recently received the 11th Annual Jolt Productivity Award by CMPs Software Development magazine. Schneiers book highlights the new risks that accompany Internet business developments and how to securely manage them.

I seldom review magazines, but the Linux Journal 2001 Buyers Guide (Linux Journal, SSC, Inc., $5.00, http://store.linuxjournal.com) is well worth reading. It presents five features about current Linux trends, including a comparison chart of the Linux distributions and how to select your distribution. Most of the guide surveys the products available for the Linux platform, including software, hardware, publications, and services.