From Minix' site: MINIX 1 and 2 were intended as teaching tools; MINIX 3 adds the new goal of being usable as a serious system on resource-limited and embedded computers and for applications requiring high reliability.
Is Minix 3 still readable, or do you recommend Minix 2?
Good question. My experience was with Minix 2: I needed a floppy driver to weld on to eCos, and Minix's was by far the easiest to deal with. I haven't looked at Minix 3.