Book Recommendations

Book Recommendations

[Paul Kraus]

What books would you recommend?

If it seems broad it is supposed to be :) I want recommendation on
newbie, intermediate, advanced, scripting, programming, and security :)

Thanks!

Paul Kraus
Network Administrator
PEL Supply Company
216.267.5775 Voice
216-267-6176 Fax
www.pelsupply.com

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Re: Book Recommendations

[Ray Olszewski]

At 02:45 PM 11/12/02 -0500, Paul Kraus wrote:
>What books would you recommend?

Alice in Wonderland, A Farewell to Arms, The Great Gatsby, Zen and the Art 
of Motorcycle Maintenance, Goodnight Moon ... oh wait! You want computer 
books. See below.

>If it seems broad it is supposed to be :) I want recommendation on
>newbie, intermediate, advanced, scripting, programming, and security :)

OK. Seriously now. Technical books are not good in the abstract; they are 
useful for particular purposes. Without a better understanding of your 
needs, anyone here who makes recommendations is shooting in the dark. With 
that warning ...

newbie -- haven't been one in a long time. Back in 1993, there were no 
books for Linux beginners (there barely was Linux itself ... I never did 
manage a successful install of Yggdrasil). I still have the O'Reilly 
Essential System Administration from those days (actually, I replaced my 
original copy with the second edition), and though I never refer to it any 
more, in the early days, struggling with early versions of Slackware,  it 
was an everyday tool.  It's probably too out of date for use today (unless 
I missed a 3e), but I'd look for something like it. I'd also look closely 
at some of the book-level materials available from the Linux Documentation 
Project (the URL keeps changing, so google the phrase). Every 
beginner-level "Intro to Linux" book I've ever read (I used to review them 
for an online site) was junk, as were most "Intro to Unix" books.

intermediate, advanced -- here you move into specifics too quickly for a 
general answer. I find the O'Reilly Internet Core Protocols book almost 
indispensible (I refer to it at least weekly), and I still occasionally use 
the O'Reilly TCP/IP Network Administration. Among the others I keep around 
(offered not as suggestions for you, but illustrations of how quickly this 
area moves into esoteric specifics) are the PostScript Red, Blue, and Green 
books; several texts on data structures and algorithms; several books on 
user-interface design; and a book that discusses the details of the PPP 
protocol. (I rarely consult any of these, but when the occasion arises, I 
find their availability a real timesaver.) I also liked Elias' suggestion 
here, but I don't actually own  the Tannenbaum book he recommended, since I 
don't do a lot of OS development.

scripting, programming -- I'm not a good bash scripter, so I'll pass there. 
This area is, of necessity, language specific. I program in Perl, C, and 
C++ on Linux, and I actually use these books:

         Perl -- Programming Perl and Perl Cookbook (both O'Reilly 
publications).

         C -- Practical C Programming (O'Reilly) and Linux Application 
Development (Addision-Wesley). Beware of the original K&R C book that Elias 
suggested; it predates the ANSI C spec by many years, and the spec departed 
from it in ways that matter. I also like Kernighan and Pike's The Practice 
of Programming. The Stevens set Elias suggested is a classic, but I don't 
actually own it either.

         C++ -- Practical C++ Programming (O'Reilly). I also like Bulka and 
Mayhew's Efficient C++ ... but it is a couple of years old now, and there 
are probably better, newer books.

security -- it's a jungle out there, and security moves too fast for books 
to keep up. I do like Schneier's Applied Cryptography ... but every other 
security book I've ever bought seemed outdated within 3 months. Your best 
resource here is the Internet -- start with your Linux distro's security 
mailing list, perhaps add in a general-purpose list like bugtraq, and 
follow the leads they offer.


