| The UNIX-HATERS Handbook | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Simson Garfinkel Daniel Weise Steven Strassmann |
| Publisher | IDG |
| Publication date | 1994 |
| ISBN | 1-56884-203-1 |
| OCLC Number | 30681401 |
The UNIX-HATERS Handbook is a semi-humorous edited compilation of messages to the UNIX-HATERS mailing list. The book was edited by Simson Garfinkel, Daniel Weise and Steven Strassmann and published in 1994.
The book was made available to download for free in electronic format in 2003.[1][2]
The book concerns the frustrations of users of the Unix operating system. Many users had come from systems that they felt were far more sophisticated in computer science terms, and were tremendously frustrated by the worse is better design philosophy that they felt Unix and much of its software encapsulated.
This book was printed as a trade paperback. Its front cover was designed to be similar to The Scream. An air sickness bag, printed with the phrase "UNIX barf bag", was inserted into the inside back cover of every copy, by the publisher.
The front-matter page's dedication says: "To Ken and Dennis, without whom this book would not have been possible."
Dennis Ritchie, one of the creators of Unix, provided an "anti-foreword" or epilogue which the authors placed in the back of the book. It ended:
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. Bon appetit!