from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Devil Book
<publication> "The Design and Implementation of the {4.3BSD}
Unix Operating System", by Samuel J. Leffler, Marshall Kirk
McKusick, Michael J. Karels, and John S. Quarterman
(Addison-Wesley Publishers, 1989, ISBN 0-201-06196-1).
The standard reference book on the internals of {BSD} {Unix}.
So called because the cover has a picture depicting a little
devil (a visual play on {daemon}) in sneakers, holding a
pitchfork (referring to one of the characteristic features of
Unix, the "{fork}(2)" {system call}).
[{Jargon File}]
(1996-12-03)