Requirements

This book assumes that you've got access to some sort of Unix system (such as a PC running Linux, or Windows with Cygwin; a Macintosh running Mac OS X; or a toaster running FreeBSD). And not just any access; to use some of the information in this book, you'll need root access.

If you don't have an existing Unix system or access to one where the owner trusts you enough to give you root access, we go over installing Fedora Core 3, FreeBSD 5.3, Cygwin, and Fink in the appendixes, so that you can set up your own Unix system.

Of course, not everything will require unrestricted access. You can almost always start a new service on a Unix system using either restricted functionality or a nonstandard configuration. It's a lot easier to learn some of these topics when you've got your own system to play with.

If you're using Mac OS X, you'll have to download and install the Mac OS X Developer Tools, which are available at http://developer.apple.com. (You'll have to sign up for a free Apple Developer Connection membership if you don't already have one.) Some old-timers might tell you that it's not a real Unix system if it doesn't have development tools!