From owner-freebsd-newbies Thu Mar 9 2:36:54 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Received: from phoenix.welearn.com.au (phoenix.welearn.com.au [139.130.44.81]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A263237B6B4 for ; Thu, 9 Mar 2000 02:36:46 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from sue@phoenix.welearn.com.au) Received: (from sue@localhost) by phoenix.welearn.com.au (8.9.3/8.9.3) id VAA56149; Thu, 9 Mar 2000 21:36:16 +1100 (EST) (envelope-from sue) Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 21:36:14 +1100 From: Sue Blake To: Greg Lehey Cc: Cosmic 665 , cwalker@computech-ca.com, freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Good unix books [was: FreeBSD] Message-ID: <20000309213609.C55874@welearn.com.au> Mail-Followup-To: Greg Lehey , Cosmic 665 , cwalker@computech-ca.com, freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG References: <20000309034055.68220.qmail@hotmail.com> <20000309142747.M58942@freebie.lemis.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.95.4i In-Reply-To: <20000309142747.M58942@freebie.lemis.com>; from Greg Lehey on Thu, Mar 09, 2000 at 02:27:47PM +1030 Sender: owner-freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org On Thu, Mar 09, 2000 at 02:27:47PM +1030, Greg Lehey wrote: > > The real question is: what's a good book for learning UNIX? There > were none when I learnt UNIX, but one book I rather like is "UNIX for > the Impatient" by Abrahams and Larson (Addison Wesley). I'd be > interested in feedback from real newbies who have started out with > this book, because it will help me decide whether to continue > recommending it. Well I'm not a "real newbie" but I still flash the scars :-) I found the approach of "UNIX for the Impatient" reassuring at first, but reading it got boring very quickly even though the subject matter was interesting and well handled. Later I used it as a reference for longer alternative explanations of matters not essential to just doing it. The book has a handy chapter on X from a humble X user's perspective which provided the orientation I would have liked to have found in those early days when I couldn't fathom how to use the mouse or get rid of X off the screen. The reason why this and so many other unix books bore me is that they are excruciatingly passive. I'm not here to listen to what others know about unix, I'm here to enjoy doing what I can do and find out how I can do more. To me, a book that I learn from has to be there to assist my learning directly. I feel like saying "Hey Author, you think you've told me something on that page? OK, you prove it! You show me something that _I_ can do now that _I_ couldn't do a few pages ago, and you let me try it out with my own fingers in some way that is interesting and valid. Then let me gloat over my latest small achievement rather than being relieved that I've finished listening to your chapter." By buying the book I have acknowledged the author's ability, and by working through it I deserve to have mine acknowledged. That's hard to organise when working alone. If I lack confidence it will be more important for the author to extract from me acts that will produce non-book proof that I'm really getting somewhere, before yet another chunk of information gets poured into my eyes and I give up in despair. Of course we need reference books and books with a more theoretical approach, but both of those would work better if used in support of a learner-centred book which also covered theory (the "how and why" part) as it went along. Books that teach other topics often work this way, but I am yet to see a unix book that does. "UNIX Power Tools" comes close because its articles are all very brief, practical and written in an approachable style. They arouse curiosity and disbelief, so that you can't resist putting the book down and having a go, then you stare in amazement, then rush back to reconcile your output with the examples and explanations. This book provided the best fun I'd had with my clothes on since installing FreeBSD. But it's supposed to be a book for power users, not beginners. Compare a typical introductory unix book with any introductory hobby carpentry or knitting book or even a foreign language or mathematics textbook. To me the difference is clear and huge. If no unix books of this kind exist and there are people like me who need that hands on learner centred confidence building approach, one day I might have to write one. I'd rather discover now that one already exists or that nobody else wants one. -- Regards, -*Sue*- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message