From: wa4cyb!jmd (John Dashner)
Subject: Unix Book List
Reply-To: jmd@wa4cyb
Organization: The Internet
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 11:55:32 GMT

Matt, I picked this off the net a week or so ago because many of my users
are newbies and I get asked from time to time for advice.  I have read
many of these and heard of the rest and have no problem recommending them.

All the best, pappy

--------------------------- snip here ----------------------------------
From: kko@fraser.sfu.ca (Samuel Ko)
Newsgroups: misc.books.technical,alt.books.technical,comp.unix.questions,comp.unix.wizards,news.answers
Subject: [misc.books.technical]  A Concise Guide to Unix Books
Summary: A list of recommended Unix books / documentations ...
Keywords: Unix, books, documentations
Date: 17 Oct 92 05:07:16 GMT
Followup-To: misc.books.technical
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada


Archive-name: books/unix
Last-modified: Oct 16 1992
Version 1.5.5 (minor revisions)

       [misc.books.technical]   A Concise Guide to Unix Books
      --------------------------------------------------------
** Compiled by: Samuel Ko (kko@sfu.ca)

** This is a good selection of the "best" Unix books / documentations.

** Subject areas covered:
   A. General Unix Texts
   B. Shells
   C. Unix Editors
   D. Networking and Communications
   E. System Administration
   F. Unix Security
   G. Programming
   H. TeX
   I. X Window System
   J. Dictionary
   K. Other Lists

** This guide is intended to be concise, so it is far from exhaustive.
   For other Unix bibliographies, please read section K - Other Lists.

** Thanks to all who have helped in improving this guide. However, to save
   some bandwidth, I do not want to include a long list of acknowledgment.
   I do sincerely thank each and every one of you who has contributed to
   this compilation in one way or the other.

** If you think there are some other really good Unix books, please let me
   know. Besides any comments, suggestions and flames will be very much
   appreciated.

** I will try to update and post this list at least once a month. The latest
   version is also obtainable by anonymous ftp from pit-manager.mit.edu (in
   /pub/usenet/news.answers/books). If you do not have ftp or netnews access
   you can get it by email from mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu and the body
   of your request should be   send /usenet/news.answers/books/unix  .

** Here it goes ...


  A. General Unix Texts
*************************

1. Title: Unix for the Impatient
   Authors: Paul Abrahams and Bruce Larson
   Publisher: Addison Wesley
   Edition: 1992
   ISBN: 0-201-55703-7
   Comment:  **** Highly Recommended ****
             A new, comprehensive, in-depth reference to Unix ...
             "a handbook you can use both as a manual to learn UNIX and as
              a ready reference for fast answers to specific UNIX questions."

2. Title: The Unix Operating System 
   Author: Kaare Christian
   Publisher: Wiley
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1988
   ISBN: 0-471-84781-X
   Comment: A classic overview of Unix commands ... Good in coverage ...

3. Title: A Practical Guide to the Unix System
   Author: Mark Sobell 
   Publisher: Benjamin / Cummings
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-80-530243-3
   Comment: Similar to Christian's book ... Slightly easier to read ...
            There is a new edition for System V Release 4 ...

4. Title: The Waite Group's Unix System V Primer
   Authors:  Mitchell Waite, Donald Martin and Stephen Prata
   Publisher: Sams
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1992
   ISBN: 0-672-30194-6
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended  ****
            A very good hand-holding tutorial-type book for Unix/SVR4 ...

5. Title: Mastering SunOS
   Authors: Brent Heslop and David Angell
   Publisher: Sybex
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-89588-683
   Comment: A good, comprehensive hand-on text to SunOS and OpenWindows ...

6. Title: Peter Norton's Guide to Unix
   Authors: Peter Norton and Harley Hahn
   Publisher: Bantam Computer
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-553-35260-1
   Comment: Good coverage ... A good introduction for beginners (especially
            those accustomed to DOS) ...

7. Title: Unix in a Nutshell
   Authors: Daniel Gilly and O'Reilly staff
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1992 (for System V and Solaris 2)
   ISBN: 1-56592-001-5
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            An excellent desktop reference to almost all Unix commands ...
            "a complete reference containing all commands and options, plus
             generous descriptions and examples that put the commands in
             context." ...
             Also an edition for 4.3. BSD ...

