Annotation of www/books.html, Revision 1.12
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1.2 ian 13: <TITLE>The OpenBSD Bookstore</TITLE>
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1.5 ian 21: </A>
1.1 ian 22:
23: <H1><font color=#e00000>Books about BSD</font></H1>
1.2 ian 24: <P>We are now associated with <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com"> Amazon.com</A>
25: so that you can order some of these books directly from them.
26: <EM>Ordering from these "Order from Amazon" links is a way of helping to
1.4 ian 27: fund the OpenBSD project</EM>.
1.1 ian 28: <H2>User Guides</H2>
1.3 millert 29: <P>"Berkeley UNIX" (now known as "BSD", for Berkeley Software Distribution)
1.1 ian 30: is so widely known that there is no need to list
31: the basic "how-to" books about it here - there are too many to list!
32: Some of the user guides cover exclusively the System V version, or
33: some specific implementation such as Solaris, Linux, or whatever,
34: while others try to be general. There are some that cover Berkeley UNIX.
1.4 ian 35: <P><FONT COLOR="Red">UNIX Made Easy</FONT> is one general book that
36: is said to be good, though we've not tested it.
1.2 ian 37: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0078821738/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>.
38: <P>Two BSD-specific UNIX user's guides still in print are:
39: <UL>
40: <LI><FONT COLOR=Red>Berkeley Unix: A Simple and Comprehensive Guide</FONT>.
41: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=047161582X/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>
42: <LI>The more ambitious
43: <FONT COLOR=Red>An Introduction to Berkeley Unix and ANSI C</FONT>
44: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0130684953/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>
45: </UL>
46: <P>Every advanced UNIX user will probably want a copy of
47: <FONT COLOR=Red>UNIX Power Tools</FONT>, now in its second edition.
1.12 ! ian 48: This book discusses hundreds of neat tricks, little-known techniques,
! 49: and add-on utilities.
! 50: Be aware that many of the utilities are either included with OpenBSD
! 51: or, more commonly, are already available as ports or packages.
! 52: So most of section 52.03, complaining about how hard it is to port
! 53: software to different UNIXes, can be disregarded if you learn about
! 54: the <A HREF="ports.html">Ports Mechanism</A> that is part of OpenBSD.
1.2 ian 55: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1565922603/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>
56:
57: <P>You may see reference to the <FONT COLOR=Red>4.4 BSD
1.12 ! ian 58: User's Reference Manual (URM)</FONT>, O'Reilly, 1994.
! 59: This is just a reprint of the man pages for users.
1.2 ian 60: Your OpenBSD distribution includes the online man pages,
61: which are specific to OpenBSD, and more up-to-date. So
62: you don't need this one: use the <EM>man</EM> command instead.
63:
64: <H2>Administering the OpenBSD System</H2>
65: We can't unreservedly recommend any books specifically on OpenBSD
66: Administration at present. However, if you're administering OpenBSD
67: you may also have to administer other versions of UNIX. A good
68: book on UNIX administration, with special mentions of details in
69: SunOS, Solaris, and BSDI, the commercial 4.4BSD distribution, is
70: <FONT Color=Red>UNIX System Administration Handbook</FONT>, Second Edition, by Evi Nemeth,
71: Garth Snyder, et al.
72: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0131510517/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>.
73:
74: <P><FONT COLOR=Red>4.4 BSD System Manager's Manual (SMM)</FONT>
75: O'Reilly, 1994
76: <P>Details on what you need to run a BSD system.
77: Quite a bit of this material is relevant to OpenBSD.
78: Unfortunately it is currently out of print.
1.11 espie 79: Worse, Due to licensing restrictions from AT&T,
1.2 ian 80: the electronic editions of these were not included in the
81: 4.4BSD distributions, so most of them are not included with OpenBSD.
82: The few that are can be found via the <A HREF="docum.html">Documents page</A>.
83:
84: <P><EM>Avoid</EM> books on installing/configuration particular "other"
85: distributions of BSD, as the installation procedures for each are
86: wildly different.
87:
88: <H2>Books on Programming Under the BSD System</H2>
89:
90: <P><FONT COLOR=Red>4.4 BSD Programmer's Reference Manual (PRM)</FONT>
91: O'Reilly, 1994
92: <P>This is a printed version of the Programmer's Manual.
93: You have the online man pages, which are specific to OpenBSD, instead.
94: Use the <EM>man</EM> command to read these!
