100 Best Unix Books of All Time

We've researched and ranked the best unix books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more

Featuring recommendations from Tim O'Reilly, Jeff Atwood, Ev Williams, and 6 other experts.
1
In their preface, the authors explain, "This book is meant to help the reader learn how to program in C. It contains tutorial introduction to get new users started as soon as possible, separate chapters on each major feature, and a reference manual. Most of the treatment is based on reading, writing, and revising examples, rather than on mere statement of rules. For the most part, the examples are complete, real programs, rather than isolated garments. All examples have been tested directly from the text, which is in machine-readable form. Besides showing how to make effective use of the... more
Recommended by Tim O'Reilly, and 1 others.

Tim O'ReillyThe Unix Programming Environment, by Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike. In addition to its articulation of the Unix tools philosophy that is so dear to my heart, the writing is a model of clarity and elegance. As a technical writer, I aspired to be as transparent as Kernighan. (Source)

See more recommendations for this book...

2

Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook

"As an author, editor, and publisher, I never paid much attention to the competition--except in a few cases. This is one of those cases. The UNIX System Administration Handbook is one of the few books we ever measured ourselves against." --Tim O'Reilly, founder of O'Reilly Media "This edition is for those whose systems live in the cloud or in virtualized data centers; those whose administrative work largely takes the form of automation and configuration source code; those who collaborate closely with developers, network engineers, compliance officers, and all the other worker... more

See more recommendations for this book...

3
The Linux Programming Interface is the definitive guide to the Linux and UNIX programming interface—the interface employed by nearly every application that runs on a Linux or UNIX system.

In this authoritative work, Linux programming expert Michael Kerrisk provides detailed descriptions of the system calls and library functions that you need in order to master the craft of system programming, and accompanies his explanations with clear, complete example programs.

You'll find descriptions of over 500 system calls and library functions, and more than 200 example...
more
Recommended by Julia Evans, and 1 others.

Julia Evanshanging out with my favourite Linux book this morning. I love that the chapters are so short (usually less than 20 pages) and I always learn something interesting by picking a chapter and reading it. https://t.co/fZBNu8rfU8 (Source)

See more recommendations for this book...

4
If you are an experienced C programmer with a working knowledge of UNIX, you cannot afford to be without this up-to-date tutorial on the system call interface and the most important functions found in the ANSI C library. Rich Stevens describes more than 200 system calls and functions; since he believes the best way to learn code is to read code, a brief example accompanies each description.Building upon information presented in the first 15 chapters, the author offers chapter-long examples teaching you how to create a database library, a PostScript printer driver, a modem dialer, and a... more

See more recommendations for this book...

5

The Art of UNIX Programming

This text reveals the software design secrets of the original Unix designers, showing how they produce software that is fast, portable, reuseable, modular and long-lived. Luminaries including Brian Kernighan, David Korn and Henry Spencer contribute to the book. less

See more recommendations for this book...

6
Classic description of the internal algorithms and the structures that form the basis of the UNIX operating system and their relationship to programmer interface. The leading selling UNIX internals book on the market. less

See more recommendations for this book...

7

UNIX Power Tools

With the growing popularity of Linux and the advent of Darwin, Unix has metamorphosed into something new and exciting. No longer perceived as a difficult operating system, more and more users are discovering the advantages of Unix for the first time. But whether you are a newcomer or a Unix power user, you'll find yourself thumbing through the goldmine of information in the new edition of Unix Power Tools to add to your store of knowledge. Want to try something new? Check this book first, and you're sure to find a tip or trick that will prevent you from learning things the hard way. more

See more recommendations for this book...

8
You've experienced the shiny, point-and-click surface of your Linux computer--now dive below and explore its depths with the power of the command line.

The Linux Command Line takes you from your very first terminal keystrokes to writing full programs in Bash, the most popular Linux shell (or command line). Along the way you'll learn the timeless skills handed down by generations of experienced, mouse-shunning gurus: file navigation, environment configuration, command chaining, pattern matching with regular expressions, and more.

In addition to that...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

9

Learning the bash Shell

Learning the bash Shell, Third Edition, is the definitive guide to bash, the Free Software Foundation's "Bourne Again Shell." It's a freely available replacement for the UNIX Bourne shell, and is the shell of choice for users of Linux, Mac OS X, BSD, and other UNIX systems.

You'll find this guide valuable whether you're interested in bash as a user interface or for its powerful programming capabilities. This book will teach you how to use bash's advanced command-line features, such as command history, command-line editing, and command completion.

This book also...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

10

UNIX

A History and a Memoir

The fascinating story of how Unix began and how it took over the world. Brian Kernighan was a member of the original group of Unix developers, the creator of several fundamental Unix programs, and the co-author of classic books like "The C Programming Language" and "The Unix Programming Environment." less

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
11

The C Programming Language

This book is meant to help the reader learn how to program in C. It is the definitive reference guide, now in a second edition. Although the first edition was written in 1978, it continues to be a worldwide best-seller. This second edition brings the classic original up to date to include the ANSI standard.

