Need a good book to help me learn bash, solaris and unix in general.

Question

Just started a new coop workterm and using a solaris machine with bash as my shell. Know basic commands in bash:

ls, pwd, find, cd, mkdir, rm, grep ...

That is basically all I need to do my job (working in java with intellij), but would like to be able to use my machine better. Can anybody recommend a book for me? Hopping for some light reading. I really liked the easy steps book for c++ (when I was just staring c++) and the head first design pattern book.

I already have several unix reference books but hoping for something that is easier (and more fun) to sit down and read.

Would like to learn some tricks and stuff like that about how solaris and more generally unix/linux work but also how the underlying OS functions.

Update: Thanks for the input. I already have this book: Unix in a Nutshell by O'Reilly . This book is a great reference but it does not make good reading. (It is hard to sit down and just read it cover to cover.) I was hoping that someone could suggest something that was fun to read. Similar to the head first design pattern book.

Answer 1

It's not a book, but will help you a lot: http://www.grymoire.com/Unix/, and of course the linux documentation project http://tldp.org/

Answer 2

O'reilly's Learning the Unix OS, also Unix Power tools is a reputation of being funny (I do not know how much funny do/can you expect from an OS book)

Oh yeah, and don't forget the SO sister sites; superuser.com and serverfault.com - they are a good source when "how do I foo bar on solaris" google fails :)

Answer 3

Also if you are keen on harnessing the power of unix utilities check out:
Unix Power Tools

Answer 4

I very highly recommend The Unix Programming Environment by Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike. Don't let the title fool you; it starts with the basics of using the shell and file system too.

From the Publisher:

Designed for first-time and experienced users, this book describes the UNIX®programming environment and philosophy in detail. Readers will gain an understanding not only of how to use the system, its components, and the programs, but also how these fit into the total environment.

Answer 5

Others had already given you books and internet resource recommendation. What i also suggest you look into is the man page. (or info page in linux). It doesn't really "teach" you programming, but you can learn about the various usage and options of the tools in the *nix that you have.

Answer 6

For bash at TLDP there's Mendel Cooper's Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide. And PDF.

This tutorial assumes no previous knowledge of scripting or programming, but progresses rapidly toward an intermediate/advanced level of instruction . . . all the while sneaking in little nuggets of UNIX® wisdom and lore. It serves as a textbook, a manual for self-study, and a reference and source of knowledge on shell scripting techniques. The exercises and heavily-commented examples invite active reader participation, under the premise that the only way to really learn scripting is to write scripts.

Answer 7

Your Unix: The Ultimate Guide by Sumithaba das

Answer 8

For bash, ksh, tcsh and sed/awk/grep,
Unix shells by Example (Ellie Quigley) is good as a primer on both using shells as your CLI and scripting with them:


For other tricks, the Hacks line from O'Reilly are excellent (Linux Server Hacks, Linux Desktop Hacks, Ubuntu Hacks, BSD hacks, Linux Multimedia Hacks)

Answer 9

Jon Lasser's Think Unix.

I read the book in a few days back in 2002, and that was enough to get me started in Unix -- enough where I could learn the rest over the course of years on my own. Think Unix will teach you the principles behind Unix, which is what you need.

Answer 10

Here's another site that is invaluable for learning Bash and especially to unlearn some bad habits and techniques.