I do everything wrong, but wrong works for me.
General publishing announcements
One from Crypted Nets and one from IT World.
I post book reviews mostly so I can find them again years from now. When the time comes to do a third edition, I need quotes like “I doubt that a better book on OpenBSD could be written” for the cover and marketing materials.
…in its extremely narrow category. The Kindle edition is #1 and the paperback is #3.
Admittedly, DNS books are not a big category. I’m not up against Stephen King here. But it’s my category, and I’ll take it. I cut my teeth on DNS and BIND Beating it out just seems somehow immoral. But I’ll live with it.
This is only a best-seller because people bought it. Thanks, everyone.
BSDCan hasn’t officially started, and I keep getting asked when I will write a third edition of Absolute FreeBSD?
The short answer is: I don’t know.
The slightly longer answer is: it depends in part on you.
The much longer answer is:
FreeBSD has added lots of stuff since Absolute FreeBSD came out in 2007. The big, screaming, basic change is that ZFS is really well-supported, and considered a core feature.
But you can’t install to ZFS. Or to a mirror. Or to any of the other really cool options available on FreeBSD. There’s good stuff there, but new users can’t have it.
There are ways around this. For a new user, they range from ugly to absurd. I had hopes for the new FreeBSD installer, but none of the rumored improvements have reached real users. I could write “To install FreeBSD, install PC-BSD.” But my gut rebels. If you want PC-BSD, install PC-BSD.
If I was to write a big FreeBSD book today, it would have to be “1001 ways to install FreeBSD.” It would cover getting FreeBSD onto ZFS, or mirrors, or GELI, or any of the other cool options. That’s not a fun book to write and would not be fun to read.
Some discussions at BSDCan give me hope for an improved installation process. I don’t care if it’s the current installer, or a port of PC-BSD’s installer, or a resurrected sysinstall.
I have no problem spending a chapter on planning an installation, or on things you should know before installing — just look at Absolute OpenBSD. But that chapter can’t be “Here’s FreeBSD disk management system, so you can boot off a live filesystem and manually edit disks and create zpools and GELIs and mirrors and and and…” Experienced FreeBSD users put up with this, but you can’t give this to a new user.
FreeBSD should have a decent partitioning scheme at boot. If the OpenBSD folks can manage that with their text-only installer, surely FreeBSD could do so. But at least it’s possible to partition the disk with the current installer.
So: if you’re a programmer and want a new version of the book, work on the installer.
If you’re not a programmer: bribe one.
I have some small books on FreeBSD on my schedule, but that’s a very different thing. Until the installer changes, Absolute FreeBSD 3 isn’t even on the schedule.
I’m sure everyone who reads this blog knows I’ll be at BSDCan tonight through early Sunday morning. I will also have books for sale, however.
Cash only.
If you buy a book, I’ll throw in a free Tilted Windmill Press T-shirt while supplies last. Because why not.
I’ll also be giving away some books as review copies. If you want a review copy of Absolute OpenBSD, you’ll need to give me your email address. I’ll be handing it off to the NSP publicity department. Sorry to be a pain on that, but I have to pay for any Absolute OpenBSDs that aren’t review copies. (Or I can ship them back to the publisher, but that’s just a waste.) I’m more flexible with review copies of self-published books.
I’ve heard from a few different readers that there are problems with the Kindle edition of Absolute OpenBSD. It’s by no means every copy in every format, but there are enough problem reports that it needs investigating.
I’ve notified the publisher. They are investigating. When I have an update, I will post it.
Generally, when a Kindle file has a problem, remove it from your device. When the new version appears, you can re-download it from Amazon.
And this is the point where I mention that Absolute OpenBSD is O’Reilly’s Deal of the Day. If you want the ebook, you can get it for 50% off.
I’m a guest of honor at Penguicon this weekend. I’ll be doing a one-hour talk on technology publishing in 2013. I’ll also be inventing an ice cream flavor.
Other guests include author Jim C Hines, chef and author Jeff Potter, Arduino and Raspberry pi guru & author Maik Schmidt, hackerspace advocate and censorship activist Nick Farr, plus author and filmmaker Jason Denzel.
Whenever I go to this type of con, I usually take in a few panels, see some cool demos, and spend a good chunk of time hanging out in the bar or lobby, wondering who all these people are. If you’re in the Detroit area, come by and say hello.
I will also have hard copies of Absolute OpenBSD for sale at $50 each. Amazon doesn’t have them yet. No Starch doesn’t have them yet. But I have them. Cash and PayPal accepted — I had hoped to take credit cards, but the PayPal credit card app doesn’t like my knockoff Android tablet. But by showing up, you can get the book you’ve been demanding for four years now.
And now that I’m a guest, maybe the cool kids will let me hang with them. But probably not.
You can now get the complete DNSSEC Mastery: Securing the Domain Name System with BIND at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and my personal ebookstore. It should (hopefully) trickle through to iTunes & such before long.
This book was a real education to write. Hopefully it will help improve the state of DNS security across the industry. Various DNS experts have expressed approval of the book, and here’s hoping that the wider world will as well.
The book has now gone on to physical production. Hopefully I will have a proof by BSDCan. We might even auction it off at the end of the con, as the OpenBSD auction did so well.
Review copies are available for folks who regularly review books.
If you should find an error in the ebook, please let me know. Converting an OpenOffice document to umpteen different formats for an incredibly wide variety of devices has its risks. I no longer have a PalmPilot to test that format, for example, and I have a specific model of Kindle that’s probably not the same as yours.
Thanks to everyone for their support.
The final total on the Absolute OpenBSD first copy auction was: $1145. The lucky (for various interpretations of lucky) winner is Bill Allaire, long-time OpenBSD supporter.
Bill has already sent Austin the money, which is winging its way to the OpenBSD Foundation as I write this. So he’s lived up to his end of the bargain.
I’m not going to ship him the book when it’s printed, however. Us writers are flaky and untrustworthy, and it’s time people realize and accept this. For another reason, though, there’s a small OpenBSD hackathon in Toronto at the end of May. I’ve been invited to come hang out on beer night.
I’m taking Bill’s book with me, so various OpenBSD developers can sign it and point out any errors. I’m sure they’ll also offer corrections and commentary because, well, you give a BSD developer a beer and he’ll tell you what he really thinks.
So, Bill not only gets the first copy off the press. He gets the most correct version. A book more awesome than anything anyone else will have. Don’t you wish you had outbid him?
Apparently double-dog daring you people works.
The Absolute OpenBSD Foundation auction is currently at $1035.
You have another day and a half to bid. Do so.
I’m delighted. And, as promised, I’ll have an ebook sale as a result. Probably during BSDCan.
This week has been maniacal for reasons completely outside of the new Absolute OpenBSD, but I should start to catch up on all the queued email, tweets, and whatnot next week.
The Absolute OpenBSD auction has been going about 10 hours now. In less than those 10 hours, the price exceeded the amount raised for the FreeBSD Foundation.
Well done.
But I bet you slackers can’t possibly double it. No, I DOUBLE DOG-DARE YOU to double it.
How I love picking a fight in a good cause.