From the Preface:
We have tried to retain the brevity of the first edition. C is not a big language, and it is not well served by a big book. We have improved the exposition of critical features, such as pointers, that are central to C programming. We have refined the...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

12
As an open operating system, Unix can be improved on by anyone and everyone: individuals, companies, universities, and more. As a result, the very nature of Unix has been altered over the years by numerous extensions formulated in an assortment of versions. Today, Unix encompasses everything from Sun's Solaris to Apple's Mac OS X and more varieties of Linux than you can easily name.

The latest edition of this bestselling reference brings Unix into the 21st century. It's been reworked to keep current with the broader state of Unix in today's world and highlight the strengths of this...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

13

Unix Network Programming

The leading book in its field, this guide focuses on the design, development and coding of network software under the UNIX operating system. Provides over 15,000 lines of C code with descriptions of how and why a given solution is achieved. For programmers seeking an indepth tutorial on sockets, transport level interface (TLI), interprocess communications (IPC) facilities under System V and BSD UNIX. less

See more recommendations for this book...

14
How Linux Works reveals the inner workings of the Linux system, with in-depth coverage of topics such as device management, the boot sequence, system management basics, and networking. Author Brian Ward combines background theory and real-world examples to show you both "how" to administer Linux and "why" each technique works. This updated edition of the classic Linux reference explores the kernel in greater detail, with coverage of system calls, input and output, and file systems.

With this essential guide, you'll learn everything you need to know to customize your system,...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

15

The Cuckoo's Egg

Before the Internet became widely known as a global tool for terrorists, one perceptive U.S. citizen recognized its ominous potential. Armed with clear evidence of computer espionage, he began a highly personal quest to expose a hidden network of spies that threatened national security. But would the authorities back him up? Cliff Stoll's dramatic firsthand account is "a computer-age detective story, instantly fascinating [and] astonishingly gripping" (Smithsonian).

Cliff Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab when a 75-cent accounting error...
more
Recommended by Rick Klau, James Stanley, and 2 others.

Rick Klau@AtulAcharya @stevesi Same. Read it in college, realized I was more excited about the tech than what I was studying -- and Cliff did such a great job helping you understand what was going on. Such a great book. (Source)

James Stanley"The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll is another great book. I believe it's the first documented account of a computer being misused by a remote attacker. It talks about how Clifford attached physical teleprinters to the incoming phone lines so that he could see what the attacker was actually doing on the computer, and how he traced the attacker across several countries. (Source)

See more recommendations for this book...

16
This revised guide to Unix networking APIs updates coverage of programming standards and debugging techniques, and covers operating systems including Red Hat 9, Solaris 9, HP-UX, Free BSD 4.8/5.0, AIX 5.x and Mac OS X. less

See more recommendations for this book...

17
The most complete, authoritative technical guide to the FreeBSD kernel's internal structure has now been extensively updated to cover all major improvements between Versions 5 and 11. Approximately one-third of this edition's content is completely new, and another one-third has been extensively rewritten. Three long-time FreeBSD project leaders begin with a concise overview of the FreeBSD kernel's current design and implementation. Next, they cover the FreeBSD kernel from the system-call level down-from the interface to the kernel to the hardware. Explaining key design decisions, they detail... more

See more recommendations for this book...

18
Shell scripting skills never go out of style. It's the shell that unlocks the real potential of Unix. Shell scripting is essential for Unix users and system administrators-a way to quickly harness and customize the full power of any Unix system. With shell scripts, you can combine the fundamental Unix text and file processing commands to crunch data and automate repetitive tasks. But beneath this simple promise lies a treacherous ocean of variations in Unix commands and standards. Classic Shell Scripting is written to help you reliably navigate these tricky waters.

Writing...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

19

Learning the vi and Vim Editors

There's nothing that hard-core Unix and Linux users are more fanatical about than their text editor. Editors are the subject of adoration and worship, or of scorn and ridicule, depending upon whether the topic of discussion is your editor or someone else's.

vi has been the standard editor for close to 30 years. Popular on Unix and Linux, it has a growing following on Windows systems, too. Most experienced system administrators cite vi as their tool of choice. And since 1986, this book has been the guide for vi.

However, Unix systems are not...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

20
Well-implemented interprocess communications (IPC) are key to the performance of virtually every non-trivial UNIX program. In "UNIX Network Programming, Volume 2, Second Edition," legendary UNIX expert W. Richard Stevens presents a comprehensive guide to every form of IPC, including message passing, synchronization, shared memory, and Remote Procedure Calls (RPC). less

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
21

Linux Kernel Development

"Linux Kernel Development" details the design and implementation of the Linux kernel, presenting the content in a manner that is beneficial to those writing and developing kernel code, as well as to programmers seeking to better understand the operating system and become more efficient and productive in their coding. The book details the major subsystems and features of the Linux kernel, including its design, implementation, and interfaces. It covers the Linux kernel with both a practical and theoretical eye, which should appeal to readers with a variety of interests and needs. The author, a... more

See more recommendations for this book...

