Foundational Unix Papers, Books, Videos, and Resources

First published — Sep 22, 2023
Last updated — Oct 30, 2023
#unix #bsd #gnu #linux

Original Unix, BSD, GNU, Linux. Books, papers, videos, and similar materials.

Table of Contents

Introduction

This page lists documents, books, and audio-video materials relevant for understanding Unix.

If you are interested in the historical aspect, see also History of Unix, BSD, GNU, and Linux .

Foundational Materials

Important Unix papers and documents.

UNIX Programmer’s Manuals

Links to Unix Programmer’s Manuals. The manuals consist of manpages and papers. They are user-oriented, i.e. they do not discuss Unix internals, OS design principles, or C programming.

Books and materials related to Unix.

Videos

Old-school Unix videos and documentaries.

Magazines

Other Resources

Misc links and resources, mostly to collections of books, papers, and documents.

Automatic Links

The following links appear in the article:

1. History of Unix, BSD, GNU, and Linux - /unix-bsd-gnu-linux-history/
2. History of Unix, BSD, GNU, and Linux - /unix-history/
3. Odd Comments and Strange Doings in Unix
4. The Bastard Operator From Hell - http://www.bofharchive.com/BOFH.html
5. The Daemon, the GNU & the Penguin - http://www.groklaw.net/staticpages/index.php?page=20051013231901859
6. ZIP File With the Book and Code - https://archive.org/details/CommentarySixthEditionUNIX
7. The UNIX Programming Environment - https://archive.org/details/UNIXProgrammingEnvironment
8. A Quarter Century of Unix - https://archive.org/details/aquartercenturyofunixpeterh.salus_201910
9. The Cathedral and the Bazaar - https://archive.org/details/cathedral-bazaar
10. Computer Chronicles - https://archive.org/details/computerchronicles
11. UNIX REVIEW - https://archive.org/details/unixreview?sort=date
12. Unix Programmer's Manual, 8th Edition - https://archive.org/details/unixtimesharingsystemprogrammersmanualeighthedition
13. Unix World - https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22Unix+World%22&sort=-date
14. A Commentary on the Sixth Edition Unix Operating System - https://cs3210.cc.gatech.edu/r/unix6.pdf
15. Reflections on Software Research - https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1283920.1283939
16. The UNIX Time-Sharing System - https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/361011.361061
17. Review of "Software Tools" - https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1110841.1110847
18. Alternative Link - https://dspinellis.github.io/oral-history-of-unix/index.html
19. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastard_Operator_From_Hell
20. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Chronicles
21. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers:_Heroes_of_the_Computer_Revolution
22. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions%27_Commentary_on_UNIX_6th_Edition,_with_Source_Code
23. List of Episodes - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Computer_Chronicles_episodes
24. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_Programming_Language
25. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg_(book)
26. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hacker_Crackdown
27. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unix_Programming_Environment
28. The C Programming Language - https://github.com/AzatAI/cs_books/blob/master/The.C.Programming.Language.2nd.Edition.pdf
29. The Design of the Unix Operating System - https://github.com/jyfc/ebook/blob/master/03_operating_system/the_design_of_the_unix_operating_system.pdf
30. UNIX Implementation - https://github.com/manjunath5496/Ken-Thompson-papers/blob/master/ken(6).pdf
31. Hello World (Plan 9 and UTF-16) - https://github.com/manjunath5496/Ken-Thompson-papers/blob/master/ken(9).pdf
32. Ken Thompson's Papers - https://github.com/manjunath5496/Ken-Thompson-papers/tree/master
33. Program Design in the UNIX System Environment - https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/nmh-workers/2012-11/pdfGsAjwogf3t.pdf
34. Linux Weekly News (LWN.net) - https://lwn.net/
35. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - https://oceanofpdf.com/authors/steven-levy/pdf-epub-hackers-heroes-of-the-computer-revolution-download/
36. Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project - https://producingoss.com/en/producingoss.html
37. Unix Programmer's Manual, 7th Edition - https://s3.amazonaws.com/plan9-bell-labs/7thEdMan/index.html
38. Unix Programmer's Manual, 10th Edition - https://web.archive.org/web/20150611142736/http://www.cs.bell-labs.com/10thEdMan/index.html
39. Alternative Download at TUHS - https://wiki.tuhs.org/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=publications:qcu.pdf
40. Advanced Unix Programming - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0131411543
41. Advanced Unix Programming - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FIZKNYE
42. Dennis M. Ritchie's Homepage at Bell Labs - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/
43. The Development of the C Language - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/chist.html
44. The Evolution of the Unix Time-Sharing System - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/hist.html
45. Portability of C Programs and the UNIX System - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/portpap.pdf
46. A Stream Input-Output System - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/st.pdf
47. The Truth About Unix: The User Interface Is Horrid - https://www.ceri.memphis.edu/people/smalley/ESCI7205F2009/misc_files/The_truth_about_Unix_cleaned.pdf
48. A Research UNIX Reader: Annotated Excerpts From the Programmer's Manual, 1971-1986 - https://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~doug/reader.pdf
49. Afterword - https://www.mit.edu/hacker/afterword.html
50. The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier - https://www.mit.edu/hacker/hacker.html
51. O'Reilly Open Books - https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/
52. Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software - https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/
53. Open Sources: Voices From the Open Source Revolution, 1st Edition - https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/opensources/book/
54. Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing - https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/osfreesoft/book/
55. Unix Programmer's Manual, 2nd Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v2/v2man.pdf
56. Unix Programmer's Manual, 3rd Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v3/
57. Unix Programmer's Manual, 4th Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v4/
58. Unix Programmer's Manual, 5th Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v5/
59. Unix Programmer's Manual, 6th Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v6/
60. UNIX PROGRAM DESCRIPTION - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/USDL/unix_program_description_jan_1976.pdf
61. An Oral History of Unix - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/OralHistory/
62. History of UNIX - https://www.tuhs.org/Mirror/Hauben/unix-Contents.html
63. ;Login: - https://www.usenix.org/publications/loginonline
64. UNIX Videos From AT&T Tech Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ATTTechChannel/search?query=unix
65. Alternative YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ComputerChroniclesYT/videos
66. Computer History Museum's Oral Histories - https://www.youtube.com/@ComputerHistory/search?query=unix%20oral%20history
67. BWK's Interview With Ken Thompson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6q5dv_B-o
68. Interview With Jon 'Maddog' Hall - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZMA3Ge144U
69. X Windows System Design Principles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdmNHM9BKY0
70. VCF East 10 Interview With Brian W. Kernighan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUWt_StXKsY
71. Origins of the C Programming Language - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de2Hsvxaf8M
72. Video of V0 Unix Running on a PDP-7 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvaPaWyiuLA
73. Bill Joy's Talk at IBM Yorktown - https://youtu.be/EmC5yoE_7PY