This weekend I've started re-reading the UNIX System Administration Handbook, AKA "The Purple Book" or simply The Book. This is the third edition of the book I was recommended as the "Red Book" back when I stared as a Sysadmin, some 6 or 7 years ago (damn, has it really been that long?). When the new edition came out a little while back there was a lot of bitching because it's price has bloated to $68, but it's still a worthy tome.

The main appeal of this book is that it's a practical, real-world guide for sysadmining from a bunch of crusty old-school Unix geeks who know their stuff inside and out. They don't talk about managing Unix boxes in an idealized environment, instead they assume that you, like they, are dealing with a network including a hodgepodge of various flavors of Unix (as well as those pesky Windows boxes).

I started to read it from the beginning, planning to read it through, but quickly got distracted by wondering what it has to say about particular issues I'm dealing with now, so I've been jumping around it. Towards the end there is a chapter about dealing with the organizational politics, including tips on how to retire old systems in spite of the users who refuse to learn new things. When they talk about dealing with power outages, they suggest taking advantage of the opportunity to leave crusty old machines you want to get rid of power off, and wait to see if anyone complains; if they don't, it's safe to get rid of.

This book covers a lot of topics, and no, as some Amazon reviewers complain, it doesn't cover them in depth. But it's not shallow. The authors rightfully assume you can learn more details about configuring DNS or whatever from other sources, and they refer you to plenty of good places for more info. But they do more than just introduce you to what a topic like DNS is, they discuss the practicalities that you won't get from the vendor documentation, like how to make it play well with other parts of the system, what it's hazards are, and what alternatives to consider. What does this book give that others don't? Why. They explain why to do things, which means you'll understand how to figure out the best way to do them.

Looking over the Amazon reviews, I should also point out that this is a systems administration book. Users and even power users may find this book has almost nothing of interest to them. Even someone running a Linux box or two at home probably doesn't care about how to set up a backup system for dozens of boxes, or managing hundreds of user accounts. I suggest looking over the table of contents before you fork over the $68. Also be aware that the book doesn't teach everything you need to know to be a systems administrator - you'll need to learn how to use the shell, write scripts, and use many tools, somewhere else, not to mention having reference material on hand.

I recommend Unix Power Tools for learning how to really, really, use Unix. These two are the foundation of my Unix library.

What this book has in it is the stuff you're not going to get from vendor or tool-specific resources. It's the kind of lore you would learn from working with a group of crusty old systems admins.