DSL Book
Forum: Site News
Topic: DSL Book
started by: roberts
Posted by roberts on April 11 2007,16:25
The big announcement that I had previously mentioned has already been made public:< http://www.insidesocal.com/click....or.html >
The direct link to Amazon is:
< http://www.amazon.com/Officia....sr=1-21 >
Posted by WDef on April 11 2007,17:40
Great work - I look forward to having a read!
Posted by setecio on April 13 2007,21:06
Is this a book for everyone, for beginners, developers, idiots, clever peeps, or is it focused at a particular audience?
Posted by roberts on April 13 2007,22:21
All of the above.The first part of the book is full of screen drops and is targeted to the new user of DSL. As you progress through later chapters the material presented becomes more advanced with more code discussion than screenies. The last section of the book is fun projects. I am very excited about the book and having had a chance to work with Chris Negus and the folks at Prentice Hall.
Posted by jls legalize on April 14 2007,05:18
where do u find the time 4 all of this thinghs?legalize cannabis, etc.
Posted by jpeters on April 14 2007,08:07
Also provides an opportunity to support the guys who provide us with endless free hours of development/support.
Posted by torp on April 16 2007,15:08
roberts, the book is on my wish list at amazon. please tell us more!torp
Posted by roberts on April 20 2007,17:37
torp, There is still a flurry of activity happening on this, so I think it best to delay "in telling more". As we get closer to publishing I will of course say more. I will say the book to very comprehensive. Four sections, 16 chapters. From beginner to advanced; we tried to cover everything.
Posted by hs7sv on April 30 2007,09:30
Great job! 
Posted by humpty on April 30 2007,13:06
i dunno, i might not go for the book. How about dsl T-shirts?
Posted by curaga on April 30 2007,15:45
DSL national music theme?DSL talk show?
DSL movie? 5 min of Tux wearing a DSL cap kicking the Flag's butt...
okay, now going really off topic....
Posted by setecio on Aug. 05 2007,18:07
What stage is the book at now ?
Posted by hs7sv on Aug. 06 2007,05:53
I received an email from Amazon.com:-| Quote |
| ... Unfortunately, the release date for the item(s) listed below has changed, and we need to provide you with a new delivery estimate based on the new release date: Robert Singledecker (Author), et al "The Official Damn Small Linux Book: The Tiny Adaptable Linux That Runs on Anything (Negus Live Linux)" [Paperback] Estimated arrival date: 09/05/2007 - 09/17/2007 ... |
Posted by jpeters on Aug. 06 2007,06:42
| Quote (hs7sv @ Aug. 06 2007,01:53) | ||
I received an email from Amazon.com:-
|
Now if they would just eliminate the publisher, and start with digital media, we'd all be reading it (and for a fraction of the expense).
Posted by roberts on Aug. 06 2007,13:19
Estimated arrival date: 09/05/2007 - 09/17/2007 ...Amazing that they don't even communicate with the authors.
First it was to be early July, then Aug 3.
The last communication indicated that the book would be available at Linux World, which starts today - perhaps not.
Thanks for sharing. It is news to me.
Posted by jpeters on Aug. 06 2007,19:01
Why not offer a PDF version. You don't think the publishers have your interests in mind, do you?
Posted by twrensch on Aug. 08 2007,01:05
| Quote (jpeters @ Aug. 06 2007,15:01) |
| Why not offer a PDF version. You don't think the publishers have your interests in mind, do you? |
The publisher has only their own best interests at heart. Things work out because there's a big overlap between the author's interests and the publisher's. Schedules do not seem to be part of the overlap.
The first time I published a book (1993) it took a year from giving them the manuscript to getting it in the stores. The second time (2001) took about nine months. This time (a few weeks ago) I published it myself using an on-demand printer/distributor and it took about three weeks.
Congrads on becoming an author. I look forward to getting the book (however long it takes).
- Tom
Posted by roberts on Aug. 08 2007,03:39
The book is at Linux World!The planned book event is going along very nicely.
Meeting and talking with many nice people, made who have heard of and or use DSL.
Posted by jpeters on Aug. 08 2007,04:02
hm.....so what's with the other post about the delay until September??Edit.....Amazon's already knocked 34% off the price, and it hasn't even been released yet.
