April 2002

Executor 2.1: Emulating the Mac OS

Bob Alexander

If you've been hanging on to an old Mac just to run a favorite legacy app, Executor may enable you to free up some (physical) desktop space.

Certification Scope: Preparing for the Sair 201 Exam

Emmett Dulaney

The Core Practices and Concepts exam is a mandatory part of the Sair Linux and GNU Level II (Engineer) certification program. Emmett provides a complete list of study tips to help you prepare.

UnixReview's Shell Corner Roundup: Unix Backup Scripts

Ed Schaefer

In his monthly Shell Corner column, Ed presents a winning shell script from our reader submissions. Here, he shares three backup scripts: nfs_backup, mirrorcopy, and backup.ss. (This article originally appeared in the April 2002 issue of Sys Admin magazine. Used with permission.)

Tool of the Month: Incyte Project Manager

Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier

Zonker reports on an open source project management solution that's Web-accessible and easy to use.

Shell Corner: Moving Files with Perl's Net::FTP Module

Ed Schaefer

Ed presents ftp_mover.pl, a client that uses the Net::FTP module to communicate with a server. Congratulations and $100 go to Ryan Ware for submitting this winning script.

Introduction to Expert Systems

Marc Briand

Expert systems can be loosely defined as computer programs that apply human expertise in solving problems. This book focuses on how expert systems are implemented and should interest anyone who'd like to see how AI works "under the hood."

Doing Many Things, Like pings

Randal L. Schwartz

As a Unix systems administrator, I’m often faced with those little mundane tasks that seem so trivial to me but so important to the community I’m supporting. Little things like “hey, is that host up and responding to pings?”. Such tasks generally have a very repetitive nature to them, and scripting them seems to be the only way to have time to concentrate on the tasks that really need my attention.

Regular Expressions: Syntax Checking the Scripting Way

Cameron Laird and Kathryn Soraiz

Static syntax analysis is a low-cost way to improve your programs. Laird and Soraiz discuss a variety of code analyzers, paying particular attention to Pychecker for Python.

IP Routing

Emmett Dulaney

Most network administrators know something about routing, but many feel they don't know enough about it. The purpose of the newly published IP Routing is to fill the knowledge gaps that administrators may have.

The Open Road: Using ht://Dig

Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier

A conversation about Web usability recently sprang up on my LUG's discussion list. There were diverse opinions about what constitutes usability, but virtually everyone agreed on two points: first, the unnecessary and increasing use of Flash animations detracts from usability, particularly when sites provide no other means of viewing their content; second, a quality search engine is absolutely vital. No matter how clean and well-designed the interface is, on sites with a fair amount of content, you need to be able to type in a search term and pull up the content you want right now.

Me and My Mentor

Emmett Dulaney

Don't let this happen to you. Dulaney shares a "Chilli" tale of woe that began with an innocent trip to his local computer superstore.

Upgrading to Solaris 8

Peter Baer Galvin

Solaris 8 is inarguably the best Solaris release generally available, but it may not be right for everyone. Galvin explores reasons to stay put and reasons to upgrade, and provides detailed how-to-upgrade instructions.