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Help the Linux OpenBook Project
The reason I wonder if this project (which I think is an excellent idea) will draw enough support is that it's facing stiff competition from commercial publishers. The market for Linux books is so hot right now that one New York literary agent I know, Lisa Swayne, is literally begging for Linux authors.
While much Linux software is free, books about it cost plenty. An awful lot of people, including me, have noticed this and are not happy about it. Writing is not that much different from coding. In many ways. the two tasks are different applications of the same talents, and the way writers and coders work is quite similar, especially the fact that people who are good (or want to get good) at either task often become so obsessed with their work that they give up almost everything else in their lives. Given this similarity, why should people who write about free software almost invariably get paid, while people who write free software are expected to "contribute to the community" without getting any money in return?
Personally, I believe it is the duty of any writer or editor who uses free software to donate his or her skills to the community, just as programmers who use free software often contribute bugfixes and patches even if they aren't heavily involved in kernel or applications development. We each can and should contribute in our own way.
But now Linux is going big-time, and publishers move in packs just as surely as Wall Street investors, so suddenly there's competition for anyone who can write competently about Linux. I believe this is going to lead to a lot of bad books, just as the explosion of science fiction's popularity in the 1970s led to the publication of many SF novels that never should have been printed.
I believe Open Source books have the potential to be better and more useful manuals than those written under commercial pressure. Editing is the writer's equivalent of debugging. Just as good programmers often spend more time debugging than actually writing code, good writers often spend more time editing their work than typing their first drafts.
If you are a programmer who can write, or a writer who understands programming, I urge you to donate at least a little of your precious time to either of the two Open Source writing projects mentioned above, or to one of the many other worthwhile ones that have sprung up elsewhere.
Sure, there's lots of pressure to spend every waking moment making money coding or writing, but doing the same work without deadline pressure, for love instead of money, at least a few hours every week, will not only make you feel better about yourself, but may also help you improve your skills in ways you cannot when you're cranking out copy or code against a commercial deadline.
Note: this story was posted briefly earlier, then pulled when we discovered that LinuxWorld's servers weren't responding. Now, at 1:13 EDT, LinuxWorld is back up, so the links all work. - ed
Second, I don't know that the open source model will translate to books. If every section is written by a different person, someone is going to have to spend a heck of a long time editting and rewriting, to even get to a semblance of a unified style.
And last but certainly not least, does it matter that people are getting paid? Even if the author doesn't get paid, the book is not going to be free. I don't know what the ratio is in tech books but in fiction the author gets about 3% of the selling price. I for one don't see that as a huge savings, and will continue to buy and recommend O'Reilley books, whether it's in the spirit of the community or not.
Using Microsoft software is like having unprotected sex.
Bite the hand.
It seems like a decent idea. its always better to get more people working on one thing, cause the vast amount of knowledge being shared equates to something that is of high quality, and something you can trust for referrence... i'm all for this.
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While I think this could be a good idea, I question the assertion that the people involved with Linux (coders, writers, et.al) should not get paid (if they can) for their work.
It's true that many of us write code for the fun of it, and I suspect that there are many writers (even technical ones) that also write because they enjoy it, and would do it whether they get paid or not.
However, as many before me have argued, we don't have to separate Open Source from economic gain. Many of our favorite Linux coders are getting paid for Linux coding, do we grudge them that merely because the rest of us are doing it for free (or nearly so)? It is frequently argued that support is the most meaningful economic model for Open Source projects, in that you can get the software gratis, and you get the support at some cost (either you take the time to learn to do it yourself, or you lob a little cash to someone who is able to teach you).
I think the idea of an 'Open Book' is pretty cool, and almost certainly do-able. And it would be interesting to see how it would turn out, especially if there were many contributors. But if an author can make money writing a Linux book, I would say go for that if you can, just as if they could make the money writing Linux code.
Nunc Tutus Exitus Computarus.
Dumb question?
