[BACK]Return to books.html CVS log [TXT][DIR] Up to [local] / www

Annotation of www/books.html, Revision 1.13

1.1       ian         1: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC  "-//IETF//DTD HTML Strict//EN">
1.13    ! deraadt     2: <html>
        !             3: <head>
        !             4: <link rev=made href=mailto:www@openbsd.org>
        !             5: <meta name="resource-type" content="document">
        !             6: <meta name="description" content="Books about BSD and OpenBSD">
        !             7: <meta name="keywords" content="openbsd,books,information">
        !             8: <meta name="distribution" content="global">
        !             9: <meta name="copyright" content="This document copyright 1998 by OpenBSD.">
        !            10: <meta HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
        !            11: <meta NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="The vi editor from UNIX">
        !            12: <meta NAME="Author" CONTENT="Ian Darwin">
        !            13: <title>The OpenBSD Bookstore</title>
        !            14: </head>
        !            15:
        !            16: <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#23238E">
        !            17: <img alt="[OpenBSD]" height=30 width=141 SRC="images/smalltitle.gif">
        !            18: <p>
        !            19: <h2><font color=#e00000>Books about BSD</font><hr></h2>
1.1       ian        20:
1.13    ! deraadt    21: <P>We are now associated with <a href="http://www.amazon.com"> Amazon.com</a>
1.2       ian        22: so that you can order some of these books directly from them.
                     23: <EM>Ordering from these "Order from Amazon" links is a way of helping to
1.4       ian        24: fund the OpenBSD project</EM>.
1.13    ! deraadt    25:
        !            26: <h3><font color=#e00000>User Guides</font></h3><p>
        !            27:
        !            28: "Berkeley UNIX" is so widely known that there is no need to list
1.1       ian        29: the basic "how-to" books about it here - there are too many to list!
1.13    ! deraadt    30: While some user guides exclusively cover System V Unix, or some
        !            31: other specific implementation such as Solaris, Linux, or whichever,
        !            32: most others try to be general.
        !            33: These are some that cover Berkeley UNIX.<p>
        !            34:
        !            35: <dl>
        !            36: <li><strong><font color=#0000e0>UNIX Made Easy</font></strong>
        !            37: is one general book that is said to be good, though we've not
        !            38: tested it.
        !            39: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0078821738/openbsdA/">Order from Amazon</a>)<p>
        !            40:
        !            41: <li><strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !            42: Berkeley Unix: A Simple and Comprehensive Guide
        !            43: </font></strong>
        !            44: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=047161582X/openbsdA/">
        !            45: Order from Amazon</a>)
        !            46: <p>
        !            47:
        !            48: <li>For the more ambitious,
        !            49: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !            50: An Introduction to Berkeley Unix and ANSI C
        !            51: </font></strong>
        !            52: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0130684953/openbsdA/">
        !            53: Order from Amazon</a>)
        !            54: <p>
        !            55:
        !            56: <li>Every advanced UNIX user will probably want a copy of
        !            57: <strong><font color=#0000e0>UNIX Power Tools</font></strong>,
        !            58: now in its second edition.
1.12      ian        59: This book discusses hundreds of neat tricks, little-known techniques,
                     60: and add-on utilities.
                     61: Be aware that many of the utilities are either included with OpenBSD
                     62: or, more commonly, are already available as ports or packages.
                     63: So most of section 52.03, complaining about how hard it is to port
                     64: software to different UNIXes, can be disregarded if you learn about
1.13    ! deraadt    65: the
        !            66: <a href="ports.html">Ports Mechanism</a>
        !            67: that is part of OpenBSD.
        !            68: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1565922603/openbsdA/">
        !            69: Order from Amazon</a>)
        !            70: <p>
        !            71:
        !            72: </dl>
        !            73: <p>
        !            74:
        !            75: You may see reference to the
        !            76: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !            77: 4.4 BSD User's Reference Manual (URM)</font></strong>,
        !            78: (O'Reilly, 1994).
1.12      ian        79: This is just a reprint of the man pages for users.
1.2       ian        80: Your OpenBSD distribution includes the online man pages,
                     81: which are specific to OpenBSD, and more up-to-date. So
1.13    ! deraadt    82: you don't need this one: use the <em>man</em> command instead.