22

Mastering Regular Expressions

Regular expressions are an extremely powerful tool for manipulating text and data. They are now standard features in a wide range of languages and popular tools, including Perl, Python, Ruby, Java, VB.NET and C# (and any language using the .NET Framework), PHP, and MySQL.

If you don't use regular expressions yet, you will discover in this book a whole new world of mastery over your data. If you already use them, you'll appreciate this book's unprecedented detail and breadth of coverage. If you think you know all you need to know about regularexpressions, this book is a stunning...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

23

sed & awk

sed & awk describes two text processing programs that are mainstays of the UNIX programmer's toolbox.

sed is a "stream editor" for editing streams of text that might be too large to edit as a single file, or that might be generated on the fly as part of a larger data processing step. The most common operation done with sed is substitution, replacing one block of text with another.

awk is a complete programming language. Unlike many conventional languages, awk is "data driven" -- you specify what kind of data you are...

more

See more recommendations for this book...

24

Lions' Commentary On Unix

This legendary underground classic, reproduced without modification, is really two works in one:

▪︎ the complete source code to an early version of the UNIX operating system; and
▪︎ a brilliant commentary on that code by John Lions

Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson, and other UNIX luminaries have contributed new essays on the enduring value of this Computer Science masterpiece.

Lions’ marriage of source code with commentary was originally used as an operating systems textbook, a purpose for which it remains well-suited. As a self-study UNIX conceptual...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

25
This updated edition of Michael W. Lucas' definitive volume on FreeBSD-based systems adds coverage of modern disks, the ZFS filesystem IPv6, redesigned jail and packaging systems, and virtualization, among dozens of new features added in the last 10 years.

Absolute FreeBSD is your complete guide to FreeBSD, the powerful UNIX-like operating system that's supported modern servers, desktops, and platforms for years. In this completely revised third edition, FreeBSD committer Michael W. Lucas will teach you how to install, configure, and manage FreeBSD-based systems....
more

See more recommendations for this book...

26

Understanding the Linux Kernel

In order to thoroughly understand what makes Linux tick and why it works so well on a wide variety of systems, you need to delve deep into the heart of the kernel. The kernel handles all interactions between the CPU and the external world, and determines which programs will share processor time, in what order. It manages limited memory so well that hundreds of processes can share the system efficiently, and expertly organizes data transfers so that the CPU isn't kept waiting any longer than necessary for the relatively slow disks.

The third edition of Understanding the Linux...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

27
The definitive guide to OpenBSD

Foreword by Henning Brauer, OpenBSD PF Developer

OpenBSD, the elegant, highly secure Unix-like operating system, is widely used as the basis for critical DNS servers, routers, firewalls, and more. This long-awaited second edition of Absolute OpenBSD maintains author Michael Lucas's trademark straightforward and practical approach that readers have enjoyed for years. You'll learn the intricacies of the platform, the technical details behind certain design decisions, and best practices, with bits of humor sprinkled...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

28

Linux Pocket Guide

Essential Commands

If you use Linux in your day-to-day work, this popular pocket guide is the perfect on-the-job reference. The third edition features new commands for processing image files and audio files, running and killing programs, reading and modifying the system clipboard, and manipulating PDF files, as well as other commands requested by readers. You'll also find powerful command-line idioms you might not be familiar with, such as process substitution and piping into bash.

Linux Pocket Guide provides an organized learning path to help you gain mastery of the most useful and important...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

29
Open source provides the competitive advantage in the Internet Age. According to the August Forrester Report, 56 percent of IT managers interviewed at Global 2,500 companies are already using some type of open source software in their infrastructure and another 6 percent will install it in the next two years. This revolutionary model for collaborative software development is being embraced and studied by many of the biggest players in the high-tech industry, from Sun Microsystems to IBM to Intel.

The Cathedral & the Bazaar is a must for anyone who cares about the future...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

30
Vim is a fast and efficient text editor that will make you a faster and more efficient developer. It's available on almost every OS--if you master the techniques in this book, you'll never need another text editor. Practical Vim shows you 120 vim recipes so you can quickly learn the editor's core functionality and tackle your trickiest editing and writing tasks.

Vim, like its classic ancestor vi, is a serious tool for programmers, web developers, and sysadmins. No other text editor comes close to Vim for speed and efficiency; it runs on almost every system imaginable and...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
31

UNIX System Administration Handbook

This new edition of the world's most comprehensive guide to UNIX administration is an ideal tutorial for those new to administration and an invaluable reference for experienced professionals. The third edition has been expanded to include "direct from the frontlines" coverage of Red Hat Linux. UNIX System Administration Handbook describes every aspect of system administration - from basic topics to UNIX esoterica - and provides explicit cover of four popular UNIX systems:

- Red Hat Linux
- Solaris
- HP-UX
- FreeBSD

This book stresses a practical...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

33

Bash Cookbook

Solutions and Examples for Bash Users

For system administrators, programmers, and end users, shell command or carefully crafted shell script can save you time and effort, or facilitate consistency and repeatability for a variety of common tasks. This cookbook provides more than 300 practical recipes for using bash, the popular Unix shell that enables you to harness and customize the power of any Unix or Linux system.

