Annotation of www/books.html, Revision 1.13
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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.">
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! 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:
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! 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&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>
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! 222: </html>