        !            83: <p>
        !            84:
        !            85: <h3><font color=#e00000>Administering the OpenBSD System</font></h3><p>
1.2       ian        86:
                     87: We can't unreservedly recommend any books specifically on OpenBSD
                     88: Administration at present. However, if you're administering OpenBSD
1.13    ! deraadt    89: you may also have to administer other versions of UNIX.
        !            90: A good book on UNIX administration, with special mentions of details in
        !            91: SunOS, Solaris, and BSDI (the commercial 4.4BSD distribution) is
        !            92: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !            93: UNIX System Administration Handbook</font></strong>
        !            94: (Second Edition, by Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, et al.)
        !            95: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0131510517/openbsdA/">
        !            96: Order from Amazon</a>.)<p>
        !            97:
        !            98: The <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !            99: 4.4 BSD System Manager's Manual (SSM)</font></strong>
        !           100: (O'Reilly, 1994)
        !           101: details  what you need to know to run a BSD system.
1.2       ian       102: Quite a bit of this material is relevant to OpenBSD.
                    103: Unfortunately it is currently out of print.
1.13    ! deraadt   104: Worse, due to licensing restrictions from AT&amp;T,
        !           105: the electronic editions of these were not included in the
1.2       ian       106: 4.4BSD distributions, so most of them are not included with OpenBSD.
1.13    ! deraadt   107: The few that are may be found via the <a href="docum.html">Documents page</a>.
        !           108: <p>
1.2       ian       109:
1.13    ! deraadt   110: <strong><font color=#0000e0>Building Linux and OpenBSD Firewalls
        !           111: </font></strong>(Wes Sonnenreich, Tom Yates)
        !           112: describes the OpenBSD 2.5 installation process and the elementary management
        !           113: of the system firewalling tools.
        !           114: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0471353663/openbsdA/">
        !           115: Order from Amazon</a>.)<p>
        !           116:
        !           117: We recommend against buying books that concentrate on installation or
        !           118: configuration of particular "other" distributions of BSD, as the
        !           119: installation procedures for each are wildly different.<p>
        !           120:
        !           121: <h3><font color=#e00000>Books on Programming Under the BSD System</font></h3><p>
        !           122:
        !           123: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !           124: 4.4 BSD Programmer's Reference Manual (PRM)</font></strong>
        !           125: (O'Reilly, 1994)
        !           126: is a printed version of the Programmer's Manual.
1.2       ian       127: You have the online man pages, which are specific to OpenBSD, instead.
1.13    ! deraadt   128: Since the descriptions in the book pre-date the POSIX specification,
        !           129: please use the online pages, using the <em>man</em> command.<p>
1.2       ian       130:
1.13    ! deraadt   131: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !           132: BSD-Lite 4.4 CD-ROM Companion: International Edition</font></strong>
        !           133: (UC Berkeley Staff, Computer Systems Research Group; O'Reilly, 1994)
        !           134: is a neat little package containing a CD-ROM with just the unbundled
        !           135: portions of 4.4BSD-Lite-1, which is not only obsolete, but also an incomplete
        !           136: and unbootable system.  A small booklet is included listing the original
        !           137: BSD contributors, and an index to the printed man pages.
        !           138: Besides being a piece of history, this is not very useful.
        !           139: <a href="orders.html">We suggest you buy an OpenBSD CD-ROM instead.</a><p>
        !           140:
        !           141: A much older book which still sheds much light on the philosophy
        !           142: of programming UNIX is
        !           143: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !           144: The UNIX Programming Environment</font></strong>,
        !           145: (Kernighan and Pike). While not specific to BSD, most of it applies today.
        !           146: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=013937681X/openbsdA/">
        !           147: Order from Amazon</a>).<p>
1.8       ian       148:
1.13    ! deraadt   149: Another older book which Brian Kernighan had a hand in, and which
1.8       ian       150: we recommend even though it's not UNIX specific, is
1.13    ! deraadt   151: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !           152: The Elements of Programming Style</font></strong>.
1.8       ian       153: This book contains more common sense than many books triple or quadruple
                    154: its weight.
