gerald@ge1cbx.UUCP (Gerald Aden) (03/01/89)
A co-worker mentioned a book on the design of the UNIX operating system that puts Bach's book to shame. He didn't know the name of the author or the exact title of the book but thought that it was written by some guy in Australia. Does anyone know of such a book and whether or not it is still available? Thanks in advance, Gerald Aden -- Quotron Systems Inc. | Phone: (213)302-4254 5454 Beethoven Street | uucp: uunet!janus!ge1cbx!gerald Post Office Box 66914 | trwrb!hacgate!janus!ge1cbx!gerald Los Angeles, CA 90066 Dept. 36240 | gerald@ge1cbx.quotron.com
jeffrey@algor2.UUCP (Jeffrey Kegler) (03/02/89)
In article <302@ge1cbx.UUCP> gerald@ge1cbx.UUCP (Gerald Aden) writes: >A co-worker mentioned a book on the design of the UNIX operating system >that puts Bach's book to shame. He didn't know the name of the author or >the exact title of the book but thought that it was written by some guy in >Australia. Does anyone know of such a book and whether or not it is still >available? Sounds like you mean the pair by John Lions, "A Commentary on the UNIX Operating System" and "UNIX Operating System Source Code Level Six", which were produced as materials for a courses at the University of New South Wales. They were produced in 1977, and were respectively notes on the Version 6 UNIX Source code and the code itself. "puts Bach's book to shame" is a little unfair. The notes were not nearly as helpful as Bach. And (maybe someone better informed can elaborate) the two books are no longer accessible due to copyright problems. AT&T apparently gave permission, then revoked it, for the Lions project. Someone with a sincere desire these days to learn UNIX internals, should get the Bach book, and also the XINU books. The problem with even a careful verbal (not C code is what I am trying to say) description of the operating system is there is nothing like the actual C for convincing yourself that you know what is going on. The XINU books describe a very interesting UNIX subset, and give full C code for it. You cannot really learn UNIX internals from Bach alone. Lions was one volume which was a poor substitute for Bach and another volume which was THE Version 6 source code. Lions intended that the student should have to rely on the source. When people talk about the greatest thing they have ever read, I think of the copy of Lions I used to have, and the Ritchie and Thompson V6 UNIX source. Of course, I feel kind of stupid when other people are talking about "War and Peace" or the Gospel of John. V6 may be obsolete enough that AT&T could consider allowing circulation of Lions again. V6 UNIX was the greatest reading experience I have ever had. -- Jeffrey Kegler, President, Algorists, jeffrey@algor2.UU.NET or uunet!algor2!jeffrey 1788 Wainwright DR, Reston VA 22090
jim@cs.strath.ac.uk (Jim Reid) (03/02/89)
In article <302@ge1cbx.UUCP> gerald@ge1cbx.UUCP (Gerald Aden) writes: >A co-worker mentioned a book on the design of the UNIX operating system >that puts Bach's book to shame. He didn't know the name of the author or >the exact title of the book but thought that it was written by some guy in >Australia. Does anyone know of such a book and whether or not it is still >available? The "book" you mention is actually two volumes. One is a complete listing of the V6 kernel source code and the other is a commentary on the code. There are also chapters on the PDP11 architecture and its instruction set. This was produced by John Lions of the University of News South Wales in Australia. It is based on his course notes from an advanced operating systems course he used to teach in the (pre V7?) days that AT&T/Western Electric allowed universities to teach UNIX internals. It was only distributed with the release tapes by Bell Labs to sites with V6 and maybe V7 source licencees. Since it contains proprietary information (kernel source), the volumes are not for sale and never were generally available. As far as I'm aware, no publisher has had the two books for sale. You had to have a source licence to get a copy through Bell Labs and that was the only legal source (excuse the pun!) of copies. Jim -- ARPA: jim%cs.strath.ac.uk@ucl-cs.arpa, jim@cs.strath.ac.uk UUCP: jim@strath-cs.uucp, ...!uunet!mcvax!ukc!strath-cs!jim JANET: jim@uk.ac.strath.cs "JANET domain ordering is swapped around so's there'd be some use for rev(1)!"
