Over the years I learned most of what is in the early OReilly book below through daily use of the commonly used programs it describes. However I still go back

Over the years I learned most of what is in the early OReilly book below through daily use of the commonly used programs it describes. However I still go back to this book for the troff examples. The troff manuals I have seen are fine by me, but I believe this book provides more "working examples". http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/utp/ http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/utp/ http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/utp/UnixTextProcessing.pdf http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/utp/UnixTextProcessing.pdf Whenever I read this book again, I am reminded of how much UNIX know-how is probably being lost to new generations that are steered away from learning the foundations that still make up their operating systems. (No matter how many programs have been or will be subsequently written to "replace" them, it is still not difficult to find these old programs on millions of computers. Avoiding any debate of why they are there, it is uncontestable that when one knows how to use them, they work wonderfully for the simple things that computer users will always need to do.) Be warned, if one demonstrates the effective use of such old programs to others who have committed themselves to todays large, complex software, the reactions may not be positive. They might be dismissive or insulting, they might accuse one of being a "luddite", or perhaps a "neckbeard" practicing some unexplained type of "elitism". The uninitiated person who sees the results of UNIX text processing as nothing short of "magic" is rare indeed. It is that person who might enjoy this book.