Sev's Geek References

Once upon a time, this was a list of places I went when I was wearing my geek hat -- that is, when I was programming or doing system administration. Nowadays, I find myself spending more time looking at books (especially the System Administration Handbook and Programming Perl), but I've updated all the links here, mostly for nostalgia's sake.

This page contains:

Unix, my favorite OS
- Using Unix, something I think everyone should learn how to do
- Administering a Unix System, one of my favorite hobbies
- Unix Security, a fascinating field
Programming is, to me, a way to create the exact tools I need
General stuff that didn't fit anywhere else

Unix

Using Unix

I'm a great fan of Unix. It's fun, it's elegant, it's as simple or as complicated as you need it to be.

Learn to use Unix! Take a look at the Unix Survival page.
Josh Kundert has written several pages of good, basic documentation, including a Quick Guide to Unix Commands.
Northwestern University has an enormous list of unix references.
I won't get involved in the editor wars (if you don't know, don't ask!). I use several different editors, as I do several different tasks. When I'm programming, I like to use EMACS; when I'm being a sysad, I like to use vi or vim.

Administering a Unix System

NetBSD, one of the systems I administer. My favorite flavour of unix is BSD.
It's not my preferred OS, but Linux can be an enjoyable OS with which to work.
Calling itself The Official Home Page for Unix System Administrators, the Unix Guru Universe has information about just about every aspect of system administration imaginable. This page has been around for ages.
Security
There's a lot of misinformation about computer security floating around. This is both cause and effect of a lot of hysteria. I can make no claims as to the accuracy of any of these references; arm yourself with information, test the things you hear before you rely on them, and take everything with a grain -- or two -- of salt.
- SATAN is a tool which has gotten a lot of attention lately. If you haven't heard of it, you should check it out.
- CIAC has compiled a list of General Unix Security Tools.

Programming

You don't have to be a programmer like me to learn a programming language. For a long time, I wasn't a programmer -- I was just somebody who wrote programs when I needed a tool that didn't exist yet.

The first programming language I really fell in love with was Lisp. I don't really use it much anymore, but I think of it fondly.
I've done a bit of work in C++, but it was quite awhile ago.
Automate your little tasks -- or your big ones. Learn to use Perl.
I managed to avoid learning AppleScript, but I do have a list of Macintosh scripting resources.
Dan Wallach has a page of Tcl and Perl hacks that I first found ages ago.

General Computing

BABEL: A Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms
The Jargon File, once described as "a comprehensive compendium of hacker slang illuminating many aspects of hackish tradition, folklore, and humor," now in print as The New Hacker's Dictionary.
GeekGirl, an e-zine for grrrls like me. The first cyberfeminist zine, still around, after all these years!
And, of course, where would a page on geeking and me be, without a link to a page on coffee?

Last revised:
1999 February 19
by sev@byz.org