/.'er can name 5 famous programmers, but can they name famous tech writers (without looking at your bookshelf)? Let's see, Peter Norton, and, umm, Xian Crumlish.
Maybe, but I think one of the reason there are lots of programmers writing Linux and Open Source software is that they hope for a little fame and peer recognition.
Just about any
Writing documentation never seems to get the respect that programming does. So why would someone want to write for free if they can't even get a fraction of the respect that Torvalds, Tridgell or Becker gets? Can you see some hot startup wooing a tech writer because of their clear, expository pose? Can you see a startup letting an Open Source tech writer get in on their IPO? Do you ever hear of tech writers cashing in and retiring at 30?
George
I would love to help out with this or any similar project, but I'm not sure how. I have good writing skills, and have been using Linux as a hobby for a couple of years, but I lack programming knowledge or any in-depth configuration skills. However, I would certainly be able to take the ruminations of a more technical person and parlay those into a form readable by regular folks. And, after everything I've downloaded over the years, I'd be happy to work for free. Is this a viable skill? Any suggestions?
In the linuxworld openbook newsgroup the answer is answered thusly:
In some ways, you are right, this is YALDE (Yet Another Linux Documentation Effort). But there are important differnces between this book and the LDP. A few of them are:
1. Focus. This will be a book, not an encylopedia of everything Linux.
2. Product. This will be a professionally crafted, edited, bound, and published work which will extend the information to virtually every corner of the globe by virtue of IDG's worldwide presence and translation partners.
3. The information in this book will be a natural for the LDP to include in their project rather than the other way around. We should have 'fresher' data.
I hope this answers at least some of your concerns.
See ya,
Joe Barr
I'm concerned there may be a lot of duplicated effort here. And from some of the other discussion in that newsgroup I think the issue of focus will be a tough one to resolve. I have a hard time picturing one book that will be "essential" both to Linux newbies and experienced sysadmins.
Freedom's just another word for nothing left Zulus
This might seem a inflammatory, beware.
One reason that new coders write Open Source code may be that they're trying to make a name for themselves, and are having trouble getting paid for coding. Can you imagine sending a 3 page codelet to Microsoft (or Sun, or RedHat) and hoping to get hired on that alone? I think you need a hell of a lot of qualifications to get paid for coding without any relevant paid experience.
Contrast that with writing. My team got a book contract on the basis of a 3 page Table of Contents, with little paid writing experience. It's cheap for a publishing company to throw a few thousand dollars at unknowns in hopes that 1 out of 10 books will be a good one.
George
From my limited experience, royalties for computer books start at about 10%, more if you have a track record or an aggressive agent.
George
"Do me this for free, I'll take credit to my superiors/stockholders, and all the related profits..."
Yeah, RIGHT!!
Same editors of all those Linux "bibles" and "for idiots" sh1t.
it is W. Richard Stevens. But since he is
a UNIX (not linux) writer, and he is very
kernel+performance read-all-geek
he does FUNDAMENTED critics to Linux.
But his books are really admired and
read by the hacking community.
I don't like it one bit!
Paper? Printed? Pashaw!
LDP. Get the LDP on a nicely integrated, professional looking website.
Thats where its at.
Will IDG "donate" their printing presses (contracted out facilities)? I don't think so.
r@m
The book outline starts out with "What kind of server do you want" and goes from there. A book for "Essential Server Linux" is a fine idea, but I'd hate to see someone looking for something about Linux on the desktop (or embedded, or wearable, or whatever) pick this up.
Nothing against documentation, mind, but anyone calling a book "Essential Linux" and planning on it being only about servers is misguided.
How about a series? "Essential Server Linux", "Essential Desktop Linux", "Essential Wearable Linux", "Essential Toaster Linux", etc...
-- Alastair
How do you interpret, "While not mandatory, you should offer a free copy of the modifications, whether in print or on CD-ROM, to the original author(s) and to IDGB."?
