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John Lions
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Lions' Commentary on Unix 6th Revised ed. Edition

by John Lions (Author), Peter H Salus (Editor)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 75 ratings
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The most famous suppressed book in computer history! * Used as an Operating System textbook at MIT"After 20 years, this is still the best expostion of the workings of a 'real' operating system." --- Ken Thompson (Developer of the UNIX operating system)After years of suppression (as trade secrets) by various owners of the UNIX code, this tome has been re-released, and we owe a debt to all involved in making this happen. I consider this to be the single most important book of 1996. Unix Review, June 1997"The Lions book", cherished by UNIX hackers and widely circulated as a photocopied bootleg document since the late 1970's, is again available in an unrestricted edition. This legendary underground classic, reproduced without modification, is really two works in one: the complete source code to an early version (Edition 6) of the UNIX operating system, a treasure in itself! a brilliant commentary on that code by John Lionswith additional historical perspective essays added in 1996.Lions' marriage of source code with commentary was originally used as an operating systems textbook, a purpose for which it remains superbly well-suited (as evidenced by it's ongoing use at MIT).
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  1. ISBN-10
    1573980137
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1573980135
  3. Edition
    6th Revised ed.
  4. Publisher
    Peer to Peer Communications/ Annabook
  5. Publication date
    August 1, 1977
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    8.44 x 0.6 x 10.94 inches
  8. Print length
    254 pages
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Peer to Peer Communications/ Annabook; 6th Revised ed. edition (August 1, 1977)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 254 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1573980137
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1573980135
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.44 x 0.6 x 10.94 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 75 ratings

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John Lions

John Lions

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
75 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book great, entertaining, and valuable for students of operating systems. They describe it as a thorough and fascinating commentary on an important codebase.

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ReadabilityValue for money
4 customers mention "Readability"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book great and entertaining to read.

"...is a fascinating read and, in many ways, more interesting and entertaining to read than Tannenbaum's Minix textbook." Read more

"This is a great book. I used it in 1978 when I first used UNIX. Now I use it to understand UNIX/LINUX internals." Read more

"Amazing and insightful historical perspective..." Read more

"Excellent book for Unix lover..." Read more

3 customers mention "Value for money"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book fascinating and interesting to read. They say it's invaluable for students of operating systems.

"...commentary on a very important codebase, but it is also littered with valuable insight into the effective construction of a substantial, significant..." Read more

"Excellent detailed information unavailable anywhere else." Read more

"Invaluable for a Student of Operating Systems..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Rich Turner
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2016
Verified Purchase
I sincerely wish I'd had a copy of Lions' commentary on UNIX when I was at college. Not only is it a thorough and fascinating commentary on a very important codebase, but it is also littered with valuable insight into the effective construction of a substantial, significant, but not overwhelming codebase.

While the UNIX/Linux codebase has moved on significantly, even today, Linos' work is is a fascinating read and, in many ways, more interesting and entertaining to read than Tannenbaum's Minix textbook.
13 people found this helpful
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David A
5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable for a Student of Operating Systems
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2019
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You can read all the textbooks you want (and there are some pretty good ones out their like the terse one by Lister and the more expansive one by Tannenbaum) but there is not substitute for reading code. The two advantages of Version 6 are (1) it is small enough to be fully read and comprehended as a whole, (2) the code quality is first rate, and (3) the code was not written by a vast community but by a pair of outstanding computer scientists and therefor is stylistically and philosophically consistent. [OK, off by one error, so what?] What is fantastic about this package though is that Lions' commentary saves the reader so much time by making the code rapidly understandable. Naturally there is no "royal road" to 10,000 lines of code, and this does involve significant work. But it is so worth it. Even though it's now 50 years old.
15 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing and insightful historical perspective
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2002
Verified Purchase
I learned about the existence of this manuscript 16 years ago, yet could never find a full version, until the book came. I have read most of it and it is beatiful. Many of the tradeoffs the early UNIX versions had are there. Context switching is done via coroutine jumps, the callout table is used only for the teletype, the very origins of the scheduler and swapper are neatly explained among many other things. PDP11 architecture is simple enough to make this book still a jewel for those interested in learning OS concepts and evolution and specifically UNIX.
23 people found this helpful
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Jaeha Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for Unix lover
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2006
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I have been working with Unix for more than 5 years, and read more than 20 books about unix itself. But I never seend book like this much well explain about internal architecture. Unix 6 on PDP-11 is old, but main idea still remain all major distribution.

It great helpful for my understanding about Unix.
9 people found this helpful
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Roger Barraud
4.0 out of 5 stars Only quibble is with the stupid non-li-flat binding
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2018
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Only quibble is with the stupid non-li-flat binding, and the 'sideways' printing format.
Otherwise, a worthwhile historical artifact and a large, tasty breadcrumb along the Unix-Fu GrokTrail :-)
5 people found this helpful
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Jane B. Reese
5.0 out of 5 stars "Lions' Commentary on Unix" by John Lions
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2013
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"Lions' Commentary on Unix" by John Lions

My nephew the math whiz,specifically requested it for Christmas and absolutley devoured it! Amazon was the only place I could find it. He opened it and started reading while the rest of us continued opening the rest of our gifts! He has already finished it. Thanks!
6 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2017
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Excellent detailed information unavailable anywhere else.
One person found this helpful
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LIUGANNING
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2012
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The best way to understanding unix kernel though the version is out of time, but the basis thinking is never out!
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Mr. M. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book for geeks.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
It is possible to find the original Unix sources online and this book is very useful for navigating the source code.
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bsandro
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic that aged extremely well even after decades of CS progress
Reviewed in Germany on September 10, 2021
Verified Purchase
One of the best books about OS and general C programming intrinsics; contains valuable knowledge and pieces of history that lead to better understanding of modern stuff as well.
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Fabio
5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome book
Reviewed in Italy on December 7, 2020
Verified Purchase
This is a book like no others. It is exciting to scan through the lines of the original UNIX source code, see the comments and study how some stuff got implemented. It is both instructive and insightful.
Lions' comments are a great source of learning. A must-read.
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Julianne M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great buy! :D
Reviewed in Germany on September 29, 2016
Verified Purchase
I'm super happy with the book, everything arrived perfectly and the book was in very good condition as described. Super recommended!
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Sarah. Bluck
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb, a great insight into the operating system and it's structure
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is a superb book. well written with some really good insights into the why-and-how of the original UNIX source code. One of the great resources you will need if you study the design and operation of good operating systems. I highly reccommend this book. along with some
of the Tanenbaum books.
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