Chapter 9. Grokking BSD
Introduction
Heinlein fans will recognize the word grok as the Martian word for âto be one withâ or âthorough understanding.â Indeed, you will sometimes feel like a stranger in a strange land when learning Unix. As any Unix guru can attest, however, the rewards far outweigh the initial learning curve.
This final chapter is a hodgepodge of useful and sometimes amusing tidbits. A sure sign youâre on the right road to grokking BSD is when youâre able to see both the usefulness and the quirky humor that is inherent in all Unix systems.
Howâd He Know That?
Make the most of your available resources.
Unless youâve achieved Unix guru status, you probably find yourself asking âhow did he know that?â whenever youâre around other Unix users or read a really cool snippet in a book. Hereâs a little secret: he probably had to look it up. As I tell my students, âNo one knows everything. Make sure the one thing you do know is where to go to get the information you need.â
Online Resources
If youâre using FreeBSD, there is no shortage of well-written documentation. If you havenât already, bookmark the FreeBSD Documentation page at http://www.freebsd.org/docs.
There youâll find hyperlinks to the four handbooks, the FAQ, how-to articles, online manpages, as well as other sources of information. Thereâs a very good chance that someone else has already documented what you want to do.
Keeping Offline Resources Up-to-Date
Online resources are great, ...
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