Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 21:36:14 +1100 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> Cc: Cosmic 665 <the_hermit665@hotmail.com>, cwalker@computech-ca.com, freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Good unix books [was: FreeBSD] Message-ID: <20000309213609.C55874@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <20000309142747.M58942@freebie.lemis.com>; from Greg Lehey on Thu, Mar 09, 2000 at 02:27:47PM %2B1030 References: <20000309034055.68220.qmail@hotmail.com> <20000309142747.M58942@freebie.lemis.com>
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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*-
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