8. Title: Life with Unix - A Guide for Everyone
   Authors: Don Libes and Sandy Ressler
   Publisher: Prentice Hall 
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-13-536657-7
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            An everything-you-want-to-know-about-Unix book ...
            It includes info you might not find elsewhere ...
            "This book is the "other" book about Unix ... a study in
             reading between the lines - which is very much what learning
             UNIX is like." ...

9. Title: Learning Unix
   Author: James Gardner
   Publisher: Sams
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-672-30001-X
   Comment: With disks containing MSDOS simulation of Unix (MKS Tools) ...
            A good tutorial / reference book for those without constant
            access to Unix ...

10. Title: Unix Desktop Guide to Tools
    Author: Pete Holsberg
    Publisher: Sams
    Edition: 1992
    ISBN: 0-672-30202-0
    Comment: A new and comprehensive guide to numerous Unix utilities ...

11. Title: The Design of the Unix Operating System
    Author: Maurice Bach
    Publisher: Prentice Hall
    Edition: 1986
    ISBN: 0-13-201799-7
    Comment: An excellent reference on the internals of System V ...
             This book and the next one are indeed highly technical ...

12. Title: The Design and Implementation of the 4.3 BSD Unix Operating System
    Authors: Samuel Leffler et al
    Publisher: Addison-Wesley
    Edition: 1990
    ISBN: 0-201-06196-1
    Comment: An authoritative description of the design of BSD Unix ...
             "It covers the internal structure of the 4.3BSD system and the
              concepts, data structures, and algorithms used in implementing
              the system facilities." ...


  B. Shells
*************

1. Title: The Unix C Shell Field Guide
   Authors: Gail Anderson and Paul Anderson
   Publisher: Prentice Hall
   Edition: 1986
   ISBN: 0-13-937468-X
   Comment: The C-Shell Bible - everything you need to know to understand
            csh and use Unix effectively ...

2. Title: Unix C Shell - Desk Reference
   Author: Martin Arick
   Publisher: QED Technical
   Edition: 1992
   ISBN: 0-89435-328-4
   Comment: A more recent text on maximizing the use of C-Shell ...

3. Title: Unix Shell Programming
   Authors: Stephen Kochan and Patrick Wood
   Publisher: Hayden
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-672-48448-X
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            A classic on using and programming Bourne Shell (and Korn Shell) ...

4. Title: Unix Desktop Guide to the Korn Shell
   Author: John Valley
   Publisher: Sams
   Edition: 1992
   ISBN: 0-672-48513-3
   Comment: This one is even better and easier to read than the authoritative
            work by Korn and Bolsky ...

    
  C. Unix Editors
*******************

1. Title: GNU EMACS Manual
   Author: Richard Stallman
   Publisher: Free Software Foundation
   Edition: 6th ed. 1988
   Comment: The official manual of GNU Emacs ... Essential for emacs users ...

2. Title: Learning GNU Emacs
   Authors: Debra Cameron and Bill Rosenblatt
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1992
   ISBN: 0-937175-84-6
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            Probably the best documentation on editing with GNU Emacs ...

3. Title: Desktop Guide to Emacs
   Authors: Ralph Roberts and Mark Boyd
   Publisher: Sams
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-672-30171-7
   Comment: Another good book on emacs ...

4. Title: Learning the vi Editor
   Author: Linda Lamb
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-937175-67-6
   Comment: A very good guide to vi and ex commands ...
            With a quick reference card ...

5. Titles: vi Tutor and vi Reference
   Authors: Micheal Pierce and Robert Ware (Tut), Maarten Litmaati (Ref)
   Edition: 1.3 (Tut), 8 (Ref)
   Comment: These and other good vi stuff are obtainable by anonymous ftp
            from cs.uwp.edu (in pub/vi) ...


  D. Networking and Communications
*************************************

1. Title: Unix Networking
   Authors: Edited by Stephen Kochan and Patrick Wood
   Publisher: Hayden
   Edition: 1989
   ISBN: 0-672-48440-4
   Comment: Fairly technical on different issues of networking ...