--
-------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"--------
Ray Olszewski					-- Han Solo
Palo Alto, California, USA			  ray@comarre.com
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Re: Book Recommendations

[Elias Athanasopoulos]

On Tue, Nov 12, 2002 at 01:17:39PM -0800, Ray Olszewski wrote:
> at some of the book-level materials available from the Linux Documentation 
> Project (the URL keeps changing, so google the phrase). Every 
> general answer. I find the O'Reilly Internet Core Protocols book almost 

Yes. The LDP was always the first place to look in, when everything didn't
work. It still is for me: http://www.linuxdoc.org.

> Development (Addision-Wesley). Beware of the original K&R C book that Elias 
> suggested; it predates the ANSI C spec by many years, and the spec departed 

There is a second edition, which is compatible with ANSI C. 

Elias

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Re: Book Recommendations

[dashielljt]

I've found a book called The Spirit Of C very useful for beginning
programming in C.  I can't remember the rest of the information on it
since it was a long time ago I used it.  This isn't strictly a book, but
worth its weight in gold and this isn't just my opinion either, it's
shared by other programmers I respect for their capabilities.  Mix
Software wrote Power C which is a C compiler that's ansi standard and also
sysv.  Even though it won't work on linux, you buy it say for dos you're
not buying it for the compiler.  You're buying it for its manual.  Half
the manual is tutorial and that's the front of the manual and it's best
not to read it either.  It's the back half of the manual you bought the
whole package for, and that's a functions library.  It has each function
described like they'd be in linux man pages, so there's nothing special
about that.  It also has worked example programs for each one of those
functions so you can see by compiling and running the program how the
function will work.  Now with all of that being said, cursor positioning
is different in power C than it is in gcc.  with gcc you use
goto(xy(row,col) and in Power C you use curspos(row,col) and they come
from different libraries but other than that, it'll give you a good entry
into C.

Jude <dashielljt@gmpexpress.net>


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Re: Book Recommendations

[Joshua Lee]

On Tue, Nov 12, 2002 at 01:17:39PM -0800, Ray Olszewski wrote:
> Essential System Administration from those days (actually, I replaced my 
> original copy with the second edition), and though I never refer to it any 
> more, in the early days, struggling with early versions of Slackware,  it 
> was an everyday tool.  It's probably too out of date for use today (unless 
> I missed a 3e), but I'd look for something like it. I'd also look closely 

A third edition is forthcoming from O'Reilly. You're right about the
second edition being a bit out of date.
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Re: Book Recommendations

[Elias Athanasopoulos]

On Tue, Nov 12, 2002 at 02:45:03PM -0500, Paul Kraus wrote:
> If it seems broad it is supposed to be :) I want recommendation on
> newbie,

Get an introduction to Unix. Try to find an old one and avoid
Linux in 24h, etc.

> intermediate, advanced, 

Modern Operating Systems (Tannenbaum).

> scripting, 

man _your_favourite_shell

> programming, 

K&R/The C Programming Language, the 2 volumes of Unix Programming by R. Stevens,
the FAQ of comp.unix.programmer.

> and security :)

From a programmer's techincal view of point, read the article "Smashing the 
stack for fun and profit" (Phrack).

Elias

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Re: Book Recommendations

[Joshua Lee]

On Tue, Nov 12, 2002 at 02:45:03PM -0500, Paul Kraus wrote:
> What books would you recommend?
> 
> If it seems broad it is supposed to be :) I want recommendation on
> newbie, intermediate, advanced, scripting, programming, and security :)

O'Reilly's "UNIX Power Tools" is a neat book for finding tips and tricks
concerning *nix programs and utilities. 

For system administration a clone of the venerable (and expensive) 
Unix System Administration Handbook (aka the Purple Book) by Evi Nemeth 
et. al. has been published under the name of Linux Administration Handbook. 
I reccomend it highly.

For programming I hear that W. Richard Stevens "Advanced Programming in
the Unix Environment" is the best. (It's in my to-buy queue.) I have
one of his works on the TCP/IP protocols, "TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 1"
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Book recommendations

[ed]

Hello,

I am looking to get involved in kernel development, maybe start first
with looking at very minor bugs effecting my local system etc.