Posted by hs7sv on Aug. 09 2007,10:05
Today, I received another email from Amazon.com:-| Quote |
| ... Unfortunately, the release date for the item(s) listed below has changed, and we need to provide you with a new delivery estimate based on the new release date: Robert Singledecker (Author), et al "The Official Damn Small Linux Book: The Tiny Adaptable Linux That Runs on Anything (Negus Live Linux)" [Paperback] Estimated arrival date: 11/02/2007 - 11/15/2007 ... |
Posted by roberts on Aug. 10 2007,02:05
When individual resellers receive their copies is not under any control of DSL. I can tell you that the book sold very well all three days at Linux World. I had a great time.
Posted by curaga on Aug. 10 2007,09:20
we want pics from the LinuxWorld ;)
Posted by roberts on Aug. 11 2007,04:14
Didn't have a camera, but several did take pics at our booth.ke4nt1 was there and did take pics. I hope he will post them or send them along to me and I will.
Overall LinuxWorld was very server oriented and in fact, shared the convention center with NGDC. Next Generation Data Center. Liitle desktop stuff. The ".org" pavillion was the most interesting part for me. I got a hands on with a OLPC. Was not impressed with it both look and feel hardware and UI. I also got to see the Classmate laptop and even booted DSL on it! The Classmate has a wide screen, still DSL defaults looked good. DSL ran great on its 900Mhz /256MB. Also, booted DSL on a Fijisu tablet PC, expensive, $2000, but still very nice. I think some vendor's did not like it that John and I were trying DSL on their new hardware. Some chased us away. Still it was fun to see DSL run these new machines. Of course, we could only see the booted DSL desktop. We could not test evey feature. Wish the eee pc701 was there, but seems like the Classmate is similiar in specs.
Posted by dougz on Aug. 17 2007,19:04
Used the contact form on phptr.com/infomit.com to check availability. My question:| Quote |
| http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0132360101 shows publication date as Published Jul 18, 2007. Book was available at last week's Linux World, but Amazon shows "Usually ships within 4 to 6 weeks." Other vendors show a variety of dates. What's up? |
Their answer:
| Quote |
| ...The link you provided me is for the PDF downloadable version of the book. Once you purchase it, it will be available to you as soon as you download it. Unfortunately, the actual Paperback with the CD version of the book (ISBN 978-0132338691) has not yet been released. I see a copyright date of 2008 on it, which means the book will not be recently until early next year. It will have a list price of $39.99. Since the physical book has not been released, that is why you are getting a variety of dates from vendors.... |
Nice that they replied, but I find it odd that they quote copyright 2008 with no physical availability while physical copies were at Linux World and Amazon, Bookpool, B&N all claim availabiltiy "real soon now." (For some value of "real soon now." ;-)
Confused? So am I.
Posted by roberts on Aug. 17 2007,19:31
Perhaps there is a delay in printing? Perhaps the printer is back logged with Harry Potter orders
Having never been through this process, I am only guessing.
Still it is frustrating as any book on computers is time sensitive.
I have since received my author's copy and it is copyright 2008 First printing Aug 2007.
Posted by dougz on Aug. 17 2007,19:50
| Quote |
| I have since received my author's copy and it is copyright 2008 |
Interesting. So the answer I got was correct about the 2008 copyright.
FWIW, I've found Amazon to be fairly reliable about availability on newly published books. I've frequently seen them slip from the absolute publication date like "August 6, 2007" to a "fudge factor" like "Usually ships within 4 to 6 weeks" when there is a bit of slippage at the publisher. In my experience, they usually do ship within the "fudge factor" range. Amazon is no longer accepting pre-orders and are now accepting orders as if it has really been published and the "real soon now" fudge factor is real.
How to reconcile that with a 2008 copyright is beyond me.
Nice to see that publishers have such close relationships with authors... ;-)
Posted by jpeters on Aug. 17 2007,22:21
Fortunately, there are a variety of purchase options. You can subscribe to Safari for only $439.99/yr to read it online, or you can buy a used copy (even though the new copies aren't out yet) from Fantastic Shopping for only $38.79 + shipping (the new version costs $23.19). I knew about online book technology, but utilizing time machines is new to me. Although it costs a little more, I think it's worth it to be able to purchase used books before the new ones come out.
Posted by roberts on Aug. 17 2007,22:55
Ah, maybe that is why we sold so many at the show!Next they are going to show up on ebay.
I wonder if the ones John and I signed will be worth more.
