Foundational Unix Papers, Books, and Videos

First published — Sep 22, 2023
Last updated — Oct 27, 2025
#unix #bsd #gnu #linux

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

Article Collection

This article is part of the following series:

1. Unix

Table of Contents

Introduction

This article lists documents, books, and audio-video materials relevant for understanding Unix and all systems derived from it.

Original Unix documents are important for two reasons:

First, as expected, they are relevant for understanding the history and principles on which Unix, the Internet, and modern software is based.

Second, equally important, they are useful for understanding the unsurpassed combination of simplicity and power in Unix. Being familiar with it comes handy when using Unix-based systems, but it has broader effects, making one’s own solutions more powerful and elegant.

There are a lot of documents listed, sorted by category and date. You are not expected to read them all at once or in order:

If you want to learn about the Unix culture, feel free to start with some videos, for example the light-hearted 2019 BWK’s Interview with Ken Thompson and 2016 Interview with Brian W. Kernighan, followed by 1988 Bill Joy's Talk at IBM Yorktown, and then check out popular books.

If you want to learn about Unix itself, start with the foundations and one or two manuals, followed by for example some videos.

It is expected that you will refer back to this list repeatedly over time, focusing on your current subfields of interest.

Foundations

Important Unix papers and documents:

UNIX Programmer’s Manuals

Doug McIlroy organized “Unix Programmer’s Manuals” to be written, and editions of manual became the versions of Unix they were describing.

The manuals consisted of manpages and papers. They are user-oriented, i.e. they do not discuss Unix internals, OS design principles, or C programming.

The editions were:

Please note that above links point mostly to resources hosted at https://www.tuhs.org/. In chapter AT&T / Bell Labs Unix Releases a bit more contextual information on each edition can be found, along with alternative links pointing to https://gunkies.org/.

Books and materials related to Unix:

Videos

Unix videos and documentaries:

Video Collections

Magazines

Other Resources

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

Modern Code

Article Collection

This article is part of the following series:

1. Unix

Automatic Links

The following links appear in the article:

