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

Annotation of www/books.html, Revision 1.14

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:
1.14    ! ian       149: Brian Kernighan had a hand in two other books which we recommend even
        !           150: though they're not UNIX specific, but are useful to programmers on UNIX
        !           151: and elsewhere.
        !           152: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
        !           153: The Practice of Programming</font></strong> (with Rob Pike, 1999)
        !           154: covers practical programming considerations for C, C++ and Java.
        !           155: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/020161586X/openbsdA/">
        !           156: Order from Amazon</a>).<p>
        !           157:
        !           158: The older of the two is
1.13      deraadt   159: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
                    160: The Elements of Programming Style</font></strong>.
1.8       ian       161: This book contains more common sense than many books triple or quadruple
                    162: its weight.
1.13      deraadt   163: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0070342075/openbsdA/">
                    164: Order from Amazon</a>).<p>
                    165:
1.14    ! ian       166: <h3><font color=#e00000>Books about how the System works, for those wanting to modify it</font></h3><p>
1.2       ian       167:
1.13      deraadt   168: <strong><a href="http://cseng.aw.com/bookdetail.qry?ISBN=0-201-54979-4&ptype=0">
                    169: The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System</a></strong>
1.1       ian       170: Marshal Kirk McKusick, Keith Bostic, Michael J. Karels, John S. Quarterman
1.13      deraadt   171: Addison-Wesley: 1996. ISBN 0-201-54979-4.<br>
1.1       ian       172:
1.13      deraadt   173: At 549 pages plus an index, this must be considered comprehensive.
1.1       ian       174: McKusick, Bostic and Karels are well known as prime movers at
                    175: Berkeley CSRG (Computer Systems Research Group) during the 4.3/4.4BSD
                    176: period. This book covers the 4.4 and 4.4-Lite releases, and discusses
                    177: everything you wanted to know about how the system operates.  Not
                    178: 100% applicable, but probably the closest there is to an overall
                    179: system internals manual for OpenBSD.
1.13      deraadt   180: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0201549794/openbsdA/">
                    181: Order from Amazon</a>).<p>
1.1       ian       182:
1.13      deraadt   183: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
                    184: The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System</font></strong>
                    185: (Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick).<br>
                    186: An earlier book from many of the same good folk at CSRG.
1.1       ian       187: Slightly dated, but gives an overall feel for the beast if you can find
1.13      deraadt   188: it real cheap at a garage sale.<p>
1.2       ian       189:
1.13      deraadt   190: <strong><font color=#0000e0>
                    191: The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System : Answer Book
                    192: </font></strong>
1.1       ian       193: Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk McKusick
1.13      deraadt   194: 1991<br>
                    195: Answers to the "exercises for the reader" in the 4.3 version of the book.<p>
1.1       ian       196:
1.13      deraadt   197: <strong><font color=#0000e0>Source Code Secrets: The Basic 386BSD
                    198: Operating System Reference
                    199: (Volume 1 of Operating System Source Code Secrets)</font></strong>
                    200: (L. W. Jolitz, William Jolitz, 1997)<br>
                    201: The Jolitzes built the first port of BSD to the PC-386 architecture,
1.1       ian       202: and deserve a lot of credit for making BSD portable to this low-cost
                    203: architecture. The earliest versions, called "386bsd", were described
                    204: in articles in <EM>Dr. Dobbs Journal</EM>. This book goes beyond the articles,
                    205: and provides a comprehensive annotated collection of source code.
                    206: Not all of it applies to modern versions of OpenBSD, of course, but
                    207: you can still learn a lot from it.
1.13      deraadt   208: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1573980269/openbsdA/">
                    209: Order from Amazon</a><p>
1.1       ian       210:
1.13      deraadt   211: <strong><font color=#0000e0>Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition with Source Code</font></strong>,
1.1       ian       212: Peer-to-Peer ommunications, 1996.  ISBN 1-57398-013-7.
1.2       ian       213: Although the UNIX described in this book is to BSD as a Model T Ford
1.1       ian       214: is to a 70's Mustang or Thunderbird, UNIX inventor Ken Thompson
                    215: claims that "After 20 years, this is still the best exposition
                    216: of the workings of a 'real' operating system." Originally circulated
                    217: in illicit photocopies, this is the book that most first- and second-generation
                    218: UNIX hackers cut their code-teeth on. Recommended as a good introduction
                    219: to how a timesharing OS works, if you've not been inside one before.
                    220: Substantially shorter than the McKusick book above.
1.13      deraadt   221: (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1573980137/openbsdA/">
                    222: Order from Amazon</a>)<p>
                    223:
                    224: <hr>
                    225: <a href="index.html"><img height=24 width=24 src="back.gif" border=0 alt="OpenBSD"></a>
                    226: <a href="mailto:www@openbsd.org">www@openbsd.org</a>
                    227: <br>
1.14    ! ian       228: <small>$OpenBSD: books.html,v 1.13 1999/10/01 07:45:37 deraadt Exp $</small>
1.13      deraadt   229: </body>
                    230: </html>