The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
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The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
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Re: The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
#2Discussed a little, previously...
The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40110729 - April 2024 (87 comments)
The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38464715 - Nov 2023 (139 comments)
The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31417690 - May 2022 (86 comments)
The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19416485 - March 2019 (157 comments)
The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13781815 - March 2017 (307 comments)
The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9976694 - July 2015 (5 comments)
The Unix Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7726115 - May 2014 (50 comments)
Anti-foreword to the Unix haters handbook by dmr - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3106271 - Oct 2011 (31 comments)
The Unix Haters Handbook - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1272975 - April 2010 (28 comments)
The Unix Hater’s Handbook, Reconsidered - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=319773 - Sept 2008 (5 comments)
Re: The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
#3I've always liked the end of the anti-foreword:
> Here is my metaphor: your book is a pudding stuffed with apposite observations, many well-conceived. Like excrement, it contains enough undigested nuggets of nutrition to sustain life for some. But it is not a tasty pie: it reeks too much of contempt and of envy.
Re: The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
#4Discussed a little, previously... The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40110729 - April 2024 (87 comments) The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38464715 - Nov 2023 (139 comments) The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31417690 - May 2022 (86 comments) The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://ne…
As an aside: Hacker News is getting old, the 2008 discussion is closer to the book’s year (1994) than it is to now.
Re: The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
#5I want to write a systemd haters handbook.
Like:
1. You start and stop services with 'systemctl start/stop nginx'. But logs for that service can be read through an easy-to-remember 'journalctl -xeu nginx.service'. Why not 'systemctl logs nginx'? Nobody knows.
2. If you look at the built-in help for systemctl, the top-level options list things like `--firmware-setup` and `--image-policy`.
3. systemd unifies devices, mounts, and services into unit files with consistent syntax. Except where it doesn't. For example, there's a way to specify a retry policy for a regular service, but not for mount units. Why? Nobody knows.
(To be clear, I _like_ systemd. But it definitely follows the true Unix philosophy of being wildly internally inconsistent.)
Re: The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
#6I want to write a systemd haters handbook. Like: 1. You start and stop services with 'systemctl start/stop nginx'. But logs for that service can be read through an easy-to-remember 'journalctl -xeu nginx.service'. Why not 'systemctl logs nginx'? Nobody knows. 2. If you look at the built-in help for systemctl, the top-level options list things like `--firmware-setup` and `--image-policy`. 3. systemd unifies devices, m…
Systemd got better with time and I got better with it over time, which makes it acceptable for me now. I still miss SMF from Solaris years later though. I'm sure there are better systems out there but when the ubiquity is not there it's really hard to adopt them especially in corporate environments. And then you have to learn 2 things if you want to use something else at home, which is already too much for me...
Re: The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
#7Discussed a little, previously... The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40110729 - April 2024 (87 comments) The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38464715 - Nov 2023 (139 comments) The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31417690 - May 2022 (86 comments) The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf] - https://ne…
As an aside: Hacker News is getting old, the 2008 discussion is closer to the book’s year (1994) than it is to now.
I just realized that my most famous comment on HN is the same age as I was when I won the Putnam.
Re: The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
#8I've always liked the end of the anti-foreword: > Here is my metaphor: your book is a pudding stuffed with apposite observations, many well-conceived. Like excrement, it contains enough undigested nuggets of nutrition to sustain life for some. But it is not a tasty pie: it reeks too much of contempt and of envy.
You forgot the last bit: "Bon appetite!"
Definitely the politest way anyone has ever been told to eat shit in human history.
Re: The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
#9As someone in the midst of transitioning to Linux for the first time ever, the thing is: I still kinda hate Unix, but my AI friends (Claude Code / Codex) are very good at Unix/Linux and the everything is a file nature of it is amenable to AI helping me make my OS do what I want in a way that Windows definitely isn't.
Re: The Unix-Haters Handbook (1994) [pdf]
#10I want to write a systemd haters handbook. Like: 1. You start and stop services with 'systemctl start/stop nginx'. But logs for that service can be read through an easy-to-remember 'journalctl -xeu nginx.service'. Why not 'systemctl logs nginx'? Nobody knows. 2. If you look at the built-in help for systemctl, the top-level options list things like `--firmware-setup` and `--image-policy`. 3. systemd unifies devices, m…
I would like to subscribe to your newsletter... no but really if you ever do get around to writing that I want to read it. Ping me somehow, my Gmail username is the same as my HN username. Happy writing!