1. For Fun and Profit: A History of the Free and Open Source Software Revolution - For-Fun-and-Profit-A-History-of-the-Free-and-Open-Source-Software-Revolution.pdf
2. Life With UNIX - Life_with_Unix_v2.pdf
3. Odd Comments and Strange Doings in Unix
4. Software Tools - Software-Tools.pdf
5. Unix for Beginners - Unix_For_Beginners_1st_ed.pdf
6. Unix for Beginners - Unix_For_Beginners_2nd_ed.pdf
7. The Daemon, the GNU & the Penguin - http://www.groklaw.net/staticpages/index.php?page=20051013231901859
8. ZIP File With the Book and Code - https://archive.org/details/CommentarySixthEditionUNIX
9. The UNIX Programming Environment - https://archive.org/details/UNIXProgrammingEnvironment
10. A Quarter Century of Unix - https://archive.org/details/aquartercenturyofunixpeterh.salus_201910
11. The Cathedral and the Bazaar - https://archive.org/details/cathedral-bazaar
12. Computer Chronicles - https://archive.org/details/computerchronicles
13. Software Tools in Pascal - https://archive.org/details/softwaretoolsinp00kern
14. Elements of Programming Style - https://archive.org/details/the-elements-of-programming-style-second-edition/
15. UNIX REVIEW - https://archive.org/details/unixreview?sort=date
16. Unix Programmer's Manual, 8th Edition - https://archive.org/details/unixtimesharingsystemprogrammersmanualeighthedition
17. Unix World - https://archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22Unix+World%22&sort=-date
18. Bastard Operator From Hell (BOFH) - https://bofh.bjash.com/
19. AT&T / Bell Labs Unix Releases - https://crystallabs.io/unix-bsd-gnu-linux-history/#att--bell-labs-unix-releases
20. A Commentary on the Sixth Edition Unix Operating System - https://cs3210.cc.gatech.edu/r/unix6.pdf
21. Reflections on Software Research - https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1283920.1283939
22. The UNIX Time-Sharing System - https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/361011.361061
23. Review of "Software Tools" - https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1110841.1110847
24. Alternative Link - https://dspinellis.github.io/oral-history-of-unix/index.html
25. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastard_Operator_From_Hell
26. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Chronicles
27. Doug McIlroy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_McIlroy
28. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers:_Heroes_of_the_Computer_Revolution
29. SeL4 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L4_microkernel_family#High_assurance:_seL4
30. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions%27_Commentary_on_UNIX_6th_Edition,_with_Source_Code
31. List of Episodes - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Computer_Chronicles_episodes
32. Microkernel - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microkernel
33. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_Programming_Language
34. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg_(book)
35. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Programming_Style
36. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hacker_Crackdown
37. Wikipedia Page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unix_Programming_Environment
38. Xv6 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xv6
39. The C Programming Language - https://github.com/AzatAI/cs_books/blob/master/The.C.Programming.Language.2nd.Edition.pdf
40. Unix History Repository - https://github.com/dspinellis/unix-history-repo
41. 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
42. UNIX Implementation - https://github.com/manjunath5496/Ken-Thompson-papers/blob/master/ken(6).pdf
43. Hello World (Plan 9 and UTF-16) - https://github.com/manjunath5496/Ken-Thompson-papers/blob/master/ken(9).pdf
44. Ken Thompson's Papers - https://github.com/manjunath5496/Ken-Thompson-papers/tree/master
45. UX/RT - https://gitlab.com/uxrt/uxrt-toplevel
46. https://gunkies.org/
47. Lions Operating System (LionsOS) - https://lionsos.org/
48. Program Design in the UNIX System Environment - https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/nmh-workers/2012-11/pdfGsAjwogf3t.pdf
49. Linux Weekly News (LWN.net) - https://lwn.net/
50. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - https://oceanofpdf.com/authors/steven-levy/pdf-epub-hackers-heroes-of-the-computer-revolution-download/
51. Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project - https://producingoss.com/en/producingoss.html
52. Unix Programmer's Manual, 7th Edition - https://s3.amazonaws.com/plan9-bell-labs/7thEdMan/index.html
53. Unix Programmer's Manual, 10th Edition - https://web.archive.org/web/20150611142736/http://www.cs.bell-labs.com/10thEdMan/index.html
54. Alternative Download at TUHS - https://wiki.tuhs.org/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=publications:qcu.pdf
55. Advanced Unix Programming - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0131411543
56. Advanced Unix Programming - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FIZKNYE
57. Dennis M. Ritchie's Homepage at Bell Labs - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/
58. The UNIX Time-Sharing System - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/cacm.pdf
59. The Development of the C Language - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/chist.html
60. C Reference Manual - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/cman.pdf
61. Proposing a Unix Portability Experiment - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/firstport.html
62. The Evolution of the Unix Time-Sharing System - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/hist.html
63. Five Little Languages and How They Grew: Talk at HOPL - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/hopl.html
64. Portability of C Programs and the UNIX System - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/portpap.pdf
65. The UNIX Time-Sharing System - A Retrospective - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/retro.pdf
66. Interprocess Communication in the Ninth Edition Unix System - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/spe.pdf
67. A Stream Input-Output System - https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/st.pdf
68. A Research UNIX Reader: Annotated Excerpts From the Programmer's Manual, 1971-1986 - https://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~doug/reader.pdf
69. Afterword - https://www.mit.edu/hacker/afterword.html
70. The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier - https://www.mit.edu/hacker/hacker.html
71. O'Reilly Open Books - https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/
72. Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software - https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/
73. Open Sources: Voices From the Open Source Revolution, 1st Edition - https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/opensources/book/
74. Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing - https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/osfreesoft/book/
75. Diomidis Spinellis - https://www.spinellis.gr/
76. https://www.tuhs.org/
77. Unix Programmer's Manual, 2nd Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v2/v2man.pdf
78. Unix Programmer's Manual, 3rd Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v3/
79. Unix Programmer's Manual, 4th Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v4/
80. Unix Programmer's Manual, 5th Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v5/
81. Unix Programmer's Manual, 6th Edition - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/Research/Dennis_v6/
82. UNIX PROGRAM DESCRIPTION - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Distributions/USDL/unix_program_description_jan_1976.pdf
83. An Oral History of Unix - https://www.tuhs.org/Archive/Documentation/OralHistory/
84. History of UNIX - https://www.tuhs.org/Mirror/Hauben/unix-Contents.html
85. ;Login: - https://www.usenix.org/publications/loginonline
86. UNIX Videos From AT&T Tech Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ATTTechChannel/search?query=unix
87. Alternative YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ComputerChroniclesYT/videos
88. Computer History Museum's Oral Histories - https://www.youtube.com/@ComputerHistory/search?query=unix%20oral%20history
89. BWK's Interview With Ken Thompson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6q5dv_B-o
90. Interview With Jon 'Maddog' Hall - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZMA3Ge144U
91. A Chronicle of the Unix Wars - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffh3DRFzRL0
92. X Window System Design Principles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdmNHM9BKY0
93. The History of X Window System (X11) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-N-fgKWYGU
94. VCF East 10 Interview With Brian W. Kernighan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUWt_StXKsY
95. Warner Losh's FOSDEM Talk5-14 on the Forgotten History of Early Unix - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuzeagzQwRs
96. The UNIX System: Making Computers Easier to Use - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvDZLjaCJuw
97. The History of Unix; Rob Pike's Experience - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2NI6t2r_Hs
98. A Political History of X - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj02_UeUnGQ
99. Origins of the C Programming Language - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de2Hsvxaf8M
100. Video of V0 Unix Running on a PDP-7 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvaPaWyiuLA
101. An Interview With Ken Thompson, With an Intro by B. W. Kernighan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKNaCzdn6sY
102. Bill Joy's Talk at IBM Yorktown - https://youtu.be/EmC5yoE_7PY
103. A UNIX TM Operating System for the DEC VAX-11/780 Computer - unix-32v-reconstructed-draft1.pdf