2. Title: Managing NFS and NIS
   Author: Hal Stern
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-937175-75-7
   Comment: A comprehensive, technical guide for system admins on distributed
            computing tools - NFS and NIS(YP) ...

3. Title: Unix Network Programming
   Author: Richard Stevens
   Publisher: Prentice Hall
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-13-949876-1
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            An excellent book on programming network softwares ...

4. Title: The Waite Group's Unix Communications
   Authors: Bart Anderson, Barry Costales & Harry Henderson
   Publisher: Sams
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1991
   ISBN: 0-672-22773-8
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended  ****
            A really excellent book on e-mail (Mail, elm), netnews (rn, nn)
            and UUCP ...

5. Title: Managing UUCP and Usenet
   Authors: Tim O'Reilly and Grace Todino
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 10 ed. 1992
   ISBN: 0-937175-93-5
   Comment: Well written on the setting-up and maintenance of UUCP
            and Netnews ...

6. Title: Using UUCP and Usenet
   Authors: Grace Todino and Dale Dougherty
   Publisher: O'Reilly 
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-937175-10-2
   Comment: Well written on how to use uucp and netnews ...

7. Title: Internetworking with TCP/IP  Vols I and II
   Author: Douglas Comer
   Publisher: Prentice-Hall
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-13-468505-9 (I), 0-13-472242-6 (II)
   Comment: A detailed discussion of the architecture of the Internet
            and its protocols ...
            Vol I is readable by anyone but Vol II is pretty technical ...

8. Title: The Whole Internet User's Guide Catalog
   Author: Ed Krol
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1992
   ISBN: 1-56592-025-2
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            Definitely a MUST for any new and not-so-new Internet users ...
            "It is a complete user's guide to the Internet, covering everything
             from the basics, like electronic mail and newsgroups, to the
             newest developments. A large part of the book tells you how to
             find the resources you want." ...

9. Title: Zen and the Art of the Internet
   Author: Brendan Kehoe
   Edition: 1st ed. 1992
   Comment: A comprehensive overview of the Internet for beginners ...
            This document (in different formats) can be obtained by
            anonymous ftp from world.std.com (in /obi/Internet/zen-1.0) ...
            The second edition is commercial, published by Prentice Hall ...


  E. System Administration
****************************

1. Title: Unix System Administration Handbook
   Authors: Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder and Scott Seebass
   Publisher: Prentice-Hall
   Edition: 1989
   ISBN: 0-13-933441-6
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            Classic, also known as the sys-admin bible ...
            "an attempt to condense everything that a system administrator
             should know about UNIX into a single, easy-to-use volume" ...
            Source codes for programs listed (sa-book.tar.Z) can be
            obtained by anonymous ftp from boulder.colorado.edu (in
            /pub/sa-book) or oak.oakland.edu (in /pub/unix-c/sysadmin) ...

2. Title: Unix System V Release 4 Administration
   Authors: David Fiedler, Bruce Hunter and Ben Smith 
   Publisher: Hayden 
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1991
   ISBN: 0-672-22810-6
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            A must for any intermediate / advanced users of Unix ...
            "you'll find the information you need to organize a practical,
             efficient, and productive UNIX system" ...

3. Title: Essential System Administration
   Author: Aeleen Frisch
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-937175-80-3
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            A must for serious users / sys admins of Unix ...
            "It provides a compact, manageable treatment of the tasks and
             issues that everyone responsible for a UNIX system faces." ...

4. Title: Unix System - Advanced Administration and Management Handbook
   Author: Bruce Hunter and Karen Hunter
   Publisher: MacMillan
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-02-358950-7
   Comment: Another good book on system administration ...

5. Title: System Performance Tuning
   Author: Mike Loukides
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-937175-60-9
   Comment: A fine book for sys admins on how to fine tune your Unix
            system(s) to do more work ...


  F. Unix Security
********************

1. Title: Practical Unix Security
   Authors: Simson Garfinkel and Gene Spafford
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-937175-72-2
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            Simply the best book in this field ...
            "everything you need to know to make your UNIX system as
             secure as it can be." ...