1.13    ! deraadt   155: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0070342075/openbsdA/">
        !           156: Order from Amazon</a>).<p>
        !           157:
        !           158: <h3><font color=#e00000>Books about how the System works, for those wanting to modifying it</font></h3><p>
1.2       ian       159:
1.13    ! deraadt   160: <strong><a href="http://cseng.aw.com/bookdetail.qry?ISBN=0-201-54979-4&ptype=0">
        !           161: The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System</a></strong>
1.1       ian       162: Marshal Kirk McKusick, Keith Bostic, Michael J. Karels, John S. Quarterman
1.13    ! deraadt   163: Addison-Wesley: 1996. ISBN 0-201-54979-4.<br>
1.1       ian       164:
1.13    ! deraadt   165: At 549 pages plus an index, this must be considered comprehensive.
1.1       ian       166: McKusick, Bostic and Karels are well known as prime movers at
                    167: Berkeley CSRG (Computer Systems Research Group) during the 4.3/4.4BSD
                    168: period. This book covers the 4.4 and 4.4-Lite releases, and discusses
                    169: everything you wanted to know about how the system operates.  Not
                    170: 100% applicable, but probably the closest there is to an overall
                    171: system internals manual for OpenBSD.
1.13    ! deraadt   172: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0201549794/openbsdA/">
        !           173: Order from Amazon</a>).<p>
1.1       ian       174:
1.13    ! deraadt   175: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !           176: The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System</font></strong>
        !           177: (Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick).<br>
        !           178: An earlier book from many of the same good folk at CSRG.
1.1       ian       179: Slightly dated, but gives an overall feel for the beast if you can find
1.13    ! deraadt   180: it real cheap at a garage sale.<p>
1.2       ian       181:
1.13    ! deraadt   182: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !           183: The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System : Answer Book
        !           184: </font></strong>
1.1       ian       185: Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick
1.13    ! deraadt   186: 1991<br>
        !           187: Answers to the "exercises for the reader" in the 4.3 version of the book.<p>
1.1       ian       188:
1.13    ! deraadt   189: <strong><font color=#0000e0>Source Code Secrets: The Basic 386BSD
        !           190: Operating System Reference
        !           191: (Volume 1 of Operating System Source Code Secrets)</font></strong>
        !           192: (L. W. Jolitz, William Jolitz, 1997)<br>
        !           193: The Jolitzes built the first port of BSD to the PC-386 architecture,
1.1       ian       194: and deserve a lot of credit for making BSD portable to this low-cost
                    195: architecture. The earliest versions, called "386bsd", were described
                    196: in articles in <EM>Dr. Dobbs Journal</EM>. This book goes beyond the articles,
                    197: and provides a comprehensive annotated collection of source code.
                    198: Not all of it applies to modern versions of OpenBSD, of course, but
                    199: you can still learn a lot from it.
1.13    ! deraadt   200: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1573980269/openbsdA/">
        !           201: Order from Amazon</a><p>
1.1       ian       202:
1.13    ! deraadt   203: <strong><font color=#0000e0>Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition with Source Code</font></strong>,
1.1       ian       204: Peer-to-Peer ommunications, 1996.  ISBN 1-57398-013-7.
1.2       ian       205: Although the UNIX described in this book is to BSD as a Model T Ford
1.1       ian       206: is to a 70's Mustang or Thunderbird, UNIX inventor Ken Thompson
                    207: claims that "After 20 years, this is still the best exposition
                    208: of the workings of a 'real' operating system." Originally circulated
                    209: in illicit photocopies, this is the book that most first- and second-generation
                    210: UNIX hackers cut their code-teeth on. Recommended as a good introduction
                    211: to how a timesharing OS works, if you've not been inside one before.
                    212: Substantially shorter than the McKusick book above.
1.13    ! deraadt   213: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1573980137/openbsdA/">
        !           214: Order from Amazon</a>)<p>
        !           215:
        !           216: <hr>
        !           217: <a href="index.html"><img height=24 width=24 src="back.gif" border=0 alt="OpenBSD"></a>
        !           218: <a href="mailto:www@openbsd.org">www@openbsd.org</a>
        !           219: <br>
        !           220: <small>$OpenBSD: books.html,v 1.12 1999/08/11 16:01:19 ian Exp $</small>
        !           221: </body>
        !           222: </html>