O'Reilly Gives Away Free Programming Ebooks (oreilly.com)

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

O'Reilly Gives Away Free Programming Ebooks (oreilly.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on Sunday October 9, 2016 @11:40AM from the digital-documents dept.

An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: There's now a section on OReilly.com offering free ebooks about computer programming. There's four free Java ebooks and seven about Python, as well as an "Other" section which contains ebooks like C++ Today, Swift Pocket Reference, and Why Rust? But there's also some broader categories for Open Source and Software Architecture ebooks, as well as separate sections for their free ebooks about Data, Security, Web Development, and the Internet of Things.

50 of 87 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Define "free" by arth1 · 2016-10-09 11:49 · Score: 2, Insightful

Why do I have to enter my name and e-mail address, if they're free?
1. Re:Define "free" by zenlessyank · 2016-10-09 12:04 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Because you are using the wrong torrent client.
2. Re:Define "free" by Gadget_Guy · 2016-10-09 12:05 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You know full well that in this case free just means they aren't charging any money for it. It doesn't mean that they are giving away their rights on these books and so they don't have to make them available for a straight anonymous download. They do these sorts of deals to get potential customers to their site. If you could just at hand out anonymous links to the books then it would fail their goal.
  If you don't want to give them you details then don't get the books. Easy!
3. Re:Define "free" by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 12:05 · Score: 1
  
  Well, maybe it's free because doesn't cost you money.
4. Re:Define "free" by wardk · 2016-10-09 12:14 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  >> Why do I have to enter my name and e-mail address, if they're free?
  said the user that entered their email address to get a "free" userid for posting on slashdot :-)
5. Re:Define "free" by Karlt1 · 2016-10-09 12:30 · Score: 1
  
  They don't verify your email. You can enter in a fake email address.
6. Re:Define "free" by naughtynaughty · 2016-10-09 12:46 · Score: 1
  
  Free books to the first 10 customers through the door on Wed. Are the books free if you have to go through the door? Yes
  But if entering your name and an email address is too much for you to handle then by all means use mine: John Smith johnsmith@johnsmithsemailaddress.com
7. Re:Define "free" by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 13:00 · Score: 1
  
  Man, you got suckered. I've been posting on Slashdot since the very beginning -- more posts than ANY OTHER USER, and still going -- all without giving them an email address. How they still got my name, I've no idea, though.
  AC.
8. Re:Define "free" by lister+king+of+smeg · 2016-10-09 13:05 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  You know full well that in this case free just means they aren't charging any money for it. It doesn't mean that they are giving away their rights on these books and so they don't have to make them available for a straight anonymous download. They do these sorts of deals to get potential customers to their site. If you could just at hand out anonymous links to the books then it would fail their goal.
  If you don't want to give them you details then don't get the books. Easy!
  Or use a disposable email account and junk info like I always do for crap like that, I wonder how much crap info VMWare Cisco or others has in their DB's from people like me giving fake info they demand everytime you download VMWare Player, or cisco drivers
  
  --
  ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
9. Re:Define "free" by arth1 · 2016-10-09 13:16 · Score: 1
  
  said the user that entered their email address to get a "free" userid for posting on slashdot :-)
  You can certainly post here without entering an e-mail address.
  And as far as I remember, I have never seen a pitch like "get FREE accounts" either.
10. Re:Define "free" by arth1 · 2016-10-09 13:29 · Score: 1
  
  Well, maybe it's free because doesn't cost you money.
  My e-mail costs me money.
  Both for bandwidth, storage, and time spent wading through spam.
11. Re:Define "free" by Trax3001BBS · 2016-10-09 13:51 · Score: 1
  
  >> Why do I have to enter my name and e-mail address, if they're free?
  said the user that entered their email address to get a "free" userid for posting on slashdot :-)
  ToS says: You agree that by using the site, you consent to the collection and use of this information in accordance with our privacy policy.
  Privacy Policy: complies with the U.S. — EU Safe Harbor Framework and the U.S. — Swiss Safe Harbor Framework set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection,
  I used an Email address that forwards to me, but did get some good books and in a .PDF format at that.
12. Re:Define "free" by Dunbal · 2016-10-09 16:44 · Score: 1
  
  It takes less than 5 minutes to set up a disposable email account...
  
  --
  Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
13. Re:Define "free" by Lord+Kano · 2016-10-09 20:22 · Score: 1
  
  There's no verification. Enter any email address you want.
  
  --
  "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
14. Re:Define "free" by Oswald+McWeany · 2016-10-10 01:15 · Score: 1
  
  Free?.. I paid Anonymous Coward $20 for my Slashdot account.
  