Does this mean that they don't have to make the text of the book available for download? The part of copyleft that really makes it work is that you have to give out source code on request. It sounds like they're trying an "almost-free" way to get people to write books for them. They profit and the writers get nada. Great deal!
I, for one, would not participate in this...
I am doing something similar or have been for a few months now at my website--NHF's Newbieized Help Files. Mostly targeted at newbies, but not neccessarily newbies to linux in general. For example, someone may have used linux for years, but never set up their own network in their home and they wanted to use ipchains. Then they would be a newbie to ipchains? Thats where NHF's come into play.
is IDG's Open Book Project simliar to mine?
Sensei
Sensei
Linuxnewbie.org home of the NHF's
That's a great idea! A Windows to Linux installer, have it call FIPS and a customized version of FDISK. Then, have if format the ext2 filesystems, modify the MBR, and copy a base system to the new filesystems.
As someone who did some technical writing early in his career, I can state unequivically that not only do writers rarely get the same respect, they rarely get anywhere near the same pay.
The cake is a pie
I don't think an effort to create Open Source books, in the GPL sense of open source, about linux will ever work. Simply, the desire to scratch an itch doesn't exist as it does in programming.
:)
Take my example, I'm currently trying to find out information about using colors with GDK. There apparently is a black hole of information about the subject out there. There are many GTK+/GDK applications that use color, which implies there are many programmers that understand how it works. However, there is virtually no information on the subject in documentation any where.
So I thought to myself maybe after I figure it out I'll write something up. But, why should I? I'll do the work to figure it out (scratch my itch) in order to write a program I want/need. Afterwards I get to use that program (scratch my itch). However if I write up some documenation on the subject, I know it, very well quite likely. What benefit do I gain from the documentation afterwards? What itch does it scratch? I already know everything in the book, I'll never use it.
As far as I can see, the Open Source software movement hasn't been rewardless for those who participate in the coding of it. They get to use what they produce. Documentation on the other hand is a different beast. A good manager at a software firm will note that good documentation will save many headaches when you return to modify the code later. But even with that, you'll find his employees still don't want to do it.
Shot in the dark for a possible solution. Web based documentation. It should be geared to take advantage of the medium as we're trying to be progressive. And the people who maintain sections of the documentation receive percentages of the advertising revenue based on the amount, difficulty, and demand for their contribution, if the site ever breaks even. Sounds like something for Linux.com to try hosting. Hey, VA Linux you listening?
The only other option I can think of is using a QT style license for the documentation. Free is free is free is free, but if you sell it in any way you have to pay the author.
Ryan Warner
ryan_warner@fnmail.com
Well, he may or may not be an asset, but he is going to contribute. Why? Because it seems like a cool way to get good, current, Linux docs to a whole lot of people. Also because it is a good way to get people who can't contribute code to contribute in another way.
In my interview with Stallman a week or so ago at the Expo, he said that if a programmer came to him and volunteered his time to write free software, if Richard found out that he could also write documentation, he would beg him for documentation.
There is definitely a need. This idea could help meet that need. Of course, if it is restricted to people like yourself who have never made a mistake, it might take a little longer.
I'm glad it gives the posers something to sneer at, but probably everyone would be better off if they got off their butts and did something for someone else now and then.
See ya,
Joe Barr
aka WaRtHaWg
I can just imagine LinuxWorld's reaction.
"400% load increase? What the hell... OH MY GOD, IT'S SLASHDOT. Everyone turn all the servers off, maybe they'll think nobobdy's home."
"We can't do that, Simon."
"Hell we can't. Now get off the floor, call VA and get me more systems. This isn't gonna be fun."
(:
Yahoo! Pipes are awesome. How awesome? http://pipes.yahoo.com/jesdynf/slashdot
I can't resist. I'm racking my brain thinking of reasons why writing as a collaborative effort will or won't work. I'm thinking about the boundry conditions. What is the best possible outcome and what is the worst? This came to mind ;)
Thanks to both of you for your replies. I'll pursue those avenues and contribute as best I can.
Fortissimo