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-We are now associated with Amazon.com +
We are now associated with Amazon.com so that you can order some of these books directly from them. Ordering from these "Order from Amazon" links is a way of helping to fund the OpenBSD project. -
"Berkeley UNIX" (now known as "BSD", for Berkeley Software Distribution) -is so widely known that there is no need to list + +
+ +"Berkeley UNIX" is so widely known that there is no need to list the basic "how-to" books about it here - there are too many to list! -Some of the user guides cover exclusively the System V version, or -some specific implementation such as Solaris, Linux, or whatever, -while others try to be general. There are some that cover Berkeley UNIX. -
UNIX Made Easy is one general book that -is said to be good, though we've not tested it. -Order from Amazon. -
Two BSD-specific UNIX user's guides still in print are: -
Every advanced UNIX user will probably want a copy of -UNIX Power Tools, now in its second edition. +While some user guides exclusively cover System V Unix, or some +other specific implementation such as Solaris, Linux, or whichever, +most others try to be general. +These are some that cover Berkeley UNIX.
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You may see reference to the 4.4 BSD -User's Reference Manual (URM), O'Reilly, 1994. + +
+ +You may see reference to the + +4.4 BSD User's Reference Manual (URM), +(O'Reilly, 1994). This is just a reprint of the man pages for users. Your OpenBSD distribution includes the online man pages, which are specific to OpenBSD, and more up-to-date. So -you don't need this one: use the man command instead. +you don't need this one: use the man command instead. +
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+ We can't unreservedly recommend any books specifically on OpenBSD Administration at present. However, if you're administering OpenBSD -you may also have to administer other versions of UNIX. A good -book on UNIX administration, with special mentions of details in -SunOS, Solaris, and BSDI, the commercial 4.4BSD distribution, is -UNIX System Administration Handbook, Second Edition, by Evi Nemeth, -Garth Snyder, et al. -Order from Amazon. +you may also have to administer other versions of UNIX. +A good book on UNIX administration, with special mentions of details in +SunOS, Solaris, and BSDI (the commercial 4.4BSD distribution) is + +UNIX System Administration Handbook +(Second Edition, by Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, et al.) +( +Order from Amazon.)
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4.4 BSD System Manager's Manual (SMM) -O'Reilly, 1994 -
Details on what you need to run a BSD system. +The +4.4 BSD System Manager's Manual (SSM) +(O'Reilly, 1994) +details what you need to know to run a BSD system. Quite a bit of this material is relevant to OpenBSD. Unfortunately it is currently out of print. -Worse, Due to licensing restrictions from AT&T, -the electronic editions of these were not included in the +Worse, due to licensing restrictions from AT&T, +the electronic editions of these were not included in the 4.4BSD distributions, so most of them are not included with OpenBSD. -The few that are can be found via the Documents page. +The few that are may be found via the Documents page. +
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Avoid books on installing/configuration particular "other" -distributions of BSD, as the installation procedures for each are -wildly different. +Building Linux and OpenBSD Firewalls +(Wes Sonnenreich, Tom Yates) +describes the OpenBSD 2.5 installation process and the elementary management +of the system firewalling tools. +( +Order from Amazon.)
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4.4 BSD Programmer's Reference Manual (PRM) -O'Reilly, 1994 -
This is a printed version of the Programmer's Manual. +
+ + +4.4 BSD Programmer's Reference Manual (PRM) +(O'Reilly, 1994) +is a printed version of the Programmer's Manual. You have the online man pages, which are specific to OpenBSD, instead. -Use the man command to read these! +Since the descriptions in the book pre-date the POSIX specification, +please use the online pages, using the man command.
