Customer Rating:  
Summary: Outdated and Poorly Targeted
Comment: This book is targeted at the wrong people. It's written at a level of detail that falls somewhere between what you'd need if you already know how to work with Apache and that you'd need if you've never worked with it before. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to provide the information that's really most-needed for either end of the spectrum. There's little more than hand-waving over how and where to set up webs on a server or how to deal with configuration differences in Unix flavors. And the organization appears to be a weird hybrid between the "read all and understand" and the "do as you read" models for software books. My advice: Look for another book, or look this one over very carefully to make sure it's suitable for your level of experience and learning style.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Less than expected
Comment: I have to agree with many of the reviews. This book is not up to par with other O'Reilly editions. It is a good reference, though not worth the price considering the on-line docs are free. Also, there is something about the tone of the book and the writing style that seemed inappropriate for a technical book. Attempting to be funny in a private sort of way, poking fun at sales types and company motives. It gets old pretty quick. The book repeatedly stresses that Win32 is not a serious platform for securing web sites. This is true, but many of us have no choice. The authors refuse to cover Win32 security, and make repeated claims that Win32 is poorly documented and understood. Well...isn't that what books are for? Don't bother with the book if you're on Win32.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I need something better
Comment: I did not like this book. I think you can do much better with another Apache book. The authors basically wrote a diary of setting up a webserver from start to finish. They seem board out of their mind and try to be funny ever once and a while. They copy the man pages word for word occasionally.I need something serious and authoritive where the authors are passionate about the subject like the authors in "Unix Power Tools" or "Unix System Administration Handbook" Come on O'Reilly, give us a better book on Apache and show us how to install PHP.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You'd Be Better Off Printing the Apache Online Help
Comment: This book, unlike virtually every other O'Reilly book I own, almost completely fails in its effort to educate the reader. Each chapter starts out with a page or two of well-written text, then, just when you become interested you're faced with page after page of configuration settings, with very little explanation of what each setting does or, more importantly, why you would ever care what it does. Worse, the authors tend to use a lot of words where a few would have been better. For example, instead of just saying that Apache would report an error they say "you have a problem that's signaled by disagreeable messages at the client end, plus equivalent stories in the log files on the server..."Huh? As I said in the title, you'd be better off printing the Apache help, because at least it's free.
Customer Rating:
Summary: For those new to Apache...
Comment: I respectfully disagree with most of the reviews I've read in this book. As the back of
the book states it is designed primarily for those who are "new" to Apache (as I am). As such,
this book has been a great help to my understanding of how to set up and configure an Apache
webserver. It takes you through the evolution of a sample site and allows you to see and witness how the
Apache configuration changes to accomodate the web site. It teaches you by doing, not just by a
bunch of idle, technical words. I have not finished the book yet, but I have already set up Name-based,
IP-based, Mixed-based hosts etc... with great ease. I'm using Win32!!. This book is great for the Apache beginner,
Take it from me :)
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