Ideal for new and experienced users alike--including proficient Windows users and sysadmins--this updated second edition helps you solve a wide range of problems. You'll learn ways to handle...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

34
Talk directly to your system for a faster workflow withautomation capability Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible is youressential Linux guide. With detailed instruction and abundantexamples, this book teaches you how to bypass the graphicalinterface and communicate directly with your computer, saving timeand expanding capability. This third edition incorporates thirtypages of new functional examples that are fully updated to alignwith the latest Linux features. Beginning with command linefundamentals, the book moves into shell scripting and shows you thepractical... more

See more recommendations for this book...

35
This is "the Word" -- one man's word, certainly -- about the art (and artifice) of the state of our computer-centric existence. And considering that the "one man" is Neal Stephenson, "the hacker Hemingway" (Newsweek) -- acclaimed novelist, pragmatist, seer, nerd-friendly philosopher, and nationally bestselling author of groundbreaking literary works (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, etc., etc.) -- the word is well worth hearing. Mostly well-reasoned examination and partial rant, Stephenson's In the Beginning... was the Command Line is a thoughtful, irreverent, hilarious... more
Recommended by Ev Williams, and 1 others.

See more recommendations for this book...

36

The Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System

Describes the design and implementation of the BSD operating system - previously known as the Berkeley version of UNIX. This book explains key design decisions, and also details the concepts, data structures, and algorithms used in implementing the system's facilities. less

See more recommendations for this book...

37

UNIX Shell Programming

A complete overview of shell programming This classic edition deals specifically with the techniques of shell programming.
-- Presents information in step-by-step fashion
-- Covers all the features of the standard shell, with additional instructions for the Korn Shell
-- Teaches how to use the shell to tailor the UNIX environment
less

See more recommendations for this book...

38
All computers running Linux, Mac OS X, or Unix-like operating systems have a command line interface that gives users a powerful alternative to managing their computers and learning programming basics. Users can write small programs, or scripts, that run in the command line "shell" to perform everyday tasks like renaming files or processing text. Like the best-selling first edition, this revision of Wicked Cool Shell Scripts provides the full source code for over 100 short shell scripts that solve common problems, can be used to personalize a user's computing environment, and are just plain... more

See more recommendations for this book...

40

Learning the UNIX Operating System

If you are new to Unix, this concise book will tell you just what you need to get started and no more. Unix was one of the first operating systems written in C, a high-level programming language, and its natural portability and low price made it a popular choice among universities. Initially, two main dialects of Unix existed: one produced by AT&T known as System V, and one developed at UC Berkeley and known as BSD. In recent years, many other dialects have been created, including the highly popular Linux operating system and the new Mac OS X (a derivative of BSD).

Learning...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
41
Essential System Administration,3rd Edition is the definitive guide for Unix system administration, covering all the fundamental and essential tasks required to run such divergent Unix systems as AIX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Tru64 and more. Essential System Administration provides a clear, concise, practical guide to the real-world issues that anyone responsible for a Unix system faces daily.

The new edition of this indispensable reference has been fully updated for all the latest operating systems. Even more importantly, it has been extensively revised and...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

42
Much has changed in technology over the past decade. Data is hot, the cloud is ubiquitous, and many organizations need some form of automation. Throughout these transformations, Python has become one of the most popular languages in the world. This practical resource shows you how to use Python for everyday Linux systems administration tasks with today's most useful DevOps tools, including Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform.

Learning how to interact and automate with Linux is essential for millions of professionals. Python makes it much easier. With this book, you'll learn how to...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

43
Write software that draws directly on services offered by the Linux kernel and core system libraries. With this comprehensive book, Linux kernel contributor Robert Love provides you with a tutorial on Linux system programming, a reference manual on Linux system calls, and an insider’s guide to writing smarter, faster code.

Love clearly distinguishes between POSIX standard functions and special services offered only by Linux. With a new chapter on multithreading, this updated and expanded edition provides an in-depth look at Linux from both a theoretical and applied perspective over...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

44
With the same insight and authority that made their book The Unix programming Environment a classic, Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike have written The Practice of Programming to help make individual programmers more effective and productive. less

See more recommendations for this book...

45
"TCP/IP Illustrated," an ongoing series covering the many facets of TCP/IP, brings a highly-effective visual approach to learning about this networking protocol suite. "TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 2" contains a thorough explanation of how TCP/IP protocols are implemented. There isn't a more practical or up-to-date bookothis volume is the only one to cover the de facto standard implementation from the 4.4BSD-Lite release, the foundation for TCP/IP implementations run daily on hundreds of thousands of systems worldwide. Combining 500 illustrations with 15,000 lines of real, working code, "TCP/IP... more

See more recommendations for this book...

46

UNIX Internals

The New Frontiers

This book offers an exceptionally up-to-date, in-depth, and broad-based exploration of the latest advances in UNIX-based operating systems. Focusing on the design and implementation of the operating system itself -- not on the applications and tools that run on it -- this book compares and analyzes the alternatives offered by several important UNIX variants, and covers several advanced subjects, such as multi-processors and threads. Compares several important UNIX variants--highlighting the issues and alternative solutions for various operating system... more

See more recommendations for this book...

