From strombrg@bingy.acs.uci.edu Thu Sep 11 13:01:42 PDT 1997
Article: 134239 of comp.unix.solaris
Path: news.service.uci.edu!bingy.acs.uci.edu!strombrg
From: strombrg@bingy.acs.uci.edu (Dan Stromberg)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.solaris
Subject: Re: Solaris 2.x texts?
Date: 11 Sep 1997 20:01:24 GMT
Organization: University of California, Irvine
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Distribution: inet
Message-ID: <5v9imk$59h@news.service.uci.edu>
References: <341179e7.12170112@news.mindspring.com>
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It's a myth.  There are non-reference books available.

The nutshell books have helped unix documentation significantly.
Avoid the Nemeth book; it lies.  I've heard "unix for the impatient"
is very good, but haven't read it myself.

I personally feel that the best way to learn unix is to:

1) use it, experiment; dig up a box you can experiment on - something
   you can reinstall any time you feel like it
2) be confident that you -can- learn it.
3) find a mentor who is interested in helping you learn (not in
   showing off that they know more than you do).  I'd call this
   part optional, but helpful.
4) read relevant newsgroups and mailing lists.  If something doesn't
   make sense, tuck it in the back of your mind, and don't let it bug
   you.  If it was important, it'll come up on the groups again, and
   it'll make more sense the next time.  I can't overstate this one.
   Reading on the net is a fantastic way to pick up unix.
   comp.unix.questions is a good place to start.  After that gets to
   be more of the same, move on to comp.unix.solaris and/or sun-managers,
   and perhaps comp.unix.programmer.
5) Familiarize yourself with what's on tsx-11.mit.edu,
   sunsite.unc.edu, gatekeeper.dec.com, playground.sun.com,
   prep.ai.mit.edu, and other ftp sites.  A big piece of realizing
   unix's full capabilities, is using what's available for it for
   free.  Start with prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu/*.

You might check out http://stromberg.dnsalias.org/~dstromberg/intro.html.  I've
attempted to collect some URLs for intro unix material there.

No secret society here.  Good unix information is widely available, if
you know where to look.

In article <341179e7.12170112@news.mindspring.com>,
Don Anderson <hiram@mindspring.com> wrote:
<
<I am a new student using unix Solaris 2.x.  My question is simply Is
<there such a thing as a text for unix.  The only answer I have
<received (from about 25 people) is "You learn unix over about 6 years
<there is no texts only references."  Am I being BSed?  Or is this a
<secret society?
<
<TIA
<DA