angst%cornu@hub.ucsb.edu (that, and little else) (03/04/89)
In article <254@algor2.UUCP> jeffrey@algor2.UUCP (Jeffrey Kegler) writes: >In article <302@ge1cbx.UUCP> gerald@ge1cbx.UUCP (Gerald Aden) writes: >>A co-worker mentioned a book on the design of the UNIX operating system >>that puts Bach's book to shame. He didn't know the name of the author or >>the exact title of the book but thought that it was written by some guy in >>Australia. Does anyone know of such a book and whether or not it is still >>available? i think you mean "The Design and Implementation of 4.3BSD Unix" (or something close to that). it's written by Samuel Leffler, Kirk McKusick, et al, the ones who wrote 4.3 BSD Unix. the book is published by Addison-Wesley, and i wouldn't say that it "puts the Bach book to shame," but it is easier to follow and understand, and if you're interested in Berkeley Unix as opposed to SysV, it's indispensable. it's about $35 from the publisher, a bit higher in the bookstores.... Born from some mother's womb | Dave Stein Just like any other room | angst%cornu@hub.ucsb.edu Made a promise for a new life | angst%cornu@ucsbuxa.bitnet Made a victim out of your life... | ...ucbvax!ucsbcsl!cornu!angst
hwh@cup.portal.com (Harold W Hankins) (03/06/89)
In article <302@ge1cbx.UUCP> gerald@ge1cbx.UUCP (Gerald Aden) writes: >A co-worker mentioned a book on the design of the UNIX operating system >that puts Bach's book to shame. He didn't know the name of the author or >the exact title of the book but thought that it was written by some guy in >Australia. Does anyone know of such a book and whether or not it is still >available? jim@strath-cs.uucp writes : >The "book" you mention is actually two volumes. One is a complete >listing of the V6 kernel source code and the other is a commentary on >the code. There are also chapters on the PDP11 architecture and its >instruction set. This was produced by John Lions of the University of >News South Wales in Australia. It is based on his course notes from >an advanced operating systems course he used to teach in the (pre V7?) >days that AT&T/Western Electric allowed universities to teach UNIX >internals. > >It was only distributed with the release tapes by Bell Labs to sites >with V6 and maybe V7 source licencees. Since it contains proprietary >information (kernel source), the volumes are not for sale and never were >generally available. As far as I'm aware, no publisher has had the two >books for sale. You had to have a source licence to get a copy through >Bell Labs and that was the only legal source (excuse the pun!) of copies. One of our employees who went to Cal-State Northridge around 4 years ago had a copy, so they were still being used there at the time. Hank Hankins hwh@cup.portal.com Point of Sales Systems Camarillo, CA
zavras@cleo.cs.wisc.edu (Alexios Zavras) (03/08/89)
In article <1293@hub.ucsb.edu> angst%cornu@hub.ucsb.edu writes: > >i think you mean "The Design and Implementation of 4.3BSD Unix" >(or something close to that). it's written by Samuel Leffler, >Kirk McKusick, et al, the ones who wrote 4.3 BSD Unix. [...] > it's about $35 from the >publisher, a bit higher in the bookstores.... As other posters pointed out, it was not this book that the original question reffered to. One point, though, about this book. The publisher (Addison-Wesley) is now "OUT OF STOCK" (at least that's what they said to someone trying to order by phone). Next re-print available by end of March. Luckily, I order my copy the second day :-) :-) :-) >Born from some mother's womb | Dave Stein -- zvr - +-----------------------+ Alexios Zavras (-zvr-) | Life is once, forever | zavras@cs.wisc.edu +-----------------H C-B-+
acw@Apple.COM (Art Willis) (03/09/89)
As of last week, Computer Literacy Bookstore of Sunnyvale and San Jose still had lots of copies of the book. At a recent SVNet meeting, Kirk McCusick said that Computer Literacy had ordered 1000 copies out of a total print run of only 5000 copies. He also noted that the first printing used a special archive quality paper that would probably last a lot longer than ordinary technical books, so you'll be able to pass it on to your grandchildren. The Sunnyvale Computer Literacy may be reached at: (408)730-9955 and they accept telephone orders. Art Willis acw@apple.com --- Note: The only connection I have with Computer Literacy is that they have separated me from a lot of my cash over the past ten years.
kucharsk@uts.amdahl.com (William Kucharski) (03/17/89)
In article <887@internal.Apple.COM> acw@Apple.COM (Art Willis) writes: >As of last week, Computer Literacy Bookstore of Sunnyvale and San Jose >still had lots of copies of the book... > >The Sunnyvale Computer Literacy may be reached at: > > (408)730-9955 > >and they accept telephone orders. Well, as of yesterday (3/15) all Computer Literacy locations were out of the book, and have no estimate as for when they'll get more in. However, they ARE taking names/numbers to be contacted when it comes back into stock... -- William Kucharski ARPA: kucharsk@uts.amdahl.com UUCP: ...!{ames,decwrl,sun,uunet}!amdahl!kucharsk Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are my own, and may not agree with those of any other sentient being, not to mention those of my employer. So there.
Kemp@DOCKMASTER.DCA.MIL (03/18/89)
And I thought we on the East coast were deprived since none of the D.C.
area stores (Maryland Book Exchange, Cucumber, or Reiters) had any more
copies of Leffler and McKusick. I'm sorry that Computer Literacy is
out, but there is still at least one store with the book in stock:
***** The Student Union Bookstore *****
***** Oklahoma State University *****
***** Stillwater, OK *****
I got my copy Wednesday, and there were three more copies on the shelf!
p.s.
I just got an announcement from Sun about an internals course taught
by Kirk McKusick himself, using the book as a text, but without
reference to any source code. What a crock.
Dave Kempjaap+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jaap Akkerhuis) (03/21/89)
The second printing was supposed to come from the press lst friday, so you can
expect to see copies of the book pop up again in your favourite bookshop within
a few days.
jaap