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BSD-Lite 4.4 CD-ROM Companion: International Edition -UC Berkeley Staff, Computer Systems Research Group; O'Reilly, 1994 -This neat little package contains a CD-ROM with just the unbundled -portions of 4.4BSD-Lite-1, which not only is obsolete, but is not a -complete, bootable system. Also a small booklet listing contributors, -and the index to the printed man pages. Overall, not very useful. -Buy an OpenBSD CD-ROM instead! + +BSD-Lite 4.4 CD-ROM Companion: International Edition +(UC Berkeley Staff, Computer Systems Research Group; O'Reilly, 1994) +is a neat little package containing a CD-ROM with just the unbundled +portions of 4.4BSD-Lite-1, which is not only obsolete, but also an incomplete +and unbootable system. A small booklet is included listing the original +BSD contributors, and an index to the printed man pages. +Besides being a piece of history, this is not very useful. +We suggest you buy an OpenBSD CD-ROM instead.
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An older book which still sheds much light on the philosophy -of programming UNIX is The UNIX Programming Environment, -by Kernighan and Pike. It is not specific to BSD, but most of it applies. -Order from Amazon. +A much older book which still sheds much light on the philosophy +of programming UNIX is + +The UNIX Programming Environment, +(Kernighan and Pike). While not specific to BSD, most of it applies today. +( +Order from Amazon).
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Another older book which Brian Kernighan had a hand in, and which +Another older book which Brian Kernighan had a hand in, and which we recommend even though it's not UNIX specific, is -The Elements of Programming Style. + +The Elements of Programming Style. This book contains more common sense than many books triple or quadruple its weight. -Order from Amazon. +( +Order from Amazon).
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The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System +
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+The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System
Marshal Kirk McKusick, Keith Bostic, Michael J. Karels, John S. Quarterman
-Addison-Wesley: 1996. ISBN 0-201-54979-4.
+Addison-Wesley: 1996. ISBN 0-201-54979-4.
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At 549 pages plus index. this must be considered comprehensive. +At 549 pages plus an index, this must be considered comprehensive. McKusick, Bostic and Karels are well known as prime movers at Berkeley CSRG (Computer Systems Research Group) during the 4.3/4.4BSD period. This book covers the 4.4 and 4.4-Lite releases, and discusses everything you wanted to know about how the system operates. Not 100% applicable, but probably the closest there is to an overall system internals manual for OpenBSD. -Order from Amazon +( +Order from Amazon).
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The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System -Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick -
An earlier book from many of the same good folk at CSRG.
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+The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System
+(Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick).
+An earlier book from many of the same good folk at CSRG.
Slightly dated, but gives an overall feel for the beast if you can find
-it real cheap at a garage sale.
+it real cheap at a garage sale.
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The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System : Answer Book + +The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System : Answer Book + Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick -1991 -
Answers to the "exercises for the reader" in the 4.3 version of the book.
+1991
+Answers to the "exercises for the reader" in the 4.3 version of the book.
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Source Code Secrets: The Basic 386BSD -Operating System Reference -(Volume 1 of Operating System Source Code Secrets) -L. W. Jolitz, William Jolitz -1997 -
The Jolitzes built the first port of BSD to the PC-386 architecture,
+Source Code Secrets: The Basic 386BSD
+Operating System Reference
+(Volume 1 of Operating System Source Code Secrets)
+(L. W. Jolitz, William Jolitz, 1997)
+The Jolitzes built the first port of BSD to the PC-386 architecture,
and deserve a lot of credit for making BSD portable to this low-cost
architecture. The earliest versions, called "386bsd", were described
in articles in Dr. Dobbs Journal. This book goes beyond the articles,
and provides a comprehensive annotated collection of source code.
Not all of it applies to modern versions of OpenBSD, of course, but
you can still learn a lot from it.
-Order from Amazon
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+Order from Amazon
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Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition with Source Code, +Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition with Source Code, Peer-to-Peer ommunications, 1996. ISBN 1-57398-013-7. Although the UNIX described in this book is to BSD as a Model T Ford is to a 70's Mustang or Thunderbird, UNIX inventor Ken Thompson @@ -162,11 +210,13 @@ UNIX hackers cut their code-teeth on. Recommended as a good introduction to how a timesharing OS works, if you've not been inside one before. Substantially shorter than the McKusick book above. -Order from Amazon -
-www@openbsd.org
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+www@openbsd.org
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