First I would like some advice on choosing reading material, has anyone
any good advice? I have previously read Unix Internals - Pate, but this
is not deep enough and closer to SCO than linux.

-- 
Regards, Ed http://www.usenix.org.uk
:%s/Open Source/Free Software/g

Re: Book recommendations

[Michal Piotrowski]

Hi,

On 24/12/05, ed <ed@ednevitible.co.uk> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am looking to get involved in kernel development, maybe start first
> with looking at very minor bugs effecting my local system etc.
>
> First I would like some advice on choosing reading material, has anyone
> any good advice? I have previously read Unix Internals - Pate, but this
> is not deep enough and closer to SCO than linux.

Linux Kernel Development, 2ed
http://rlove.org/kernel_book/

Linux Device Drivers 3
http://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/

http://www.kernelnewbies.org/

Regards,
Michal Piotrowski

Re: Book recommendations

[Steven Rostedt]

On Fri, 2005-12-23 at 23:11 +0000, ed wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I am looking to get involved in kernel development, maybe start first
> with looking at very minor bugs effecting my local system etc.
> 
> First I would like some advice on choosing reading material, has anyone
> any good advice? I have previously read Unix Internals - Pate, but this
> is not deep enough and closer to SCO than linux.

Previously, I recommended three books:

http://www.kerneltraffic.org/kernel-traffic/kt20050605_312.html#8

and Greg KH wrote up a nice howto:

http://www.kernel.org/git/?p=linux/kernel/git/gregkh/patches.git;a=blob;f=HOWTO

-- Steve

Re: Book recommendations

[Pekka Enberg]

On 12/24/05, Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org> wrote:
> Previously, I recommended three books:
>
> http://www.kerneltraffic.org/kernel-traffic/kt20050605_312.html#8

FWIW, I would recommend all three as well.

                         Pekka

Re: Book recommendations

[ed]

On Sat, 24 Dec 2005 12:33:32 +0200
Pekka Enberg <penberg@cs.helsinki.fi> wrote:

> On 12/24/05, Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org> wrote:
> > Previously, I recommended three books:
> >
> > http://www.kerneltraffic.org/kernel-traffic/kt20050605_312.html#8
> 
> FWIW, I would recommend all three as well.

Thanks for the advice people, they're on my amazon wish list, I'll see
if the local library can get them in too, might save some money!

Do most people read the books before starting out? Is it something I can
grasp through reading the kernel sources, I'm not shy to reading, just
wondering.

-- 
Regards, Ed http://www.usenix.org.uk
:%s/Open Source/Free Software/g

Re: Book recommendations

[Steven Rostedt]

On Sat, 24 Dec 2005, ed wrote:

> On Sat, 24 Dec 2005 12:33:32 +0200
> Pekka Enberg <penberg@cs.helsinki.fi> wrote:
>
> > On 12/24/05, Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org> wrote:
> > > Previously, I recommended three books:
> > >
> > > http://www.kerneltraffic.org/kernel-traffic/kt20050605_312.html#8
> >
> > FWIW, I would recommend all three as well.
>
> Thanks for the advice people, they're on my amazon wish list, I'll see
> if the local library can get them in too, might save some money!
>
> Do most people read the books before starting out? Is it something I can
> grasp through reading the kernel sources, I'm not shy to reading, just
> wondering.

The best way is to have the books as you walk through the code.  The books
themselves are not very useful if you are not looking at the code while
you read them. Let me rephrase that, the books are much more helpful when
the code is in front of you, and you can experiment with modules and such,
and do the examples in the books.

Warning, the books are much more static than the kernel.  So some of the
examples in the books will not work with the latest kernels, but if you
find one, it's OK to pop a quick question here, and you might get an
answer for a current example.  But check out the websites listed in the
book first, I believe they have updates.