47

Practical UNIX & Internet Security

When Practical UNIX Security was first published in 1991, it became an instant classic. Crammed with information about host security, it saved many a UNIX system administrator and user from disaster.
This second edition is a complete rewrite of the original book. It's packed with twice the pages and offers even more practical information for UNIX users and administrators. It covers features of many types of UNIX systems, including SunOS, Solaris, BSDI, AIX, HP-UX, Digital UNIX, Linux, and others. The first edition was practical, entertaining, and full of useful scripts, tips, and...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

49

Regular Expressions Cookbook

Take the guesswork out of using regular expressions. With more than 140 practical recipes, this cookbook provides everything you need to solve a wide range of real-world problems. Novices will learn basic skills and tools, and programmers and experienced users will find a wealth of detail. Each recipe provides samples you can use right away.

This revised edition covers the regular expression flavors used by C#, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, and VB.NET. You’ll learn powerful new tricks, avoid flavor-specific gotchas, and save valuable time with this huge library of...
more
Recommended by Jeff Atwood, and 1 others.

See more recommendations for this book...

50

The AWK Programming Language

Originally developed by Alfred Aho, Brian Kernighan, and Peter Weinberger in 1977, AWK is a pattern-matching language for writing short programs to perform common data-manipulation tasks. In 1985, a new version of the language was developed, incorporating additional features such as multiple input files, dynamic regular expressions, and user-defined funcitons. This new version is available for both UNIX and MS-DOS. less

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
51

Operating Systems

Three Easy Pieces

A book about modern operating systems. Topics are broken down into three major conceptual pieces: Virtualization, Concurrency, and Persistence. Includes all major components of modern systems including scheduling, virtual memory management, disk subsystems and I/O, file systems, and even a short introduction to distributed systems. less

See more recommendations for this book...

52

Site Reliability Engineering

How Google Runs Production Systems

The overwhelming majority of a software system's lifespan is spent in use, not in design or implementation. So, why does conventional wisdom insist that software engineers focus primarily on the design and development of large-scale computing systems?

In this collection of essays and articles, key members of Google's Site Reliability Team explain how and why their commitment to the entire lifecycle has enabled the company to successfully build, deploy, monitor, and maintain some of the largest software systems in the world. You'll learn the principles and practices that enable...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

53

Pro Git

Git is the version control system developed by Linus Torvalds for Linux kernel development. It took the open source world by storm since its inception in 2005, and is used by small development shops and giants like Google, Red Hat, and IBM, and of course many open source projects.

A book by Git experts to turn you into a Git expert. Introduces the world of distributed version control Shows how to build a Git development workflow.
less

See more recommendations for this book...

54
The TCP/IP bible - now completely updated to reflect all the latest technologies! Leading Internet expert Douglas Comer has updated his classic, superb introduction to TCP/IP-based internetworking that is renowned for its clarity and accessibility in explaining internetworking and routing. Discover how the basic TCP/IP technology has survived and evolved over two decades of exponential growth, and understand the TCP/IP protocols and technical advances. This edition explains emerging technologies such as Mobile IP, Virtual Private Networks, resource reservation with RSVP, and Ipv6. Comer... more

See more recommendations for this book...

58

Metasploit

The Penetration Tester's Guide

"The best guide to the Metasploit Framework." —HD Moore, Founder of the Metasploit ProjectThe Metasploit Framework makes discovering, exploiting, and sharing vulnerabilities quick and relatively painless. But while Metasploit is used by security professionals everywhere, the tool can be hard to grasp for first-time users. Metasploit: The Penetration Tester's Guide fills this gap by teaching you how to harness the Framework and interact with the vibrant community of Metasploit contributors.

Once you've built your foundation for penetration testing, you'll learn the...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

60

Unix System V Network Programming

Finally, with UNIX(R) System V Network Programming, an authoritative reference is available for programmers and system architects interested in building networked and distributed applications for UNIX System V. Even if you currently use a different version of the UNIX system, such as the latest release of 4.3BSD or SunOS, this book is valuable to you because it is centered around UNIX System V Release 4, the version of the UNIX system that unified many of the divergent UNIX implementations.

For those professionals new to networking and UNIX system programming, two...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
61
The Complete Guide to Optimizing Systems Performance Written by the winner of the 2013 LISA Award for Outstanding Achievement in System Administration
Large-scale enterprise, cloud, and virtualized computing systems have introduced serious performance challenges. Now, internationally renowned performance expert Brendan Gregg has brought together proven methodologies, tools, and metrics for analyzing and tuning even the most complex environments. Systems Performance: Enterprise and the Cloud focuses on Linux(R) and Unix(R) performance, while illuminating...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

62
"There's an incredible amount of depth and thinking in the practicesdescribed here, and it's impressive to see it all in one place." " -Win Treese, coauthor of Designing Systems for Internet Commerce " " The Practice of Cloud System Administration, Volume 2, " focuses on "distributed" or "cloud" computing and brings a DevOps/SRE sensibility to the practice of system administration. Unsatisfied with books that cover either design or operations in isolation, the authors created this authoritative reference centered on a comprehensive approach. Case studies and examples from Google, Etsy,... more

See more recommendations for this book...

