Re: learning on our own

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Date: Mon, 19 May 2003 08:08:43 -0700 (PDT)
To: Tom <tsasser@terra.cl>, freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org

Thanks, ill definitely look into this book!

--- Tom <tsasser@terra.cl> wrote:
> hi all,
>
> i just read the FreeBSD Newbies FAK again. something
> came to mind about a book
> that i have been reading.
>
> there is a book called _Understanding Unix/Linux
> Programming: A Guide to
> Theory and Practice_. it was written by Bruce
> Molay. it covers unix system
> programming from the beginning system programmer's
> perspective.
>
> generally, a book like this is not for newbies. it
> does require that you have
> some experience with the c programming language.
> so, why do i mention this?
>
> this book is absolutely BEAUTIFUL for learning the
> Unix Way. it introduces
> basic system programming concepts by showing the
> reader how to write common
> unix programs like ls. in my opinion, understanding
> the building blocks of
> unix is essential for understanding how to get unix
> to behave in a way that
> you like.
>
> what i find so neat about the book is that it
> teaches you how to ask questions
> of unix...and get the answers. you literally learn
> how to research a problem
> with this book. it divides up the problems up as
> follows: 1) "what does the
> unix program do?" ( like ls ), 2) "how does the
> program ls do it?" and 3)
> "can i write ls?" this is great because he shows
> you how to investigate the
> problem and find the answer on the system--usually
> through reading the online
> manuals and observing the behavior of the program.
>
> remember, computers are dumber than blades of grass!
> but, if programmed
> properly, they will tell you what they want. so, if
> you are seeing an error
> on the screen, it's really telling you what it
> wanted ( but it may look like
> gibberish ). it's up to you to reseach the
> "gibberish" in order to solve the
> problem. that means you actually have to read the
> error ( sometimes even
> save it )...because there may be keywords in the
> error that you can use in
> your search.
>
> needless to say, being able to investigate a problem
> and build your own answer
> is essential in unix...regardless of the
> problem...from web servers to
> configuring a boot loader. as i go through the book
> and look at the
> problems, i go through this procedure...and i learn
> more about what goes on
> behind the scenes. reading the online help (
> man-pages ) is humbling, but
> you really start to get a feel for how unix works.
>
> i HIGHLY recommend that most newbies at least read
> the first several chapters.
> you will become familiar with the paradigm. skip
> the code if you have to;
> you can also just read the program comments. the
> goal is to understand how
> to research a problem, not necessarily code in c.
> molay puts lots of
> comments in the code, so you won't get lost.
>
> i cannot stress this point enough: if you use the
> problem solving techniques
> shown in this book, you can solve any problem that
> you come across on your
> bsd system.
>
> good luck and happy hacking!
>
> --tom
>
> GAIM: cREbralFIX
> yahoo messenger: cREbralFIX
> www.linuxtechies.org ( yes, one of them! )
>
>
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=====
Look at all the pretty C shells!

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• Previous message: Michael Carr: "Re: GNOME and KDE included on FreeBSD Mall CDs?"
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