-- Steve

Re: Book Recommendations

[[ Jason ]]

On Wed, 2002-11-13 at 17:01, Elias Athanasopoulos wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 12, 2002 at 01:24:07AM -0500, [ Jason ] wrote:
> > 9) The C Programming Lang (ANSI Standard) (the white book, aka: the
> >    bible to some, the k&R book)
> 
> I guess it is the K&R book. The bible is the Art of Computer
Programming
> (D. Knuth), which I think noone mentioned and, IMHO, shouldn't be out
of such 
> a list. :-)
> 
> Elias
> 
> -- 
> http://gnewtellium.sourceforge.net                    MP3 is not a
crime.     

Oh damn! I totally overlooked that...wow..hard to believe I could
overlook a publication by Knuth. I have a copy of Vol I on my
shelf too...lol ever have one of those days/weeks? ;-D  It was
going to be a 7 volume set if I remember right, but Knuth
only did 3 volumes. But that doesn't take away from
his contribution at all!

oh and I guess just in case people are in to Comp Arch. a 
good collection of whitepapers/articles can be found 
in "Readings in Computer Architecture" by Hill, Jouppi, Sohi.

I guess I should also mention that if youu into C++ you
should have a book by Bjorn Stoustrup !

jason

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Re: Book Recommendations

[[ Jason ]]

Initially I sent this to Mr. Kraus, thinking it was going to
the list; but instead wound up in his inbox. Sorry about that :)
I don't post much. 

Here are my picks:

On Tue, 2002-11-12 at 14:45, Paul Kraus wrote:
> What books would you recommend?

1)  Practical Unix Programming : A Guide to Concurrency, Communication
    and Multithreading
    By S. Robbins (PhD. MIT) and K. Robbins (PhD. MIT) 
    http://vip.cs.utsa.edu
 
    Excellent book, however some of the code examples are very 
    concise and may require several passes for a new C programmer
    to comprehend. I'll be honest, I had the privilege of taken
    the course from Dr. Steve Robbins and it was excellent to say
    the least. The second edition is very close to completion
    and includes a project I worked on as an undergrad :-D

2)  Understanding the Linux Kernel 
    by D. Bovet and M. Cesati
    O'Reilly series

    A nice book so far, haven't gotten to far with it. But I 
   would say that you need basic understanding of how an OS 
   works before diving right in.

3)  Maximum Linux Security 
    by Anonymous 

4)  "the Safe book"  aka: Practical Unix & Internet Security
    by. S. Garfinkel and G. Spafford
     
both 3) and 4) are must haves IMO.  The "Hacking Exposed series" isn't
too bad. But if you want some real fun set up a honeynet :-D
http://project.honeynet.org/

5) Any book by Richard Stevens; Adavanced Programming in the Unix
   System Enviornment; Unix Network Programming vol 1 & 2; 
   TCP IP/Illustrated Vol 1-3; especially Vol 1.

6)  Modern Operating Systems
    by A. Tanebaum
    Very good book from what I hear, but I don't own a copy.

7) Learning Perl
   O'Reilly series

8) Sed & Awk
   O'Reilly series

9) The C Programming Lang (ANSI Standard) (the white book, aka: the
   bible to some, the k&R book)
   by. Kernighan and Ritchie 
   This is a *must* have.

10) Books by Dietel and Dietel; such as "How to Program <foo>"
    Just in case the K&R book isn't your cup of tea, I found
    their series to be helpful.

11) Pick up a book on python..thats my next language. I heard
    its really useful.

12) the Java "core" series by C. Horstmann.

13) Java network programming by E. L. Harold; currently 2nd edition.
 
    Good book, covers Threads, working with URL's, secure sockets etc..

