Olwe Bottorff wrote: > 2) I found a neat book "Code Reading, The Open Source Perspective" by > Diomidis Spinellis which does a lot to explain the real-world details of > software development. Is there a similar book that would tell me such > fun facts as my first question about "pipe file system"? I highly recommend "The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System" by Marshall Kirk McKusick and George V. Neville-Neil (ISBN 0201702452). It's the only book that I bought within a week of its release. ;) As is obvious from the name, it's a very detailed description of every major subsystem of the kernel: process management, memory management, I/O, file systems, IPC, and more. For real hands-on learning, keep a copy of the FreeBSD kernel source handy, and refer to it often. > I'm starting compsci grad school and I'm supposed to help an instructor > put together a new operating system class. I'd like to find materials > that really goes into the nitty-gritty of a Linux or BSD box. Before, > they used Tannenbaum or Silberschatz which is fine for the theoretical > level, but not on-the-ground real world Linux or BSD. For example, what > would be a good real world Unix app to grab the source code for and > snoop/hack around? Any ideas? It depends on the intentions of your class. If you want a more hands-on version of the typical undergrad OS class, the FreeBSD book and source would be great. If you're aiming more at the user-space level, the source for a Unix shell (such as bash) might be good: shells use a variety of an operating system's features. I hope this helps. Eric