63
The long awaited update to the practitioner's guide to GNU Autoconf, Automake, and Libtool

The GNU Autotools make it easy for developers to create software that is portable across many Unix-like operating systems, and even Windows. Although the Autotools are used by thousands of open source software packages, they have a notoriously steep learning curve.

Autotools is the first book to offer programmers a tutorial-based guide to the GNU build system. Author John Calcote begins with an overview of high-level concepts and a hands-on tour of the...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

64
It's simple: if you want to interact deeply with Mac OS X, Linux, and other Unix-like systems, you need to know how to work with the Bash shell. This concise little book puts all of the essential information about Bash right at your fingertips.

You'll quickly find answers to the annoying questions that generally come up when you're writing shell scripts: What characters do you need to quote? How do you get variable substitution to do exactly what you want? How do you use arrays? Updated for Bash version 4.4, this book has the answers to these and other problems in a format that...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

65

Unix and Shell Programming

A Textbook (Non-Infotrac Version)

Designed as one of the first true textbooks on how to use the UNIX operating system and suitable for a wide variety of UNIX-based courses, UNIX and Shell Programming goes beyond providing a reference of commands to offer a guide to basic commands and shell programming. Forouzan/Gilberg begin by introducing students to basic commands and tools of the powerful UNIX operating system. The authors then present simple scriptwriting concepts, and cover all material required for understanding shells (e.g., Regular Expressions, grep, sed, and awk) before introducing material on the Korn, C, and Bourne... more

See more recommendations for this book...

66

Essential System Administration

Essential System Administration takes an in-depth look at the fundamentals of Unix system administration in a real-world, heterogeneous environment. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced administrator, you'll quickly be able to apply its principles and advice to your everyday problems.
The book approaches Unix system administration from the perspective of your job -- the routine tasks and troubleshooting that make up your day. Whether you're dealing with frustrated users, convincing an uncomprehending management that you need new hardware, rebuilding the kernel, or simply...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

68
With 28 new chapters, the third edition of The Practice of System and Network Administration innovates yet again! Revised with thousands of updates and clarifications based on reader feedback, this new edition also incorporates DevOps strategies even for non-DevOps environments. Whether you use Linux, Unix, or Windows, this new edition describes the essential practices previously handed down only from mentor to protege. This wonderfully lucid, often funny cornucopia of information introduces beginners to advanced frameworks valuable for their entire career, yet is structured... more

See more recommendations for this book...

69
You may have seen UNIX quick-reference guides, but you've never seen anything like "UNIX in a Nutshell." Not a scaled-down quick reference of common commands, "UNIX in a Nutshell" is a complete reference containing all commands and options, along with generous descriptions and examples that put the commands in context. For all but the thorniest UNIX problems, this one reference should be all the documentation you need.The second edition of "UNIX in a Nutshell" starts with thorough coverage of System V Release 3. To that, we've added the many new commands that were added to Release 4 and... more

See more recommendations for this book...

70
Think your Mac is powerful now? This practical guide shows you how to get much more from your system by tapping into Unix, the robust operating system concealed beneath OS X's beautiful user interface. OS X puts more than a thousand Unix commands at your fingertips--for finding and managing files, remotely accessing your Mac from other computers, and using freely downloadable open source applications.

If you're an experienced Mac user, this updated edition teaches you all the basic commands you need to get started with Unix. You'll soon learn how to gain real control over your...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
72

Operating Systems Design and Implementation

Operating Systems Design and Implementation, 3e , is ideal for introductory courses on computer operating systems. Written by the creator of Minux, professional programmers will now have the most up-to-date tutorial and reference available today. Revised to address the latest version of MINIX (MINIX 3), this streamlined, simplified new edition remains the only operating systems text to first explain relevant principles, then demonstrate their applications using a Unix-like operating system as a detailed example. It has been especially designed for high reliability, for use in... more

See more recommendations for this book...

73
Praised by reviewers and practicing TCP/IP programmers alike, the "TCP/IP Illustrated" series examines the many facets of the TCP/IP protocol suite using a unique and highly-effective visual approach that describles the inner workings of TCP/IP with detail, insight, and clarity. less

See more recommendations for this book...

74
Any UNIX programmer using the latest workstations or super minicomputers from vendors such as Sun, Silicon Graphics (SGI), AT&T, Amdahl, IBM, Apple, Compaq, Mentor Graphics, and Thinking Machines needs this book to optimize his/her job performance. This book teaches how these architectures operate using clear, comprehensible examples to explain the concepts, and provides a good reference for people already familiar with the basic concepts. less

See more recommendations for this book...

