The fourth volume in a new series exploring the basics of Raspberry Pi Operating System administration, this installment builds on the insights provided in Volumes 1, 2, and 3 to provide a compendium of easy-to-use and essential Raspberry Pi OS administration for the novice user, with specific focus on ancillary topics that can be used with the Raspberry Pi OS based upon upstream Debian Bookworm release, and the Raspberry Pi 5.

The overriding idea behind system administration of a modern, 21st-century Linux system such as the Raspberry Pi OS is the use of systemd to ensure that the Linux kernel works efficiently and effectively to provide these three foundation stones of computer operation and management: computer system concurrency, virtualization, and secure persistence. This fourth volume includes full-chapter explications, with many examples, of the following:

1. the Zettabyte File System (ZFS)
2. the X Window System, the Wayland protocol, XWayland, the Wayfire window manager, XCB, Qt5, and GTK4 graphics
3. the Emacs text editor, and
4. a basic introduction to important Raspberry Pi commands for the novice user

This book is aimed at students and practitioners looking to maximize their use of the Raspberry Pi OS. With plenty of practical examples, projects, and exercises, this volume can also be adopted in a more formal learning environment to supplement and extend the basic knowledge of a Linux operating system.

Robert M. Koretsky is a retired lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Portland School of Engineering. He previously worked as an automotive engineering designer at the Freightliner Corp. in Portland, Oregon. He’s married, and has two kids and two grandkids.