This book is the result of the collaborative effort of not just the principal authors, but of the Ubuntu Server team itself. As it is the official, authorized book on Ubuntu Server, the focus has been on a server guide based on our collective experience. Beyond that, the goal is to have something to offer to both the beginner system administrator and the battle-hardened senior sysadmin. On the surface it might seem a tough balance to achieve, but in reality both groups ultimately want the same thing: for their servers to work. Now it?s true that some administrators revel in doing things the hard way. Some even treat it as a point of pride. The thing is, all of us who have administered servers for years can do and have done things the hard way as well, but ultimately you realize that there?s nothing particularly impressive in doing everything by hand?in the end you just have too much to do and any time-saving steps are welcome. As you will see, most of this book takes a pragmatic approach to server management. Where Ubuntu offers new programs or features to ease administration and save time, you will find them mentioned here. If you are a beginner administrator, you will find that administering an Ubuntu server isn?t nearly as difficult as you might think. Experienced administrators, especially those coming from other platforms, will find numerous time-saving tips and programs, as well as where Ubuntu has updated how a service is organized (Apache being a good example); you can treat this book as a map to point you to all of the right directories. One great thing about Ubuntu as a server is that there are so many great server packages available for it. Of course, this creates a dilemma for us as writers: It?s just not possible to feature every available e-mail and IMAP/POP3 server, for instance. In these cases we?ve tried to pick out programs that are easy to install, configure, and use under Ubuntu as well as highlight programs that are preferred by the authors and server team. While doing that, there?s a good chance that your favorite program for X, Y, and Z was left out. It?s certainly no slight against any of those programs?we just had to draw the line somewhere.