75
Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product.
Based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, the new edition of this bestselling study guide covers the updated Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) and Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) exams. RHCSA/RHCE Red Hat Linux Certification Study Guide, 7th Edition is fully revised to cover the recently released Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and the corresponding RHCSA and RHCE certification exams. This...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

76
Shell Programming in Unix, Linux and OS X is a thoroughly updated revision of Kochan and Wood's classic Unix Shell Programming tutorial. Following the methodology of the original text, the book focuses on the POSIX standard shell, and teaches you how to develop programs in this useful programming environment, taking full advantage of the underlying power of Unix and Unix-like operating systems.
After a quick review of Unix utilities, the book's authors take you step-by-step through the process of building shell scripts, debugging them, and understanding how they work...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

77

DNS and BIND

DNS and BIND tells you everything you need to work with one of the Internet's fundamental building blocks: the distributed host information database that's responsible for translating names into addresses, routing mail to its proper destination, and even listing phone numbers with the new ENUM standard. This book brings you up-to-date with the latest changes in this crucial service.

The fifth edition covers BIND 9.3.2, the most recent release of the BIND 9 series, as well as BIND 8.4.7. BIND 9.3.2 contains further improvements in security and IPv6 support, and important new...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

78

UNIX Hints & Hacks

UNIX Hints & Hacks is designed to instantly reward you through increased productivity and satisfaction with UNIX. Each and every hint and/or hack provides real value--not just a list of obvious procedures marked as secrets. Learn UNIX administration skills you can apply daily with UNIX workstations and servers. Discover networking tricks to make modifications safely over the network. Tackle security issues such as dealing with SuperUser accounts, permissions, and vulnerabilities in the UNIX operating system. Develop various ways to monitor the system logs and load averages, to aid in the... more

See more recommendations for this book...

79

Learning GNU Emacs

GNU Emacs is the most popular and widespread of the Emacs family of editors. It is also the most powerful and flexible. Unlike all other text editors, GNU Emacs is a complete working environment--you can stay within Emacs all day without leaving. Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition tells readers how to get started with the GNU Emacs editor. It is a thorough guide that will also "grow" with you: as you become more proficient, this book will help you learn how to use Emacs more effectively. It takes you from basic Emacs usage (simple text editing) to moderately complicated customization and... more

See more recommendations for this book...

80
Mac OS X was released in March 2001, but many components, such as Mach and BSD, are considerably older. Understanding the design, implementation, and workings of Mac OS X requires examination of several technologies that differ in their age, origins, philosophies, and roles.

Mac OS X Internals: A Systems Approach is the first book that dissects the internals of the system, presenting a detailed picture that grows incrementally as you read. For example, you will learn the roles of the firmware, the bootloader, the Mach and BSD kernel components (including the...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
83

Working with UNIX Processes

You're a modern master of Ruby. Want to impress your coworkers and write the fastest, most efficient, stable code you ever have? Don't reinvent the wheel. Reuse decades of research into battle-tested, highly optimized, and proven techniques available on any Unix system.

This book will teach you what you need to know so that you can write your own servers, debug your entire stack when things go awry, and understand how things are working under the hood.

more

See more recommendations for this book...

84
A compendium of shell scripting recipes that can immediately be used, adjusted, and applied The shell is the primary way of communicating with the Unix and Linux systems, providing a direct way to program by automating simple-to-intermediate tasks. With this book, Linux expert Steve Parker shares a collection of shell scripting recipes that can be used as is or easily modified for a variety of environments or situations. The book covers shell programming, with a focus on Linux and the Bash shell; it provides credible, real-world relevance, as well as providing the flexible tools to get... more

See more recommendations for this book...

85

Porting Unix Software

If you work on a UNIX system, a good deal of your most useful software comes from other people -- your vendor is not the source. This means, all too often, that the software you want was written for a slightly different system and that it has to be ported. Despite the best efforts of standards committees and the admirable people who write the software (often giving it away for free), something is likely to go wrong when you try to compile their source code. But help is now here!

Problems can crop up at any stage in porting. Special configuration is often required before you...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

86

Unix for the Impatient

Thoroughly updated to account for recent developments, the second edition of this bestselling book is an in-depth, comprehensive guide to UNIX-a handbook you can use both for learning and as a ready reference. The book is written for the technically oriented UNIX user who doesn't want to wade through verbose tutorials, but isn't already an expert. Its functional organization makes it easy to find the right tool for any task, with a complete alphapbetical summary providing fast lookup of commands, options, and subcommands. The Second Edition is based on the IEEE POSX.2 Standard now widely... more

See more recommendations for this book...

87

The Unix Philosophy

* Deals with powerful concepts in a simple way * Highlights important characteristics of Operating systems and other abstract entities in a new way * Explores the tenets of the UNIX operating system philosophy

Unlike so many books that focus on how to use UNIX, The UNIX Philosophy concentrates on answering the questions: `Why use UNIX in the first place?'. Readers will discover the rationale and reasons for such concepts as file system organization, user interface and other system characteristics. In an informative, non-technical fashion, The UNIX Philosophy explores the general...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

88
When processing text files, the awk language is ideal for handling data extraction, reporting, and data-reformatting jobs. This practical guide serves as both a reference and tutorial for POSIX-standard awk and for the GNU implementation, called gawk. This book is useful for novices and awk experts alike.

