Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th edition with source code

What Hacker News says

1. pm215Aug 2019
   My somewhat off-beat recommendation is "Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition with Source Code". The sources to a 1976 version of Unix written in an archaic dialect of C and targeting a long-dead CPU architecture are obviously not of immediate relevance to the modern world, and may well not be to your taste unless you already have some sympathy with the idea of retrocomputing. But if you do: 6th Edition is small enough that you really can read through the whole set of sources and understand pretty much how the whole thing is put together; the basic bones of the design are not so far away from Linux, so it gives you a workable conceptual model of what the shape of the Linux sources are and what the various important parts are; the commentary is really good, explaining the inscrutable but nudging you to figure things out yourself too; and overall it is practice in reading a large volume of somebody else's code, which is something you're going to be doing all the time if you work on Linux or any modern kernel. You probably also want a more theoretical and general book too, of course.
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2. yesenadamFeb 2019
   "Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code by John Lions (1976) ...Despite its age, it is still considered an excellent commentary on simple but high quality code.

   For many years, the Lions book was the only Unix kernel documentation available outside Bell Labs. Although the license of 6th Edition allowed classroom use of the source code, the license of 7th Edition specifically excluded such use, so the book spread through illegal copy machine reproductions (a kind of samizdat). It was commonly held to be the most copied book in computer science."[0]

   I had a look a couple of years ago, it's a joy to read. It's about UNIX on the PDP11. A 1977 version PDF is available here[1] - that page has a cover with endorsement from Ken Thompson and Foreword by Dennis Ritchie, but that seems from a later edition. The end of Lions' preface is funny:

   "The co-operation of the "nroff" program must also be mentioned. Without it, these notes could never have been produced in this form. However it has yielded some of its more enigmatic secrets so reluctantly that the author's gratitude is indeed mixed. Certainly "nroff" itself must provide a fertile field for future practitioners of the program documenter's art."

   The Use of these notes section:

   "These notes, which are intended to supplement the comments already present in the source code, are not essential for understanding the UNIX operating system. It is perfectly possible to proceed without them, and you should attempt to do so as long as you can.

   The notes are a crutch, to aid you when the going becomes difficult. If you attempt to read each file or procedure on your own first, your initial progress is likely to be slower, but your ultimate progress much faster. Reading other people's programs is an art which should be learnt and practised because it is useful!"

   The end of the Introduction:

   "...on the whole you will find that the authors of UNIX, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, have created a program of great strength, integrity and effectiveness, which you should admire and seek to emulate."

   [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions%27_Commentary_on_UNIX_6t...

   [1]http://booksdescr.org/item/index.php?md5=6743D838476261CFDEF...

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3. chauhankiranMar 2017
   I have not completely read yet but one of my favorite is : Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code[0]

   [0]. http://www.lemis.com/grog/Documentation/Lions/

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4. hgaApr 2016
   Certainly reading a lot of good C code is a part of this; for me, reading the predecessor Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions%27_Commentary_on_UNIX_6t...) was a key part of my learning serious C in the early '90s.

   Plus of course hacking on programs, most often various ersatz Emacs versions that would run on a PDP-11. I.e. something I really wanted to get working to my satisfaction.

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5. hgaJun 2015
   I have a positive opinion of Australian tech because I was one of many back in the day who learned a lot from Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions'_Commentary_on_UNIX_6th_...). This put the University of New South Wales on the map, and of course Australia as well.

   Since then, I've noticed you've got a research institute that does a lot of wireless stuff, it or another has done some major L4 microkernels, and I happily pay Fastmail for my email service.

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6. pakled_engineerMay 2015
   This course you build a small OS with the seL4 microkernel on a sabre lite board http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs9242/current/

   Of course there's also Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition, with Source Code by John Lions and the plan9 operating system design specs you can go through to see why they did what they did. They're "old" resources but basics have stayed the same.

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