12

Chapter 1. The Philosophy of System Administration

  gedit(1)

man page and Help menu entry   Learn how to edit text files with this graphical text

editor.

  emacs(1)

man page   Information (including instructions for running an online tutorial) on how

to use this text editor.

  vim(1)

man page   Learn how to use this text based editor.

  mozilla(1)

man page and Help Contents menu entry   Learn how to edit HTML files, read

mail, and browse the Web.

Quanta Handbook menu entry   Learn how to edit HTML files with this graphical HTML editor.

  evolution(1)

man page and Help menu entry   Learn how to manage your email with this

graphical email client.

  pine(1)

man page and ? menu entry   Learn how to manage your email with this text based

email client.

  mutt(1)

man page and files in

/usr/share/doc/mutt  version

  Learn how to manage

your email with this text based email client.

  pam(8)

man page and files in

/usr/share/doc/pam  version

  Learn how authentication

takes place under Red Hat Linux.

  tripwire(8)

man page   Learn how to configure and run this intrusion detection software.

1.12.2. Useful Websites

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/   The Linux PAM project homepage.

http://www.usenix.org/   The USENIX homepage. A professional organization dedicated to bring 

ing together computer professionals of all types and fostering improved communication and inno 

vation.

http://www.sage.org/   The System Administrators Guild homepage. A USENIX special technical

group that is a good resource for all system administrators responsible for Linux (or Linux like)

operating systems.

http://www.tripwire.org/   The Tripwire homepage.

1.12.3. Related Books

Most books on system administration do little to cover the philosophy behind the job. However, the

following books do have sections that give a bit more depth to the issues that were discussed here:

The Red Hat Linux Reference Guide; Red Hat, Inc.   Provides an overview of locations of key

system files, user and group settings, PAM configuration, and Tripwire usage.

The Red Hat Linux Security Guide; Red Hat, Inc.   Contains a comprehensive discussion of many

security related issues for Red Hat Linux system administrators.

The Red Hat Linux Customization Guide; Red Hat, Inc.   Includes chapters on managing users

and groups, automating tasks, and managing log files.

The Red Hat Linux Getting Started GuideRed Hat, Inc.   Discusses Web browsing, email, and

basic shell command usage.

The Official Red Hat Linux Administrator's Guide and the Official Red Hat Linux User's Guide

(both published by Red Hat Press) are compilations of various chapters from the Red Hat Linux

documentation mentioned above. As such, they are viable alternatives for people that do not have

the printed Red Hat Linux manuals available to them.