Re: Book questions
On 13/04/2015, Reco <recoverym4n@gmail.com> wrote:
<snip>
>Learning C is simple and
> fun. Just read classic K&R treatise, do all the examples. Did so back in
> high school, and no brain was damaged in the process :)
> The only problem today is to get a C compiler that understands K&R C.
>
I have not programmed in "C" for about 20-25 years, now, but, from
memory, with compilers, like "C" compilers, don't they have a switch
that can be set, so that they accept only ANSI code, such as ANSI
"C"?
> And yes, about the only *reasonable* way to understand Linux is to do
> write something which (ab)using syscalls. And that's something best done
> in C (maybe Perl).
>
I have just found my "C" programming lecture notes, from 1987. Apart
from Kernighan and Ritchie's "The "C" Programming Language", a
recommended text, was "A Practical Guide to UNIX System V" by Mark and
Sobell..
I assume that Linux is sufficiently close to UNIX, to use similar
principles, such as pre-emptive multitasking and forks and killing
children, etc, and, when I started learning about UNIX, in terms of
the operating principles, from memory, books about operating systems,
such as
Operating Systems - Design and Implementation - by Tanenbaum
Operating System Concepts - by Silberschatz
The first of the two, was a red book, from memory, published, I think,
by Prentice Hall, and it related to the development of Minix, which
was the forerunner to Linux, and, I believe that Linus Torvalds
developed Linux, as an expansion of Minix and possibly started with
that book, or something like it (I stand to be corrected, on in this
belief).
These books are from 20-30 years ago, in the learning of operating
systems and UNIX; in the design and implementation.
The question is, what is the nature of the understanding that you want
of Linux? Is it the interaction between the layers, for example, the
HAL and the higher layers; is it the multitasking; is it understanding
administration (such as, do not do one of the whoopsies - using "chmod
.", as one (other) student did, when I was learning UNIX), is it
scripting and shell processing, or, is it the "design and
implementation" of the operating system, and, in that, does what you
want, include comparative design and implementation of operating
systems?
I am no expert (my knowledge is quite limited) in the intricacies of
the Linux operating system, but, many books exist, about various
aspects of operating systems, including the UNIX-based operating
systems
--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............
"So once you do know what the question actually is,
you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
A Trilogy In Four Parts",
written by Douglas Adams,
published by Pan Books, 1992
....................................................
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