  --
  "That's the way to do it" - Punch
15. Re:Define "free" by gsslay · 2016-10-10 01:23 · Score: 1
  
  You don't have to enter your email address. You have to fill in three edit boxes with text, one containing an @ symbol. If you chose to use your name and email address, that's your choice.
16. Re:Define "free" by tehcyder · 2016-10-10 01:49 · Score: 1
  
  Why do I have to enter my name and e-mail address, if they're free?
  You don't HAVE to enter anything.
  
  --
  To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
17. Re:Define "free" by MightyYar · 2016-10-10 03:12 · Score: 1
  
  I _think_ these are all up on archive.org. At least the Functional Programming in Python one that I'm reading is.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
18. Re:Define "free" by ryanmc1 · 2016-10-10 03:15 · Score: 1
  
  just enter a fake email and name. I tried and it works fine. The bigger problem is that you have to enter the name and email for every book.
19. Re:Define "free" by epine · 2016-10-10 04:40 · Score: 1
  
  They do these sorts of deals to get potential customers to their site.
  And here I thought they just had an excess of pink and purple, and needed to run those ink reservoirs dry so they could replace the entire rainbow cartridge all at once, without losing their green cred.
20. Re:Define "free" by AK+Marc · 2016-10-10 05:43 · Score: 1
  
  Breathing can cost you money, if you decide to set up your own filter and pump system. Doesn't mean you deserve or get any sympathy. It's still free.
  
  --
  Learn to love Alaska
21. Re:Define "free" by Shirley+Marquez · 2016-10-10 11:17 · Score: 1
  
  The books are free as in beer. They are also free in that they are not encumbered by DRM. They are not free/libre in the sense of a free license; they are copyrighted works. O'Reilly has published some books that have free licenses (GNU Free Documentation License or Creative Commons) but these are not among them.
22. Re:Define "free" by jon3k · 2016-10-10 14:36 · Score: 1
  
  More like 5 seconds .
23. Re:Define "free" by luis_a_espinal · 2016-10-11 02:18 · Score: 2
  
  Why do I have to enter my name and e-mail address, if they're free?
  Free as in "I don't have to give money" kind of free (the common sense definition used by the majority of human beings.)
  Think of it this way. Someone is going to give you a book for free, but you have to go to his bookstore. That is, you have to walk in. By the logic derived from your silly protestation, you could say "hey, if it is free, why do I have to give you my physical presence.".
  You can keep protesting against something you don't have to give money for. It is your right, but it does make you quite silly for not understanding the meaning of trade-offs and the generally accepted definition of "free" as used by human civilizations for centuries.
URLs by Ann+Coulter · 2016-10-09 12:17 · Score: 5, Informative

Just do these regex replacements on the URLs:
curl 'http://www.oreilly.com/programming/free/' | grep '\.csp' | sed 's/^.*href="//' | sed 's/free\/$.*$.csp">/free\/\1.pdf/'
http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program... http://www.oreilly.com/program...
1. Re:URLs by NotInHere · 2016-10-09 12:29 · Score: 1
  
  Wow, that's great!
  For the lazy ones, this is the full command to download the stuff to your disk:
  curl 'http://www.oreilly.com/programming/free/' | grep '\.csp' | sed 's/^.*href="//' | sed 's/free\/$.*$.csp">/free\/files\/\1.pdf/' | grep pdf | tr -d '\r' | xargs wget
2. Re:URLs by NotInHere · 2016-10-09 12:34 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Seems above command doesn't download all files. This one does:
  curl 'http://www.oreilly.com/programming/free/' | grep '\.csp' | sed 's/^.*href="//' | sed 's/free\/$.*$.csp.*">/free\/files\/\1.pdf/' | tr -d '\r' | xargs wget
  Usual disclaimers apply, ask your lawyer before doing this kind of stuff, etc etc.
3. Re:URLs by manu0601 · 2016-10-09 12:52 · Score: 1
  
  Just do these regex replacements on the URLs:
  curl 'http://www.oreilly.com/programming/free/' | grep '\.csp' | sed 's/^.*href="//' | sed 's/free\/$.*$.csp">/free\/\1.pdf/'
  That is nasty. Now one does not even have to surrender its e-mail address to discover those e-book are not worth it.
4. Re:URLs by hcs_$reboot · 2016-10-09 15:32 · Score: 1
  
  The Swift one is interesting if you want to have a glance at the language.
  
