Needed: Good Unix book

[James Deibele]

In article <2957 at hcx1.SSD.CSD.HARRIS.COM> brad at SSD.CSD.HARRIS.COM (Brad Appleton) writes:
>It would be good to specify what particular aspects (if not all), and
>which flavor of UNIX for which you are seeking texts.
[...]

What we recommend are the following books:

Reasonably serious, motivated person who wants to get up to speed on UNIX ASAP:
_A Practical Guide to the UNIX System, 2nd Edition_ by Mark Sobell.  (Benjamin
Cummings, 0-8053-0243-3, 1989, 700pp, $27.95).  Covers both BSD 4.3 and System
V Release 3 and is divided into two sections: first part covers basic UNIX 
information (vi, cat, ls, rudimentary shell programming, etc.) while second 
part is an alphabetical command reference.  Good glossary and table of contents
lets you find key commands when you're a novice (OK, sure, you know you "cat"
files <now>, but I bet you didn't when you first started).  A thick book with
no cutesy drawings and lots of text may intimidate someone who has to learn 
UNIX instead of wanting to use it.

For the more easily intimidated, _UNIX Primer Plus_ by Mitchell Waite, Donald
Martin, and Stephen Prata might be a better choice.  (Howard W. Sams, 0-672-
22028-8, 1983, 400pp, $22.95).  It's BSD-oriented and needs an update, but the
fundamentals just haven't changed all that much.  Clear outline of what which
chapter intends to accomplish, review questions (with answers), and exercises
to use at the terminal.  Lots of white space and drawings, but that slows the
pace down for neophytes.  Good text for an intro class.

For the petrified, or your completely non-technical relatives or boss, you 
would want to look at _Learning the UNIX Operating System_ by Grace Todino and
John Strang.  (O'Reilly & Associates, 0-937175-16-1, 1986-7, 75pp, $9.00) This
is described on the back as telling you "just what you need to get started, and
no more."  It provides the basics of logging on, sending mail, and handling 
files.  The list of things it doesn't provide is longer than the list of 
features, but it's sufficient to teach the basics in a couple of evenings or
over a weekend to just about anyone.

One last recommendation: _Learning the vi Editor_ by Linda Lamb.  (O'Reilly &
Associates, 0-937175-17-X, 1988, 150pp, $15).  This is <the> book to learn 
more about vi.  The latest shipment has a different binding than previous 
ones: instead of being stapled, the book is spiral-bound with a perfect 
(square) cover, so the book fits neatly into a bookcase, but lays flat while
being used.  Highly recommened for its clear explanations of how to use vi,
especially global replacement.

-- 
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