[clue] different

Jon "maddog" Hall maddog at li.org
Fri May 13 14:40:22 MDT 2011


On Fri, 2011-05-13 at 13:10 -0700, Louis Miller wrote:
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Louis,

Yes, they are different books.  If you look at the table of contents of
both books (you can do this at Amazon for Kernighan and Pikes' book) you
can see that they are different.

I should warn you that Kernighan and Pike's book was written in 1984.
While it is a classic, and has good "style" tips, a lot of the syntax of
the commands have changed.  You can look at the book reviews here:


http://www.amazon.com/Unix-Programming-Environment-Prentice-Hall-Software/product-reviews/013937681X/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_3?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addThreeStar

and see that.  The last chapter of that book has a lot of information
about "troff" an ancient command for an ancient typesetter that only
ancient people like me ever use.

You will see that many of the reviewers recommend Richard Stevens:


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_20?url=search-alias%
3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=richard+stevens+unix&sprefix=richard+stevens
+unix

but unfortunately Richard died quite a while ago, so even his books are
creeping out of date.

Mark Burgess "book" is (as he said) something between a reference guide
and a tutorial.  Depending on your level of learning Unix/Linux you may
want more of a tutorial than just a reference.  You may become
frustrated in trying to follow along...but hey, it is free so why not
try?

I wrote the original "Linux for Dummies" book (although I do not do that
any more).  "Idiots Guide to Unix" is another one.  Don't let the titles
fool you....they will get you started fast.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-UNIX/dp/0789718057/ref=sr_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305318935&sr=1-17

New ones sell for $0.29 plus $3.99 for shipping and handling.

Various "Linux for Dummies" run the range in price:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_2?rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Abeginning
+unix&page=2&keywords=beginning
+unix&ie=UTF8&qid=1305318490&ajr=1#/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%
3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=linux+for+dummies&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Alinux
+for+dummies

I still suggest that you go do your favorite mass-production book store,
go to the Operating system section and look for beginners books on Unix
or Linux.  Sit down with a cup of coffee and go through a few to see if
you like the style or level of the book.

Warmest regards,

maddog




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