file systems

I use this book as additional reading for my college Unix course. It is great for teaching advanced concepts, such as shell scripting and Unix administration fundamentals. However, it lacks in the introductory-level material, assuming the reader has a basic knowledge of Unix under their belt. I find this a great add-on to the "Unix System V Primer" by Waite, et al.

A god is someone who can take something dense and uninviting and distill/explain it so that everyone from novice to expert benefits. Sobell does exactly that in UNIX System V: A Practical Guide. His Programming Tools chapter in particular provides an in-depth, clear explanation you will be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. Two recommendations for the next edition: Sobell needs to 1)include more examples in the vi chapter, and 2)include an appendix with answers to review exercises. If you buy one book on the UNIX OS make sure it's this one!

I got it from our library, and found it very useful! very comprehensive and clear, best of all, unlike most of other unix book out there, this one has a lot of very illustrative graphies... you will benifit from that feature alot! I promise you!