The art of UNIX programming

What Hacker News says

1. 01-_-Jun 2025
   I've seen several threads over the years with physical or digital products that have generated hundreds of upvotes and discussions. I decided to put together some of the most mentioned - tools, gadgets and books that have a practical impact and that you can actually buy.

   Here are a few that I've seen highly recommended or discussed:

   1. The Art of Unix Programming (book) - Discussion of Unix philosophy, widely quoted here. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0131429019)

   2. PinePhone - Smartphone with Linux. Loved by those who defend free software and privacy. (https://www.pine64.org/)

   3. Sony WH-1000XM5 - Noise-canceling headset. Appears in all productivity threads. (https://www.sony.com/)

   4. ErgoDox EZ - Split ergonomic keyboard, customizable and often used by full-time devs. (https://ergodox-ez.com/)

   5. Raspberry Pi 5 - Tiny computer with a thousand possibilities (servers, personal projects, etc). (https://www.raspberrypi.com/)

   Do you have any others that you bought on HN's recommendation that were really worthwhile? If so, add them here (https://wishtogether.xyz/insertgif?id=68504cf34b) I want to expand this list based on what really worked for you.

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2. martttMay 2025
   Ardour has really good default settings.

   Another, maybe forgotten one is Wavosaur on Windows [1]. Great modularity, one can quickly remove cruft that's not needed, or add a lot of data on waveforms when necessary. I admit being a fan of the Classic Windows era UIs, though. :)

   A third, also forgotten one from the Win2k/9x GUI era is maybe Waveshop [2], also a great example of keeping things simple.

   Funny thing: I used Reaper for years (occasional pro-level radio production), then had to switch to Pro Tools because of studio demands. Afterwards tried going with Reaper again, but got really overwhelmed with all those endless possibilities for customization. So... I ended up using Ardour, which was easiest to grasp from day one. Really well thought out and polished GUI. Possibly a great example of why it makes sense to have a subscription/payment based, non-free open source project.

   Oh, and Audacity up to version 1.26 was also great. After 2.x, it started to add bloat IMO. I remember Eric S. Raymond highlighted it as a great example of modular, unix-y design in "The Art of Unix Programming" [3].

   1: https://www.wavosaur.com/

   2: https://victimofleisure.github.io/WaveShop/

   3: http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/html/ch06s01.html#aud...

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3. hiAndrewQuinnFeb 2025
   Naming only ones I haven't seen mentioned in other comments:

   - Networking for Systems Administrators, by Michael W. Lucas. Its explicit goal is to teach you just enough about networking, from the electron up, that you can talk to an actual network engineer and not make a fool out of yourself. It's a phenomenally high-ROI read if networking isn't your strong suit.

   - The first 3 chapters of Mastering Regular Expressions. Regexes are up there with Vim keybindings in terms of sheer ubiquitous use no matter what stack you find yourself in. The rest of the book is excellent if you want to actually implement a regex engine.

   - The Art of Unix Programming. Less technical. Gives you an idea of why exactly 'nix machines are like that, especially older commands. The 18 rules of design are worth committing to memory.

   - The Linux Programming Interface. More technical. Pairs esp nicely with the above. Lots of practice C code one can run, plenty of short self-contained chapters.

   - Not a book, but an online paper: https://how.complexsystems.fail . I see echoes of this everywhere I work, and it often helps me understand what kinds of "bad" things are secretly highly evolved resiliency measures.

   - The Little Schemer. Just for the joy of solving problems.

   Most of the others I can think of are too specialized to be of worth to everyone, but for what it's worth, William S. Vincent's Django for Beginners, APIs, and Professionals are a lovely triptych for anyone wanting to get into backend web dev.

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4. teddyhDec 2024
   See also The Art of Unix Programming: <http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/taoup/html/>
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5. CoastalCoderSep 2024
   Adding to the sibling comments, this is briefly covered in Eric Raymond's wonderful book, "The Art of Unix Programming" [0].

   [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Unix_Programming

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6. sweeterAug 2024
   oh my god that person wrote "The Art of Unix Programming" I binge read it last week and it was exceptional. What a world. These are the kind of people that I look up to and aspire to be like.
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