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Date:      Fri, 27 Aug 1999 21:31:05 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Chuck Robey <chuckr@picnic.mat.net>
To:        Greg Lynn <dglynn@vaview5.vavu.vt.edu>
Cc:        freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Book opinions...
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.10.9908272121480.369-100000@picnic.mat.net>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.990827210216.8939A-100000@vaview5.vavu.vt.edu>

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On Fri, 27 Aug 1999, Greg Lynn wrote:

> 
> Hello all, has anybody here read these books?
> 
> Unix Internals : The New Frontiers 
> 	by:  Uresh Vahalia 
> and 
> 
> The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating 
> System (Unix and Open Systems Series.)
> 	by Marshall Kirk McKusick (Editor), Keith Bostic, 
> 	Michael J. Karels (Editor)
> 
> If so could you give me some feedback on them? 

God, many of us have read them.  New Frontiers, it's a good overview of
how various different modern unixes approach solving problems common to
them all.  Really recommended AFTER you understand unix to begin with.
It's not a basic book, and if you don't understand things like
filesystems, shared memory, networking, and interprocess communications
(what they are, and how they fit into unix) then this book probably is
too much.

The second book, The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating
System, is a really good primer in how 4.4BSD unix works.  Consider that
it needs somewhat less background to understand (you might want to read
this before reading the first book).

Honestly, depending on how much one knows of the tasks confronting
operating systems, I personally wouldn't recommend either as a first
exploration.  Please understand that what follows is very much my own
opinion, but I think a primer of what the features are is a better place
to start.  I think that the best place to start is an old AT&T book by
Maurice Bach, "The Design Of The Unix Operating System".  None of the
methods that he describes are really used anymore, but the problems
haven't changed, and since he gives *great* little C code snippets that
illustrate the problems as clear as day, I think this is the book that
ought to be read first.  This will set the context for you, and then you
will be ready to tackle either of the books above.  On top of that, it's
an easy, interesting read.

> 
> -Greg
> 
> 
> 
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