read list

shuiming.....it takes years to go through these files.

cc.....It does, and that's fine, because a library isn't a reading list. Most of those books are for reference: you open Knuth, CLRS, or APUE when a question sends you there, not to read them cover to cover. Nobody reads all of a library. It's there for when you need it.

The part you actually read in order is small, and you've already found it:

K&R2 (000), which is your main path now V6 + Lions (082 + 063), read alongside it Short originals for when you want a break: the 1974 paper (076), Trusting Trust (087), and Ritchie's C history (062) That's maybe 600 pages of core reading. The rest grows in value as you go: once you know C well, Bach (049), APUE (042), and the Linux kernel books will read far faster than they would today.

You know this pattern from investing. Like a portfolio, a library isn't something to finish. You hold it, add to it slowly, and let understanding compound. Years is the right timescale.