Posted by jpeters on Aug. 18 2007,01:10
| Quote (roberts @ Aug. 17 2007,18:55) |
| Ah, maybe that is why we sold so many at the show! |
..or else they were republished in China..
Posted by ke4nt1 on Aug. 18 2007,20:13
| Quote |
| Posted on Aug. 10 2007,23:14Didn't have a camera, but several did take pics at our booth. ke4nt1 was there and did take pics. |
Yes, I have pics. Will post them up soon.
LinuxWorld was much larger than in 2005, but less 'geek' and more
'stuffed shirt' types than I would have liked to see.
Either way, it was a fun time to be had by all.
roberts knows where all the best places to eat are!
Yes, I have one of the first, perhaps THE first,
autographed copy of the book.
Yes, I have read it. Yes, it is for sale.
$999.00 O.B.O
? Greets,
ke4nt
Posted by dougz on Aug. 18 2007,20:38
ke4nt1 said -| Quote |
| Yes, I have pics. Will post them up soon. |
Great! Looking forward to seeing them.
| Quote |
Yes, I have one of the first, perhaps THE first, autographed copy of the book. Yes, I have read it. |
Would you consider writing a review of the book? I'd bet there would be lots of interest. (Not $999 worth, but lots.)
Posted by dougz on Aug. 24 2007,19:10
Amazon.com status update --| Quote |
| Availability: In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. |
from page < DSL book at amazon.com >
My "delivery estimate" on the open order was unchanged in "Your Account > Where's My Stuff? > Open and recently shipped orders" --
| Quote |
| Delivery estimate: October 15, 2007 - October 19, 2007 |
but clicking the "View order" button gave --
| Quote |
| We are preparing these items for shipment and this portion of your order cannot be canceled or changed. |
which usually precedes shipment by a day or so.
Looks like the book is shipping from Amazon, based on what I've seen from my previous orders. YMMV...
Posted by jpeters on Aug. 25 2007,04:34
| Quote (dougz @ Aug. 24 2007,15:10) |
| Looks like the book is shipping from Amazon, based on what I've seen from my previous orders. YMMV... |
Hope you get a signed copy...
Posted by dougz on Aug. 31 2007,18:14
Book just arrived. Very well done. Congrats to the authors.IMHO, much more useful than the previous DSL book.
Please do explain the time machine you used to get a 2008 copyright on a book delivered in August '07. The USPS "time machine" usually works the other way.
Posted by roberts on Sep. 01 2007,15:50
Glad to hear that the book is out.Hope you enjoy it.
Posted by infinitycircuit on Sep. 03 2007,17:57
My book just arrived yesterday as well. It's a great resource and very well written (although I have found a small error...in discussing the backup/restore process it says that you can reveal hidden files with ls -l instead of ls -a. ) I've always been frustrated that the pager in fluxbox didn't allow you to switch workspaces - I should have tried using my middle button. I also didn't know that there was a option to use a web backup. I've been looking for an excuse to set up an FTP server - now is the perfect time!
Posted by hs7sv on Sep. 17 2007,03:39
The book just arrived today. It is very useful book. Well done.
Posted by jpeters on Sep. 17 2007,06:12
| Quote (hs7sv @ Sep. 16 2007,23:39) |
| The book just arrived today. It is very useful book. Well done. |
Lots of good stuff, although I was hoping for some pictures of Robert punching out code, etc. Instead, just a few shots of some old computers.
Posted by clivesay on Sep. 17 2007,15:23
| Quote (jpeters @ Sep. 17 2007,01:12) |
| Lots of good stuff, although I was hoping for some pictures of Robert punching out code, etc. Instead, just a few shots of some old computers. |
I've seen Robert work. He's way to fast for normal flash photography to catch him in focus!
Posted by ke4nt1 on Sep. 18 2007,16:57
on the other hand.....a 24 hour video recording of RS at the helm would reveal that aside from the usual feeding, sleeping and other 'pit-stops' ,
he can always be found in the captain's chair pounding out more good ideas (with the aforementioned coding speed seen only as a blur of flesh&bone over the keyboard, with an occasional snatch&grab of some tasty treats!)
Go Go Go!
73
ke4nt
Posted by WDef on Sep. 18 2007,22:51
ke4nt! Where ya been?You've been on my "Whatever happened to .." list around here.
Glad you've surfaced.