Chapter 1. Introduction

If we were writing about any other operating system, "power tools" might mean "nifty add-on utilities to extend the power of your operating system." That sounds suspiciously like a definition of Unix: an operating system loaded with decades' worth of nifty add-on utilities.

Therefore, a book on Unix inevitably has to focus not just on add-on utilities (though we do include many of those), but on how to use clever features of the many utilities that have been made part of Unix over the years.

Unix is also important to power users because it's one of the last popular operating systems that doesn't force you to work behind an interface of menus, windows, and mouse with a "one-size(-doesn't)-fit-all" programming interface. Yes, you can use Unix interfaces with windows and menus -- and they can be great time savers in a lot of cases. But Unix also gives you building blocks that, with some training and practice, will give you many more choices than any software designer can cram onto a set of menus. If you learn to use Unix and its utilities from the command line, you don't have to be a programmer to do very powerful things with a few keystrokes.

So, it's also essential that this book teach you some of the underlying principles that make Unix such a tinkerer's paradise.

In the body of this book, we assume that you are already moderately familiar with Unix -- a journeyman hacker wanting to become a master. But at the same time, we don't want to leave beginners entirely at sea; so in this chapter, we include some fundamental concepts. We've tried to intersperse some simple tips and tricks to keep things interesting, but the ratio of concept articles to tips is much higher than in any other part of the book. The concepts covered are also much more basic. If you aren't a beginner, you can safely skip this chapter, though we may bounce you back here if you don't understand something later in the book.

Don't expect a complete introduction to Unix -- if you need that, buy an introductory book. What you'll find here is a selection of key concepts that you'll need to understand to progress beyond the beginner stage, as well as answers to frequently asked questions and problems. In some ways, consider this introduction a teaser. If you are a beginner, we want to show you enough of Unix to whet your appetite for more.

Also, don't expect everything to be in order. Because we don't want you to get in the habit of reading through each chapter from beginning to end, as in most books, the articles in this chapter are in loose order. We've tried not to make you jump around too much, but we've also avoided a lot of the transitional material that makes reading most books a chore.

--TOR, JP, and SP