Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 10:06:37 -0400 (EDT) From: Thomas Good <tomg@mailhost.nrnet.org> To: David Johnson <djohnson@acuson.com> Cc: John B P Melesky <john@smallflower.com>, freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Some food for thought...plagiarizing D. Johnson! Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.10.10006020943320.3794-100000@mailhost.nrnet.org> In-Reply-To: <3936DE1E.A6D1D4FE@acuson.com>
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On Thu, 1 Jun 2000, David Johnson wrote an excellent arg for some
long overdue docs:
Bravo David. Suppose we edit a bit...I submit that our opus need
not be overly verbose. In fact we could cut to the chase by grabbing
your arguments and gussying them up a bit. >>>
Open Letter to Tim O'Reilly
From the FreeBSD Newbies
When a FreeBSD novice scans the impressive list of available O'Reilly titles
on the subject of Unix, s/he finds a sprinkling of (arguably) generic
offerings: "Learning the Unix Operating System", "Unix In A Nutshell"
and "Unix Power Tools". In addition, specific implementations are also well
represented as the following titles would indicate: "SCO Unix in a Nutshell",
"Unix in a Nutshell System V Edition", "Linux in a Nutshell" and
"Running Linux" - amongst many others.
Linux appears particularly well represented with various titles focusing
on specific distributions. "Learning Debian --- GNU/Linux" and "Learning
Redhat Linux" illustrate this point. These titles are great for novices
not quite ready for "Running Linux" or "Learning the BASH Shell".
And yet, there appears to be one unix implementation without *a single
volume* devoted to it: FreeBSD. In fact, the only O'Reilly titles devoted
to any BSD derived system are now out of print.
We are given to understand that ORA has some concerns about publishing
redundant books (although Linux appears to be exempted from this concern.)
It is felt that a "Running FreeBSD" could fill the hole without being
redundant. If we examine "Running Linux", it is focuses heavily on Linux
and not on generic Unix. Perhaps focusing on installation, adminstration,
the differences between BSD and other Unices, and a selection of
applications would make for an FBSD title with broad appeal. Topics could
include the BSD partitioning scheme and file system, sysinstall, BSD specific
utilites, ports, porting, etc. Attention could be paid to BSD networking
as it has played such a prominent role in the overall development of Unix
networking.
In conclusion, we, the FreeBSD Newbies, urge O'Reilly and Associates to
take up the issue of supporting a major force in the Open Source movement.
Even should a FreeBSD volume not be a big seller - and this seems unlikely
given the absence of BSD related titles on the bookshelves of shopping
malls - it seems appropriate for ORA to support this important project.
It would be unfortunate for a SAMS title (e.g., 'Teach Yourself FreeBSD
in 21 Days') to precede a more authoritative O'Reilly effort.
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