2. Title: Unix System Security - A Guide for Users and System Administrators
   Author: David Curry
   Publisher: Addision Wesley
   Edition: 1992
   ISBN: 0-201-56327-4
   Comment: Good and comprehensive coverage ... With pointers to further info ...

3. Title: Unix System Security
   Author: Rik Farrow
   Publisher: Addison Wesley
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-201-57030-0
   Comment: Another fine book on Unix security ...

4. Title: Site Security Handbook
   Authors: Edited by Paul Holbrook and Joyce Reynolds
   Edition: 1991
   Comment: A guide to setting computer security policies and procedures
            for sites that have systems on the Internet ...
            This is rfc1244.txt which is available by anonymous ftp from
            nic.ddn.mil (in rfc directory) ... Also rfc1281.txt - Guidelines
            for the Secure Operation of the Internet ...

5. Title: Computer Security Basics
   Authors: Deborah Russell and G T Gangemi Sr.
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-937175-71-4
   Comment: A clear overview on many different security issues ...

6. Title: The Cuckoo's Egg
   Author: Cliff Stoll
   Publisher: Pocket Books
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-671-72688-9
   Comment: A fascinating real story on computer espionage ...
            A good alternative to this is Cyberpunk written by Katie Hafner
            and John Markoff and published by Touchstone Book ...


  G. Programming
******************

1. Title: The Unix Programming Environment
   Authors: Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike
   Publisher: Prentice-Hall
   Edition: 1984 
   ISBN: 0-13-937681-X
   Comment: A true classic on Unix programming ...

2. Title: Advanced Programming in The Unix Environment
   Author: Richard Stevens
   Publisher: Addison-Wesley
   Edition: 1992
   ISBN: 0-201-56317-7
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            A going-to-be classic on how programs work under Unix ...

3. Title: Advanced Unix Programming
   Author: Marc Rochkind
   Publisher: Prentice Hall
   Edition: 1985
   ISBN: 0-13-011818-4
   Comment: A superb book covering all system calls in detail ...

4. Title: The C Programming Language
   Authors: Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie 
   Publisher: Prentice Hall
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1988
   ISBN: 0-13-110362-8
   Comment: This book is 200% a MUST for any C programmers ...

5. Title: C - A Reference Manual
   Authors: Samuel Harbison and Guy Steel
   Publisher: Prentice Hall
   Edition: 3rd ed. 1991
   ISBN: 0-13-110933-2
   Comment: An authoritative reference to C programming language ...
            A good companion to Kernighan and Ritchie ...

6. Title: The Waite Group's New Primer C Plus
   Authors: Mitchell Waite and Stephen Prata
   Publisher: Sams
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-672-22687-1
   Comment: A really good introduction to C for beginners ...

7. Title: Practical C Programming
   Author: Steve Oualline
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-937175-65-X
   Comment: Yet another good C book describing how to create programs that
            are easy to read, maintain and debug ...

8. Title: Using C on the Unix System
   Author: David Curry
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-937175-23-4
   Comment: This book is directed to (would-be) system programmers ...

9. Title: The Berkeley Unix Environment
   Author: Nigel Horspool
   Publisher: Prentice Hall
   Edition: 2nd ed. 1992
   ISBN: 0-13-089368-4
   Comment: **** Highly Recommended ****
            An excellent book on C programming for Berkeley Unix system ...
            "a companion text intended for use in college and university
             courses concerned with Compiler Construction, Software
             Engineering and Operating Systems" ...

10. Title: The Waite Group's C++ Programming
    Author: John Berry
    Publisher: Sams
    Edition: 1992
    ISBN: 0-672-22771-1
    Comment: A fine book on OOP with C++ (for Unix and Dos) ...

11. Title: Managing Projects with make
    Authors: Steve Talbott and Andrew Oram
    Publisher: O'Reilly
    Edition: 2nd ed. 1991
    ISBN: 0-937175-90-0
    Comment: An unique text on using make for software development ...

12. Title: The AWK Programming Language
    Authors: Alfred Aho, Brian Kernighan and Peter Weinberger
    Publisher: Addison-Wesley
    Edition: 1988
    ISBN: 0-201-07981-X
    Comment: A complete description by the authors of awk ...

