Linux Appliance Design - New from No Starch Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact:  media@nostarch.com
+1 415.863.9900 x302

No Starch Press Releases Linux Appliance Design: 
A Hands-On Guide to Building Linux Appliances

April 6, 2007, San Francisco--Modern appliances are complex machines, with
processors, operating systems, and application software. While there are
books that describe how to run Linux on embedded hardware and books on how
to build a Linux application, "Linux Appliance Design" (April 2007, No
Starch Press, http://www.nostarch.com/appliance.htm) is the first book to
demonstrate how to merge the two to create a Linux appliance.  

Linux is the embedded operating system of choice for low-cost development
and fast time to market. "Linux Appliance Design" shows how to use Linux to
build better appliances-appliances with more types of interfaces, more
dynamic interfaces, and better debugged interfaces. Readers learn how to
build backend daemons, handle asynchronous events, and connect various
user interfaces (including web, frame buffers, infrared control, SNMP, and
front panels) to these processes for configuration and control. Linux
Appliance Design also introduces the Runtime Access library, which
provides a uniform mechanism for user interfaces to communicate with
daemons.

The bundled CD includes a prototype appliance-a home alarm system-that
supports the book's lessons. It uses a liberal BSD style license, which
allows readers to use it as the basis for their own appliances.

"We're continuing to feed the growing hunger for Linux content in the
marketplace," said No Starch Press publisher and founder Bill Pollock.
"Linux is very well suited for use in appliances, but it's difficult to
find engineers who know how to combine both the hardware and software.
This book distills the work and experience of four engineers into one very
compelling volume."

Readers learn how to:

-Separate user interfaces from daemons
-Give user interfaces run time access to configuration, status, and
statistics
-Add professional network management capabilities to applications
-Use SNMP and build a MIB
-Build a web-based appliance and a command line interface (CLI)
-Build a framebuffer interface that uses an infrared control as input
-Manage logs and alarms on an appliance

Additional Resources:
Table of contents: http://www.nostarch.com/appliance_toc.htm 
Sample chapter: Chapter 12: Infared Remote Control 
http://www.nostarch.com/download/LinuxAppliance_chapter12...

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Bob Smith, John Hardin, Graham Phillips, and Bill
Pierce have experience in embedded systems, commercial Linux and BSD
appliances, network management systems, and designing software solutions
for business problems.

Linux Appliance Design: A Hands-On Guide to Building Linux Appliances
by Bob Smith, John Hardin, Graham Phillips, and Bill Pierce
April 2007, 356 pp., CD, ISBN 978-1-59327-140-4, US$59.95
Available at fine bookstores everywhere, from www.oreilly.com/nostarch, or
directly from No Starch Press (www.nostarch.com, orders@nostarch.com,
800.420.7240). 

ABOUT NO STARCH PRESS: Founded in 1994, No Starch Press is one of the few
remaining independent computer book publishers. We publish the finest in
geek entertainment--unique books on technology, with a focus on Open
Source, security, hacking, programming, and alternative operating systems.
Our titles have personality, our authors are passionate, and our books
tackle topics that people care about. No Starch Press titles have been
included in the prestigious Communication Arts Design Annual and STEP
inside 100 competition, and have won the Ippy Award from Independent
Publisher magazine. See www.nostarch.com for more information and our
complete online catalog. (And most No Starch Press books use RepKover, a
lay-flat binding that won't snap shut.)

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