| I hope you enjoy the book as much as I have enjoyed writing it. This book would not have been possible without the help of a number of people who I would like to thank here and now. Firstly and most importantly is my wife Caroline who has put up with more than anyone should every have to! To my mother Margaret I can only be in awe at the way she has coped with me over the years . To my father Charles; thank you for being there when I needed you (we are so alike it's almost frightening!). To my brother Michael and my sister Dona I can never tell them how much I love them. To the inspirational Barry "mind my legs" and the loving Rita "not lasagna again" Ellis who should be so proud of their two glorious daughters: Amanda, who along with Neil will grace us with a new baby in the near future and Caroline my wife. To my many friends and family who have been a constant source of support and encouragement. I next have to thank some technical people from both the world of HP-UX and from Prentice Hall. As HP-UX was my first love I will thank everyone who allowed me to use and access a myriad of equipment in order to perform the necessary tasks and demonstrations throughout the book, especially Tony Gard and his team in the HP UK Education Services Organization for the loan of a vast array of kit. Thanks to Melvyn Burnard and Steve Robinson of the HP UK Response Centre for allowing me to destroy and (hopefully) rebuild their kit over the course of many months. To the many others who allowed me to either use their resources or allowed me to pick their brains along the way, thanks is never enough. From the editing side of the story I would like to thank the team of technical editors that took my wild Scottish rantings and made them make sense; specifically (and in no order) Fiona Monteath, Melvyn Burnard, Steve Robinson, Bret Strong and Emil Valez. From Prentice Hall I would like to thank Jill Harry and Mary Sudul who took the technical mumbo-jumbo and made it publishable. To Dr. John and Jane Sharp, both close friends who gave me very sound advice on how to tackle the challenge of writing this book; the cheque is (and hopefully lost!) in the post. I would also like to thank the Huddersfield Technical Support Team; specifically Stephen, Jeff, Paul, Ewar and Philip, and their support organization; Laura, Julie, Linda, Gina and Janice. All of who have saved me in one technical sense or another over the period of writing this book. To anyone else who I have not specifically thanked then I apologize but you know that I am eternally grateful and am always thinking of you. To you the reader I thank you for having the courage to part with your hard earned cash to, delve into my world; swim around for a while, take in the scenery , but most of all enjoy yourself! | 