I think thats it. I have more book lying around but these were the
ones that came to mind right away.

regards,
Jason Jendrusch


    
 


> If it seems broad it is supposed to be :) I want recommendation on
> newbie, intermediate, advanced, scripting, programming, and security
:)
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Paul Kraus
> Network Administrator
> PEL Supply Company
> 216.267.5775 Voice
> 216-267-6176 Fax
> www.pelsupply.com
> 
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe
linux-newbie" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> Please read the FAQ at http://www.linux-learn.org/faqs

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Re: Book Recommendations

[Elias Athanasopoulos]

On Tue, Nov 12, 2002 at 01:24:07AM -0500, [ Jason ] wrote:
> 9) The C Programming Lang (ANSI Standard) (the white book, aka: the
>    bible to some, the k&R book)

I guess it is the K&R book. The bible is the Art of Computer Programming
(D. Knuth), which I think noone mentioned and, IMHO, shouldn't be out of such 
a list. :-)

Elias

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Re: Book Recommendations

[dashielljt]

Well the K&R stuff in The C programming language is intermediate and
advanced reference book.  All I have to say about Knuth is that it would
have been nice if he had put the necessary fortran or source in that large
book to build the tools for his unique programming language.  I didn't
find that in there but didn't have the book all that long and was reading
it with an optacon since it was too complex for other sighted people
around me to read.

Jude <dashielljt@gmpexpress.net>

On Thu, 14 Nov 2002, Elias Athanasopoulos wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 12, 2002 at 01:24:07AM -0500, [ Jason ] wrote:
> > 9) The C Programming Lang (ANSI Standard) (the white book, aka: the
> >    bible to some, the k&R book)
>
> I guess it is the K&R book. The bible is the Art of Computer Programming
> (D. Knuth), which I think noone mentioned and, IMHO, shouldn't be out of such
> a list. :-)
>
> Elias
>
> --
> http://gnewtellium.sourceforge.net			MP3 is not a crime.
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Re: Book Recommendations

[Elias Athanasopoulos]

On Thu, Nov 14, 2002 at 04:51:55AM -0500, dashielljt wrote:
> advanced reference book.  All I have to say about Knuth is that it would
> have been nice if he had put the necessary fortran or source in that large
> book to build the tools for his unique programming language.  I didn't

It's an algorithms book. It shouldn't depend on a particular language.

Elias

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Re: Book Recommendations

[Ray Olszewski]

At 10:32 PM 11/14/02 +0200, Elias Athanasopoulos wrote:
>On Thu, Nov 14, 2002 at 04:51:55AM -0500, dashielljt wrote:
> > advanced reference book.  All I have to say about Knuth is that it would
> > have been nice if he had put the necessary fortran or source in that large
> > book to build the tools for his unique programming language.  I didn't
>
>It's an algorithms book. It shouldn't depend on a particular language.

Huh? What it should or shouldn't do isn't the question, here. The book 
(actually, the series, since it comprises 3 volumes) does in fact use an 
idiosyncratic pseudocode presentation of the algorithms, a language which I 
think Knuth calls MIX.

Every algorithms books I've ever looked at prsented the algorithms in some 
particular language (how can it not?), either a pseudo language like MIX or 
a real one like C, C++, or Pascal. At least for me, having the algorithms 
presented in a familiar programming language has value, since it is one 
less thing to keep track of. That's why, in practice, I usually use a book 
other than the Knuth series to research everyday A&DS questions, turning to 
Knuth only for something really tricky or obscure.


--
-------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"--------
Ray Olszewski					-- Han Solo
Palo Alto, California, USA			  ray@comarre.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: Book Recommendations

[Elias Athanasopoulos]

On Thu, Nov 14, 2002 at 11:27:57AM -0800, Ray Olszewski wrote:
> Huh? What it should or shouldn't do isn't the question, here. The book 
> (actually, the series, since it comprises 3 volumes) does in fact use an 
> idiosyncratic pseudocode presentation of the algorithms, a language which I 
> think Knuth calls MIX.

It is pseudo-code. The point is to understand the logic of the algorithm, not
the implementation, which is another different thing.
 
When you understand the internals of an algorithm then you can implement it
in every language you like, and actually make optimizations using your
favourite's language hints and tricks.

An algorithms book is different than an 'algorithms in C' book. The 
latter takes advantage of the internal mechanisms C uses. The first one 
tries to teach you the mathematical logic which an algorithm embeds.

Elias

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