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Two BSD-specific UNIX user's guides still in print are: +
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- Berkeley Unix: A Simple and Comprehensive Guide. +Order from Amazon +
- The more ambitious +An Introduction to Berkeley Unix and ANSI C +Order from Amazon +
Every advanced UNIX user will probably want a copy of +UNIX Power Tools, now in its second edition. +Order from Amazon + +
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. + +
Administering the OpenBSD System
+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. + +4.4 BSD System Manager's Manual (SMM) +O'Reilly, 1994 +
Details on what you need 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 +4.4BSD distributions, so most of them are not included with OpenBSD. +The few that are can be found via the Documents page. + +
Avoid books on installing/configuration particular "other" +distributions of BSD, as the installation procedures for each are +wildly different. + +
Books on Programming Under the BSD System
+ +4.4 BSD Programmer's Reference Manual (PRM) +O'Reilly, 1994 +
This 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! + +
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1994 +This neat little package contains a CD-ROM with just the unbundled +portions of 4.4BSD-Lite-1, which not only is obsolete, but is not a +complete, bootable system.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! + + +
Books about how the System works, for those wanting to modifying it
+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. -
At 549 pages plus 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.com -
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. -
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. -
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 it from Amazon.com -
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
+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
claims that "After 20 years, this is still the best exposition
of the workings of a 'real' operating system." Originally circulated
@@ -95,11 +141,11 @@
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.
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www@openbsd.org
-$OpenBSD: books.html,v 1.1 1998/02/26 17:55:11 ian Exp $ +$OpenBSD: books.html,v 1.2 1998/03/01 03:38:12 ian Exp $