13. Title: Sed and Awk
    Author: Dale Dougherty
    Publisher: O'Reilly
    Edition: 1991
    ISBN: 0-937175-59-5
    Comment: A very good work on programming / text processing with
             sed and awk ...

14. Title: Programming Perl
    Authors: Larry Wall and Randal Schwartz
    Publisher: O'Reilly
    Edition: 1991
    ISBN: 0-937175--64-1
    Comment: The authoritative guide to Perl - the programming language for
             for any serious Unix users ...


  H. TeX
**********

1. Title: The TeXbook
   Author: Donald Knuth
   Publisher: Addison Wesley
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-201-13448-9
   Comment: The Bible ... A definite guide to typesetting with TeX ...

2. Title: TeX for the Impatient
   Author: Paul Abrahams
   Publisher: Addison-Wesley
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-201-51375-7
   Comment: A more user-friendly handbook on TeX ...
  
3. Title: LATeX - A Document Preparation System
   Author: Leslie Lamport
   Publisher: Addison Wesley
   Edition: 1986
   ISBN: 0-201-15790-X
   Comment: The bible for LATeX users ...


  I. X Window System
**********************

1. Title: X Window System Users' Guide 
   Authors: Valerie Quercia and Tim O'Reilly
   Publisher: O'Reilly
   Edition: 1990 (Motif or MIT)
   ISBN: 0-937175-61-7
   Comment: Volume 3 in O'Reilly's excellent X-Window series ...
            A fairly useful tutorial-type book to X11R4 ...

2. Title: The X Window System - A User's Guide
   Author: Niall Manfield
   Publisher: Addison Wesley
   Edition: 1990
   ISBN: 0-201-56344-4
   Comment: Another good tutorial-type book to using X ...

3. Title: X Window System Programming and Applications with Xt
   Author: Doug Young
   Publisher: Prentice Hall
   Edition: 1989 (Motif or Open Look)
   ISBN: 0-13-497074-8
   Comment: An excellent book on X programming ...


  J. Dictionary
*****************

1. Title: The New Hacker's Dictionary
   Author: Eric Raymond 
   Publisher: MIT Press
   Edition: 1991
   ISBN: 0-262-68069-6
   Comment: This book corresponds to version 2.9.6 of the on-line
            jargon file ... The latest (at the time of writing) is
            version 2.9.10 (jargon2910.ascii.Z) which is available
            by ftp from wuarchive.wustl.edu (in mirrors/gnu) ...
            Changes since the publication of this book can be found
            in the file jargon-changes.Z ...


  K. Other Lists
******************

1. Title: Yet Another Book List
   Author: Mitch Wright
   Edition: August 4 1992
   Comment: This is an excellent compilation of almost all Unix and C book
            titles along with info for locating them and short reviews and
            summaries of book contents ...
            You can get it (yabl) by anonymous ftp from ftp.rahul.net (in
            /pub/mitch/YABL) ...

2. Title: X Technical Bibliography
   Author: Ken Lee
   Edition: Sept 11 1992
   Comment  A good collection of publicly available X window system technical
            materials ... The bibliography is posted periodically on
            misc.books.technical and you can also get it by anonymous ftp
            from pit-manager.mit.edu (in /pub/usenet/misc.books.technical) ...

3. Title: Network Reading List: TCP/IP, Unix and Ethernet
   Author: Charles Spurgeon
   Edition: 3.5  Feb 1992
   Comment: This annotated list describes those items that cover the subject
            areas well ... It is obtainable by anonymous ftp from ftp.uu.net
            (in /inet/doc) ...

4. Title: Catalog of O'Reilly Books
   Authors: O'Reilly staff
   Edition: July 24 1992
   Comment: You get can it (book.catalog.Z) by anonymous ftp from
            ftp.ora.com ... where you can also find source codes for examples
            in many books in the Nutshell and X series ...
            Or read the online catalog on O'Reilly gopher server (telnet
            gopher.ora.com  login: gopher)
--
Samuel Ko (kko@sfu.ca) (aka: The Smart One)
Quasi-expert in Computer Books and Documentations ...

--------------------------- and  here ----------------------------------
-- 
========================================================================
     John M Dashner    | This here's a Place where |
      aka "pappy"      |  Southern Fried Unix is   | This space for rent