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BOOK REVIEWS LEARNING UNIX FOR MAC OS X MOUNTAIN LION REVIEW BY RIC GETTER through some simple examples. Right from the start, Taylor introduces useful techniques and explains some good practices to follow that will get you in the habit of working as safely and efficiently as an experienced Unix geek. The originators of Unix weren't particularly fond of typing and re-typing commands. There are a lot of keyboard shortcuts built in to the OS, but they'd be hard to find on one's own. f offers just enough of the venerable or OS X Mountai on, Dave Taylor "In Learni Li ng Uni operating system to open this powerful and intriguing world to new explorers." Working with your files from the command line requires a very different mind-set. Taylor takes his time explaining the Unix view of your file system, providing useful illustrations and examples to help you learn your way around. Learning Unixincludes a couple of Many Mac users can go forever without ever opening the Terminal. Probably just as many are blissfully unaware of the fact that the Mac OSX is simply a nice (okay, absolutely splendid) interface to an operating system that dates back to the 1970s. And Apple's designers and developers have taken great pains to make sure that the average user will never need to go near the Terminal and drill down into the Mac OS's Unix command-line. But then again, if you're reading this, you're probably not the average user. In Learning Unix for OS X Mountain Lion, Dave Taylor offers just enough of the venerable operating system to open this powerful and intriguing world to new explorers. He starts out by explaining the benefits of learning the command-line underpinnings of the graphical OS: basically lots of free, open source programs that can expand your reach, the power to do things that are difficult if not impossible through the Finder, and the ability to peek into OS X's dark and otherwise invisible corners. In his book, Taylor takes into account the fact that most of his readers have never opened the Terminal or touched a command line. But even if you're already familiar with the application, you'll find a host of useful tips and tricks here. Then, he moves on to a clear explanation of how commands work, underscores the importance of getting syntax, spelling and capitalization correct, and then walks us chapters that highlight just enough of the OS's advanced features to get you interested without being overwhelming. It includes a brief introduction to Unix scripting, a powerful and flexible automation tool and a quick tour of X11 (now known as XQuartz), Unix's own window-based graphical interface. Learning Unix is really the second step in learning the Mac's OS. It's a way of looking and working "under the hood" that is not only useful, but provides fascinating view of how the Mac works. There's one other aspect that Dave Taylor doesn't mention: messing about with your Mac from the command line can be a whole lot of fun! Learning Unix for Mac OS X Mountain Lionby Dave Taylor $19.99 (ebook $12.99), O'Reilly (oreilly.com) 2012; 236 pages, ISBN: 978-1-4493-3231-0 x n 38 MacDirectory