- Author:
- Anonymous
From the Book: Most security books demand only moderate sales, and thus Maximum Security II's success was a pleasant surprise. Even more surprising, though, were the reader responses I received. Not only did readers like the material, but they were anxious to see more. This left me wondering what type of book I should write next. I spoke with my editors, and they reiterated a point that many readers had made: Maximum Security II was good, but what about a book that focused on a specific operating system I agreed that this was a good idea in principle, but the question remained: Which operating system In the end we chose Linux, and I'd like to explain why. For many years Linux was a dark horse, an iconoclastic choice for folks seeking alternatives to Microsoft. In those early days, the Linux life was a lonely one. I remember conversations with friends who were dissatisfied with their own operating systems. They didn't have the source code, they resented paying high prices for development tools, and so on. In response, I always offered the same advice: Get Linux. Inevitably, they'd hem and haw, citing a dozen different reasons why they couldn't (with lack of technical support topping the list). Today, those same folks ring me up to share their latest Linux experiences. Some have learned Perl, while others are now deeply entrenched in Expect programming. Times certainly do change. In the interim, Linux did more than grow; it grew up. Once a system expressly for hackers, Linux is now being installed in corporate environments on a daily basis. These developments are due in large part to Linux's track record. Over time, Linux has proven to be stable andenterprise-worthy. In fact, there are precious few barriers to keep Linux from being installed on mission-critical servers of every variety. There is one such barrier, though, and it often rears its ugly head at technical meetings: Linux security. I struggle with this beast myself whenever clients ask those familiar questions: "But is Linux. really secure " "Wouldn't we be safer with NT " "Our people at least know NT." Perhaps the most common complaint is that there simply aren't enough Linux security books available. So, my reasons for writing Maximum Linux Security were to demonstrate that Linux is secure and to provide a useful Linux security text. I hope that this book fulfills those aims.