Cover of The design and implementation of the 4.4BSD operating system

The design and implementation of the 4.4BSD operating system

by Marshall Kirk McKusick, Keith Bostic, Michael J. Karels, John S. Quarterman · first published 1996

10mentions
4recommended by
9HN commenters
2010–2026first – last mentioned

44% recommend56% neutral

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Mentions per year

20 2007: 0 mentions2008: 0 mentions2009: 0 mentions2010: 2 mentions2011: 1 mention2012: 0 mentions2013: 0 mentions2014: 0 mentions2015: 0 mentions2016: 0 mentions2017: 1 mention2018: 0 mentions2019: 0 mentions2020: 0 mentions2021: 0 mentions2022: 0 mentions2023: 2 mentions2024: 1 mention2025: 1 mention2026: 1 mention200720172026

What Hacker News says

  • tptacek · Jun 7, 2010 · Recommends

    …(only sort of a joke) are pretty basic. _Windows Internals_ and _Internetworking with TCP/IP_ were, in a different form, on every Unix sysadmin's bookshelf in the 90s --- as "TCP/IP Illustrated" and "The Design And Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System" (both of which are also great books but are now very dated). The only rough things on this list are _Network Algorithmics_, _Computational Structures_, and _Surreptitious Software_. None of them are…

    on “So you want to get started in an Infosec Career?” ↗
  • acqq · Oct 8, 2017 · Recommends

    And many details about BSD history in the first chapter of "The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System"

    on “Origins and History of Unix, 1969-1995 (2003)” ↗
  • slavapestov · Jul 21, 2023 · Recommends

    "The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System" is a classic: https://www.amazon.com/Implementation-Operating-paperback-Ad...

    on “For BSD Unix, It's Sayonara (1992)” ↗
  • skydhash · May 26, 2026 · Recommends

    You can still do it too, but you need to see through the fad and not go for the shiniest technology out there. I've been reading "The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System" because it's basically the best explanation about OpenBSD as it (and NetBSD) still follow the same general architecture. Another book that's worth its weight is "The Linux Programming Interface" and…

    on “Nobody cracks open a programming book anymore” ↗
  • skydhash · Jul 3, 2026 · Recommends

    I’m fine with old books. Just bought a bunch including “The TCP/IP Guide” and “The Linux Programming Interface”, which are more than a decade old. The oldest is “ The Design and Implementation of the 4.4Bsd Operating System” (30 years). It’s better starting from an old books and retrace the updates from that. And with the benefits of hindsight, you can get truly good ones cheaply.

    on “Please Stop the AI Confidence Theater” ↗
  • Or Unix's mmap, which predates Vista by a couple decades. (It was designed around the time of 4.2BSD, i.e., 1983* .) I'd be shocked if Windows hasn't had a similar mechanism for years, as well. * _The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System_, McKusick et al., p. 29-30.

    on “Computers are fast” ↗
  • throw0101a · May 10, 2023 · Mentions

    …Brief History of the BSD Fast Filesystem by Marshall Kirk McKusick": * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BbMBdGPoHM * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Kirk_McKusick In the article the classic The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System is mentioned: * https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5767.The_Design_and_Impl... See also the more recent The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System: * https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112388.The_Design_and_Im...

    on “50 years in filesystems: 1984 BSD FFS” ↗
  • johndoe0815 · Jul 28, 2024 · Mentions

    …[3] https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/OSTEP/ [4] https://wiki.osdev.org/Main_Page [5] https://osblog.stephenmarz.com [6] Marshall Kirk McKusick , Keith Bostic, Michael J. Karels The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System Addison Wesley, ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0201549799 [7] Marshall Kirk McKusick, George V. Neville-Neil, Robert N.M. Watson The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System Addison…

    on “Ask HN: What Comes After John Lions' Unix Commentary?” ↗
  • derleth · Jan 16, 2011 · Mentions

    So, if the architecture really doesn't matter, why not use the Lions' book and teach Sixth Edition Unix, or use "The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System"? Is it a holdover from the 1980s, when microkernels were still interesting, or is it because Tanenbaum is seen as a 'real' academic? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lions%27_Commentary_on_UNIX_6th... http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/design-44bsd/

    on “Roll your own toy UNIX-clone OS” ↗
  • rboyd · Sep 11, 2025 · Mentions

    Surprised no mention yet of The Design and Implementation of the 4.4BSD Operating System

    on “Old timers, what did you read to study Unix or languages by the book?” ↗

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