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Old 18th April 2016
jjstorm jjstorm is offline
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Default Unix Books for beginners

The Design of the Unix Operating System, by Maurice J. Back, 1986

Unix Internals: The New Frontiers, by Uresh Vahalia, 1996


Since I am a beginner, it was suggested I read one or both of the above books before I read The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System, by Marshall Kirk McKusick , Keith Bostic, Michael J. Karels, John S. Quarterman, 1996

I want to know if the first two books are still relevant and worth reading?
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Old 18th April 2016
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jjstorm View Post
I want to know if the first two books are still relevant and worth reading?
Yes, both are well written & useful tomes.

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Old 18th April 2016
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I think the question is: what do you want to do?
Learn general Unix? Learn how to code in Unix?
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Old 18th April 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by graudeejs View Post
I think the question is: what do you want to do?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjstorm View Post
Since I am a beginner (...)
I may be wrong, but I think he wants to learn Unix
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Old 19th April 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by graudeejs View Post
I think the question is: what do you want to do?
Learn general Unix? Learn how to code in Unix?
The first, and eventually, a bit of the latter.
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Old 19th April 2016
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As you are deploying OpenBSD, consider Absolute OpenBSD, by Michael W. Lucas. I rave about the book, and have done so for years, so I won't do it again here. Except to shill it: A sample chapter is available for download from the publisher, NoStarch Press: https://www.nostarch.com/download/samples/ao2e_ch8.pdf and the book is available in several formats. Discount from the author here: https://www.michaelwlucas.com/nonfic...solute-openbsd
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Old 19th April 2016
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Quote:
As you are deploying OpenBSD, consider Absolute OpenBSD
1+

For me, the best reinforcement of a recent reading, is utilizing it on a current, working system.
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Old 19th April 2016
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And another Michael Lucas fan here. Anything he writes is great--I still make use of his FreeBSD book written back around 4.x or 5.x
One of those smart people who can explain it to stupid people like me.
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Old 19th April 2016
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Quote:
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As you are deploying OpenBSD, consider Absolute OpenBSD, by Michael W. Lucas. I rave about the book, and have done so for years, so I won't do it again here. Except to shill it: A sample chapter is available for download from the publisher, NoStarch Press: https://www.nostarch.com/download/samples/ao2e_ch8.pdf and the book is available in several formats. Discount from the author here: https://www.michaelwlucas.com/nonfic...solute-openbsd
You don't have to be a Unix expert to quickly realize that Absolute OpenBSD: Unix for the Practical Paranoid, by Michael W. Lucas, 2013 is an excellent resource, well thought out and written book. I knew I wanted it, just after glancing over the acknowledgements and introduction.

I have read 5 or 6 of the 23 chapters and have been able to learn from every one so far. I especially appreciated the sections where Michael extends on the content you can find in the faq for that particular subject. I plan on reading the entire book as time permits.

But even Michael states in his Introduction, " This book is written for experienced Unix users and system administrators". That is why I figured I would look for some beginner books so I can have a better understanding of unix as a whole before moving to more advanced subjects.
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Old 19th April 2016
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It's hard to tell as I'm no longer a beginner, but my feeling is that in both that book and the FreeBSD book, though in both cases, I'm thinking of older editions, a beginner could also learn a great deal from it.

BTW, that doesn't mean I think I'm a master, just that I am comfortable with basic concepts.
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Old 19th April 2016
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We were all beginners once. I was a BSD newbie when I picked up the first edition. I lived with that book in hand for years on end. Even though the OS constantly evolves, the writing style is such that it stayed relevant.

That edition still sits proudly on my shelf, next to the second edition. Dog eared, tired, very well worn and well used, it has more than earned its gentle retirement.
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Old 19th April 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jjstorm View Post
But even Michael states in his Introduction, " This book is written for experienced Unix users and system administrators".
The book is also suitable for beginners, because he begins each topic with basic information and then moves on to more advanced stuff. Experienced people can skip the beginning of each chapter and jump into the dirty stuff, but the book is also a treasure trove for beginners. It helped me a great deal.
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Old 4th October 2016
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I bought & read The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System, it is heavy going, & quite pointless, I found out, unless you intend on modifying kernal source code.

Get one of Micheal M. Lucas 'Absolute' books - I have both first & second edition OpenBSD's, & I will buy the third if it comes about, for a few ££'s, well worth the money to someone who wants to use OpenBSD.

P.S. Unix Tools is also worth getting if you want to use the command line.
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