In this thoroughly revised edition, author and gawk lead developer Arnold Robbins describes the awk language and gawk program in detail, shows you how to use awk and gawk for problem solving, and then dives into...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

89

Advanced UNIX Programming

Helping UNIX programmers have a one-volume guide to the essential system-level services provided to them by the UNIX family of operating systems, this edition includes Linux, FreeBSD, and the Mac OS X kernel. Because mastering application programs is essential for successful UNIX programming, it helps programmers with emphasis on portability. less

See more recommendations for this book...

90
3rd Grade Common Core Math: Practice Workbook - Practice Questions, Answers & Explanations - Recommended by Teachers - Ace Academic Publishing-Based on Common Core State Standards: Similar to a standardized exam, you can find questions of all types, including multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, true or false, match the correct answer and free-response questions.-High Standards of Questions: Each of these questions are divided into Chapters and Sub-Topics. The contents of this Math workbook include multiple chapters and units covering all the required Common Core Standards for this grade... more

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
91
A competent system administrator knows that a Linux server is a high performance system for routing large amounts of information through a network connection. Setting up and maintaining a Linux server requires understanding not only the hardware, but the ins and outs of the Linux operating system along with its supporting cast of utilities as well as layers of applications software. There's basic documentation online but there's a lot beyond the basics you have to know, and this only comes from people with hands-on, real-world experience. This kind of "know how" is what we sought to capture... more

See more recommendations for this book...

92

Linux in a Nutshell

Everything you need to know about Linux is in this book. Written by Stephen Figgins, Ellen Siever, Robert Love, and Arnold Robbins -- people with years of active participation in the Linux community -- Linux in a Nutshell, Sixth Edition, thoroughly covers programming tools, system and network administration tools, the shell, editors, and LILO and GRUB boot loaders.

This updated edition offers a tighter focus on Linux system essentials, as well as more coverage of new capabilities such as virtualization, wireless network management, and revision control with git. It also...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

93

Grep Pocket Reference

grep Pocket Reference is the first guide devoted to grep, the powerful Unix content-location utility. This handy book is ideal for system administrators, security professionals, developers, and others who want to learn more about grep and take new approaches with it -- for everything from mail filtering and system log management to malware analysis. With grep Pocket Reference, you will:


Learn methods for filtering large files for specific content Acquire information not included in the current grep documentation Get several tricks for using variants such as...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

94

DNS and Bind

Here's a complete guide to the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) and the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) software, the UNIX implementation of DNS. DNS is the system that translates hostnames into Internet addresses. Until BIND was developed, name translation was based on a "host table"--if you were on the Internet, you got a table that listed all the systems connected to the Net and their addresses. As the Internet grew, host tables became unworkable. DNS is a distributed database that solves the same problem effectively, allowing the Net to grow without constraints. Rather than having... more

See more recommendations for this book...

95
The GNU Autotools make it easy for developers to create software that is portable across many Unix-like operating systems. Although the Autotools are used by thousands of open source software packages, they have a notoriously steep learning curve. And good luck to the beginner who wants to find anything beyond a basic reference work online.

Autotools Autotools is the first book to offer programmers a tutorial-based guide to the GNU build system. Author John Calcote begins with an overview of high-level concepts and a quick hands-on tour of the philosophy and design of the...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

96
The essential reference for core commands that Linux users need daily, along with superior tutorial on shell programming and much more. The book is a complete revision of the commands section of Sobell's Practical Guide to Linux - a proven best-seller. The book is Linux distribution and release agnostic. It will appeal to users of ALL Linux distributions. Superior examples make this book the the best option on the market! System administrators, software developers, quality assurance engineers and others working on a Linux system need to work from the command line in order to be effective.... more

See more recommendations for this book...

97

Operating System Concepts

Another defining moment in the evolution of operating systems
Small footprint operating systems, such as those driving the handheld devices that the baby dinosaurs are using on the cover, are just one of the cutting-edge applications you'll find in Silberschatz, Galvin, and Gagne's Operating System Concepts, Seventh Edition.
By staying current, remaining relevant, and adapting to emerging course needs, this market-leading text has continued to define the operating systems course. This Seventh Edition not only presents the latest and most relevant systems, it also digs deeper to...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

99
This hands-on guide demonstrates how the flexibility of the command line can help you become a more efficient and productive data scientist. You'll learn how to combine small, yet powerful, command-line tools to quickly obtain, scrub, explore, and model your data.

To get you started--whether you're on Windows, OS X, or Linux--author Jeroen Janssens introduces the Data Science Toolbox, an easy-to-install virtual environment packed with over 80 command-line tools.

Discover why the command line is an agile, scalable, and extensible technology. Even if you're already...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

100
This complete guide to setting up and running a TCP/IP network is essential for network administrators, and invaluable for users of home systems that access the Internet. The book starts with the fundamentals -- what protocols do and how they work, how addresses and routing are used to move data through the network, how to set up your network connection -- and then covers, in detail, everything you need to know to exchange information via the Internet.

Included are discussions on advanced routing protocols (RIPv2, OSPF, and BGP) and the gated software package that implements them,...
more

See more recommendations for this book...

Don't have time to read the top Unix books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.