  --
  Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
5. Re:URLs by BlackPignouf · 2016-10-09 21:16 · Score: 1
  
  http://stackoverflow.com/quest...
  PS : Just joking, thanks for the books!
6. Re:URLs by mriya3 · 2016-10-09 22:58 · Score: 1
  
  ,,, or you can download all ebooks with:
  
  for i in programming web-platform security iot data business webops-perf; do mkdir -p "$i" && curl "http://www.oreilly.com/$i/free/" | grep '\.csp' | sed 's/^.*href="//' | sed 's/free\/$.*$.csp.*">/free\/files\/\1.pdf/' | tr -d '\r' | xargs wget -P "$i"; done
Re:Who needs books? by markus · 2016-10-09 12:19 · Score: 4, Interesting

O'Reillys books are universally really high quality. Back in the 1990s and 2000s, I'd buy their books pretty much sight unseen. They were never cheap, but they were definitely worth every penny.
These days, there are so many amazing online resources, it is rare that I would get use from a printed book. I am a little sad and nostalgic, but I honestly don't see their business model lasting all that much longer. Even if all of their books were readily and cheaply available online, I probably still wouldn't read them. It's simply the wrong way to present the type of information that I need.
Re:No they dont by sittingnut · 2016-10-09 12:20 · Score: 2

don't be so negative about everything.
this is not ideal, but it is good. and not a lie.
Re:Not free! by viperidaenz · 2016-10-09 12:40 · Score: 1

Who said you have to provide your information?
Surprised they didn't do this sooner by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 12:41 · Score: 1

While their library is excellent, they have serious competition from everywhere, including countless free sources.
One time I talked to them about signing up for their company subscription service. The prices they wanted were ludicrous, to the point where you would have had to read a minimum of 3 books to make it worth it. Anything less and it was more cost effective to just buy a hard copy of the book.
Meanwhile other publishers like Packt give away daily free books, which helps greatly with mindshare.
1. Re:Surprised they didn't do this sooner by myid · 2016-10-09 13:57 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  As far as I know, O'Reilly hasn't given away many free books. (Maybe they're changing that now.) But they've sold ebooks at a 50% discount.
  You can request to be put on their email list. Then most days, you'll get an email that tells you that one or more books are on sale for 50% off for one day.
  Also 3 or 4 times a year, they email you, telling you that for a few days, all ebooks, or all ebooks on a particular subject, are on sale for 50%. If I want to get an ebook, but I'm in no hurry to get it, I wait for those sales to get it.
  When you get a book on sale this way, you have to type in the discount code that's mentioned in their email.
Re:Really? by gfxguy · 2016-10-09 12:46 · Score: 1

These are relatively recent... one of the ones I looked at was released August 2016; the next one I looked at was October 2015, June 2015....

--
Stupid sexy Flanders.
Re:Really? by Hognoxious · 2016-10-09 12:49 · Score: 1

They're relatively recent, but this lot are like "Left-handed data APIs for millenials: A devops manifesto"

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Three Cheers for O'Reilly by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 13:34 · Score: 3, Insightful

If you don't want to give away your e-mail use an anonymous one. Plenty out there.

Yes these are general books about programming but it's still good value. Some publishers like Elsevier take and take and take from the community without giving anything back EXCEPT POLITICAL DONATIONS TO CONGRESSMEN TO KEEP THEIR CARTEL. O'Reilly's done very well out of the programming community but he does give back. Good for him.
Re:Who needs books? by g01d4 · 2016-10-09 15:15 · Score: 3, Informative

I find online resources are best when you're staring at code on a monitor looking for specifics. Books are best when you're offline, browsing information you might not otherwise search for.
Re:Who needs books? by Fnord666 · 2016-10-09 15:30 · Score: 1

These days, there are so many amazing online resources, it is rare that I would get use from a printed book. I am a little sad and nostalgic, but I honestly don't see their business model lasting all that much longer. Even if all of their books were readily and cheaply available online, I probably still wouldn't read them. It's simply the wrong way to present the type of information that I need.
The issue I have with printed media, especially tech related, is that by the time it hits the street it's already outdated or deprecated.

--
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
White papers not reference books by Anonymous Coward · 2016-10-09 16:32 · Score: 1

