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I often recommend the book The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System by Kirk McKusick and George V. Neville-Neil as the best way to learn about Unix. It teaches all the parts of the Unix kernel (process tables, file systems, network stacks, etc) and the algorithms used. A sysadmin gains keen insights into what is going on, which helps them design new systems and debug running systems. It is an excellent textbook and teaches OS theory and concepts along with the narrative of how FreeBSD works.

However because it has "FreeBSD" in the title, people often ask if there is a Linux version. The truth is that 99% of the book overlaps with Linux's way of doing things.

Is there a real equivalent book for Linux? I asked recently on HN. The answer I got was Linux Kernel Development by Robert Love but I have not yet read it. From reading the Table of Contents it seems to be less textbook, more for the practitioner; less OS theory, more directly for developers. (This is not a criticism... that's exactly what the title would lead one to expect)

Has anyone that has read both give a comparison?

Thanks, Tom

A friend proposed this delemma:

Company has about 20 domains registered that are "parked" (owned but never used). They are combinations and permutations of product names that were considered but not used, or were selected but are more like internal code names that might be mentioned in PowerPoint presentations but aren't really products.

When they were registered it was presented as the most important thing in the world to get them registered. It wasted about half a day total when you consider the time I spent registering them, paying the bills, and all the communication back and forth about which were available or not.

Now it's time to renew them. If I do nothing they will expire and there is very little risk that anyone will ever notice. If I ask the right people, it will waste another half a day of my time debating their value and then renewing them, processing the bills, etc. If I let them expire and then try to get props for saving money, I run the risk of rubbing someone the wrong way for not asking permission.

The company is currently putting a big emphasis on not wasting money. So if I demonstrate that I saved $100 that would put be in a good light. However, it will cost the company more than $100 in my salary to find out if I have permission to not renew them.

What do you think he should do?