95:
96: <P><FONT COLOR=Red>BSD-Lite 4.4 CD-ROM Companion: International Edition</FONT>
97: UC Berkeley Staff, Computer Systems Research Group; O'Reilly, 1994
98: This neat little package contains a CD-ROM with just the unbundled
99: portions of 4.4BSD-Lite-1, which not only is obsolete, but is not a
100: complete, bootable system. Also a small booklet listing contributors,
101: and the index to the printed man pages. Overall, not very useful.
102: <A HREF="orders.html">Buy an OpenBSD CD-ROM instead!</A>
103:
1.4 ian 104: <P>An older book which still sheds much light on the philosophy
1.8 ian 105: of programming UNIX is <FONT COLOR=Red>The UNIX Programming Environment</FONT>,
1.4 ian 106: by Kernighan and Pike. It is not specific to BSD, but most of it applies.
1.8 ian 107: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=013937681X/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>.
108:
109: <P>Another older book which Brian Kernighan had a hand in, and which
110: we recommend even though it's not UNIX specific, is
111: <FONT COLOR=Red>The Elements of Programming Style</FONT>.
112: This book contains more common sense than many books triple or quadruple
113: its weight.
114: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0070342075/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>.
1.2 ian 115:
116: <H2>Books about how the System works, for those wanting to modifying it</H2>
117: <P><A HREF="http://cseng.aw.com/bookdetail.qry?ISBN=0-201-54979-4&ptype=0">The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System</A>
1.1 ian 118: Marshal Kirk McKusick, Keith Bostic, Michael J. Karels, John S. Quarterman
119: Addison-Wesley: 1996. ISBN 0-201-54979-4.
120:
1.2 ian 121: <P>At 549 pages plus index. this must be considered comprehensive.
1.1 ian 122: McKusick, Bostic and Karels are well known as prime movers at
123: Berkeley CSRG (Computer Systems Research Group) during the 4.3/4.4BSD
124: period. This book covers the 4.4 and 4.4-Lite releases, and discusses
125: everything you wanted to know about how the system operates. Not
126: 100% applicable, but probably the closest there is to an overall
127: system internals manual for OpenBSD.
1.4 ian 128: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0201549794/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>
1.1 ian 129:
1.2 ian 130: <P><FONT COLOR=Red>The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System</FONT>
1.1 ian 131: Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick
1.2 ian 132: <P>An earlier book from many of the same good folk at CSRG.
1.1 ian 133: Slightly dated, but gives an overall feel for the beast if you can find
134: it real cheap at a garage sale.
1.2 ian 135:
136: <P><FONT COLOR=Red>The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System : Answer Book</FONT>
1.1 ian 137: Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick
138: 1991
1.2 ian 139: <P>Answers to the "exercises for the reader" in the 4.3 version of the book.
1.1 ian 140:
1.2 ian 141: <P><FONT COLOR=Red>Source Code Secrets: The Basic 386BSD
142: Operating System Reference</FONT>
143: (Volume 1 of Operating System Source Code Secrets)
1.1 ian 144: L. W. Jolitz, William Jolitz
145: 1997
1.2 ian 146: <P>The Jolitzes built the first port of BSD to the PC-386 architecture,
1.1 ian 147: and deserve a lot of credit for making BSD portable to this low-cost
148: architecture. The earliest versions, called "386bsd", were described
149: in articles in <EM>Dr. Dobbs Journal</EM>. This book goes beyond the articles,
150: and provides a comprehensive annotated collection of source code.
151: Not all of it applies to modern versions of OpenBSD, of course, but
152: you can still learn a lot from it.
1.4 ian 153: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1573980269/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>
1.1 ian 154:
1.2 ian 155: <P><FONT COLOR=Red>Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition with Source Code</FONT>,
1.1 ian 156: Peer-to-Peer ommunications, 1996. ISBN 1-57398-013-7.
1.2 ian 157: Although the UNIX described in this book is to BSD as a Model T Ford
1.1 ian 158: is to a 70's Mustang or Thunderbird, UNIX inventor Ken Thompson
159: claims that "After 20 years, this is still the best exposition
160: of the workings of a 'real' operating system." Originally circulated
161: in illicit photocopies, this is the book that most first- and second-generation
162: UNIX hackers cut their code-teeth on. Recommended as a good introduction
163: to how a timesharing OS works, if you've not been inside one before.
164: Substantially shorter than the McKusick book above.
1.4 ian 165: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1573980137/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</A>
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1.9 pauls 167: <A HREF="index.html"><img height=24 width=24 src="back.gif" border=0 alt="OpenBSD"></A>
1.1 ian 168: <A HREF="mailto:www@openbsd.org">www@openbsd.org</a>
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