Book review: The Debian System

As the title of the book suggests, this isn't about GNU/Linux. It's
not about the GNU programs that come with the Debian distribution.
Instead, the book with its 600 pages (incl. a Debian sarge DVD) is
fully loaded. Martin F. Krafft, an active Debian developer, goes
through great lengths to describe the interplay of Debian's tools,
and the project's philosophy.

Krafft begins with an introduction to Debian, its history, and the
philosophy of free software to bootstrap the reader into the matter.
Introductory topics such as Debian's installation or the
organization of the project are also covered and offer the reader
a comprehensive picture of Debian.

Subsequently, things become more complex. He describes the Debian
package management in all its glory: the interaction between dpkg
and the frontends (apt, aptitude, synaptic, etc.), and
peculiarities of the system, such as Debian package version
numbering. Furthermore, a large part of the tools, that make an
administrator's day-to-day life easier, are presented and explained
in detail. The book is especially suited for administrators as it
identifies typical problems with the distribution, and offers
solutions to counter them.

Topics of primary relevance to developers, such as packaging, are
also extensively covered. It struck positively that the author
also examines newer, alternative build tools, such as yada and cdbs,
and describes manual packaging, that is package creation without the
use of debhelper. This is one of the reasons why this book is of
particular interest to prospective developers and people, who have
to build their own packages for whatever reason. New maintainers can
draw from the book a good overview of the knowledge required to
become a Debian developer.

Krafft manages to illustrate topics such as APT pinning, which have
a reputation of being complicated and daunting, in an accessible
way. For inexperienced Debian users, this book will also be
a pleasant read. It is not, however, a topical user-oriented book.

Instead, the book targets administrators, developers, and those that
work with Debian on a regular basis. Nevertheless, even long-time
users will most certainly find new and interesting stuff between the
covers. Whoever considers the information on the Debian website to
be too dry will find in this book an enticing alternative.

In my opinion, the book has the potential to become the future
Debian Bible. It is nice to see that Martin F. Krafft regularly
publishes additional information and errata on the book's website
http://debiansystem.info .