I was hoping they would be reference books or cookbooks that I enjoy so much from Oreilly. But a quick look suggests most of them are closer to white papers or single chapters on a topic. There are 100 books across programming, security IoT etc, and although a few of them look interesting and detailed, most are quite short: the median page length of the PDFs is 43. There are a couple of 100+ page books for each topic, and programming and web topics are longer (57 pages and 71 pages, respectively). Of course 'don't judge a book by its cover' and 'size doesn't matter', so check them for yourself. For info, below is list of titles and page length:
Data: 2016 data science salary survey (51) advancing procurement analytics (19) ai and medicine (23) analyzing data in the internet of things (66) architecting data lakes (64) architecting for access (23) data and democracy (58) data science banking and fintech (25) data science microsoft azure ml python (62) embedding analytics in modern applications (25) evaluating machine learning models (59) fast data smart and at scale (51) future of machine intelligence (78) getting analytics right (43) going pro in data science (59) hadoop and spark performance for the enterprise (20) hadoop what you need to know (40) in search of database nirvana (54)
migrating big data analytics (16) self service analytics (18) stream processing (182) the big data market (29) the business of genomic data (17) the new artificial intelligence market (26) what are conversational bots (25) what is artificial intelligence (23) what is data science (23)
Security: cracking security misconceptions (35) devopssec (86) docker security (51) not all data is created equal (26) patrolling the dark net (21) security data lake (37) who are the bad guys and what do they want (21)
Web: book of html css frameworks (42) designing great web apis (45) getting started with the web (139) js next a managers guide (43) little book html css coding guidelines (37) modern javascript (96) modern svg (79) python web frameworks (83) static site generators (63) upgrading to php seven (84)
IoT: 3d printing primer (41) ambient computing (20) bottom up manufacturing (28) building a hardware business (290) creating functional teams for iot (19) designing for the internet of things (265) evaluating and choosing an iot platform (26) evolving infrastructures of industrial iot (19) governing the iot (19) hardware by the numbers (22)
industrial internet (51) innovation (22) internet as material (22) iot opportunities challenges (17) pitching your iot project (16) predictive maintenance (18) smart cities smarter citizens (24) smart energy (43) software above device (18) software hardware collide (80) user experience for iot (44) what is the internet of things (32) when hardware meets software (19)
Programming: 2016 european software development salary survey (64) 2016 software development salary survey report (62) 20 python libraries you arent using but should (74) a whirlwind tour of python (98) c++ today (74) evolving architectures of fintech (21) from future import python (44) functional programming python (49)
getting started with innersource (22) hadoop with python (71) how to make mistakes in python (82) java the legend (61) microservices antipatterns and pitfalls (66)
microservices for java developers (129) microservices in production (24) microservices vs service oriented architecture (57) migrating cloud native application architectures (58) modern java ee design patterns (65) object oriented vs functional programming (46) open by design (44) open source in brazil (28) python in education (43) reactive microservices architecture orm (54) real world maintainable software (57) rxjava for android app development (41) software architecture patterns (55) swift pocket reference (236) ten steps to linux survival (74) trends shaping the london tech scene (23) why rust (62)
Re:Who needs books? by adolf · 2016-10-09 18:15 · Score: 2

Early 90s O'Reilly books were largely reprints of Linux HOWTOs, and were awesome.
Later 90s O'Reilly books were just as good, without the (freebie) HOWTO background, and were also awesome.
i think you've got it backward, though: In OReilly's proper hay-day, they were printing texts that were easily found online.
(I'd tell you to get off of my lawn, but given your UID, I must respectfully thank you for letting hang out for as long as I have, instead. There aren't many of you left in these parts.)

--
Kid-proof tablet..
"Picking a Python version" by johannesg · 2016-10-09 19:38 · Score: 1

Wow, I had no idea you needed to read a book before you could even make an informed choice which Python version is appropriate for a project. It really inspires me to want to learn the language.
If the compatibility problems are that bad, maybe they should have given those languages different names. It's not like snake names don't offer any choices. "Yes, I'm developing this in Death Adder. It was the best choice according to a free O'Reilly book I downloaded of the internet..."
Unless of course this is a book about the care and handling of actual snakes. In that case I must apologize to all the Python fans out there.
more sections by Cronq · 2016-10-09 20:58 · Score: 2

There are more sections. So far found:
business
data
design
iot
programming
security
webops-perf
web-platform
Re:Who needs books? by Viol8 · 2016-10-09 21:09 · Score: 1

Seriously? I guess it depends on what part of tech you're involved in. My Stevens advanced unix programming book is almost as relevant now as it was back in the mid 90s when I bought it.
It depends on your requirements by Viol8 · 2016-10-09 21:12 · Score: 2

If all you want is a quick solution to a problem then obviously online resources are far more convenient than flicking through the index of a book. However if you need to learn something from scratch you often really have to READ a lot about it first in a linear manner, and in that situation IMO a book is a lot more user friendly than scrolling around in a browser or pdf reader. But each to their own.
Re: Who needs books? by bsDaemon · 2016-10-09 23:32 · Score: 2

None of the cool kids are using ISO or ANSI-standardized languages against IEEE-defined standardized interfaces like POSIX anymore. That level of stability and portability doesn't allow twenty-somethings to feel like they are revolutionizing the industry and making the world a better place through beautiful design patterns or whatever.
Re: Who needs books? by Viol8 · 2016-10-10 01:02 · Score: 2

Sadly you're probably right. And for "revolutionising the industry" read: reinventing the wheel - badly.
O'Reilly always seems get my money by FeelGood314 · 2016-10-10 01:58 · Score: 1

I have access to all their books through work and I find reading the dead tree version of their books much easier on my eyes. I will read one or two chapters and then end up buying the book. If only one or two percent of the people who take advantage of this are like me O'Reilly does well. As for the people who torrents and other ways of getting the books for free, O'Reilly knows they aren't going to get a penny from those people today. 10 years from now when those people have good paying jobs they will remember O'Reilly and some fraction will spend the money.