[KLUG Members] Re: Gentoo's Daniel Robbins -- Samba book ...

[Bryan J. Smith]

Quoting Adam Tauno Williams <adam@morrison-ind.com>:
> Any idea is there will be a Samba book prepped for 3.0 when it is
> released?

First off, I have no idea.

Secondly, the main author not only hates my guts, but he's recently "taken the
gloves off" with regards in even professional matters (which I learned first
hand when I was unemployed for 6 months -- "Kick'em when their up, kick'em when
their down" -- Don Henley).

So not only won't I be in it, I wouldn't know if and when it would happen.

> I've fiddling around with alpha's of it and IT ROCKS!!!

The team continues to amaze me.

> The structure of a Hummer and the performance of a Bugati.
> But I've held off investing in a book because so much is going
> to change.

Although I'd like to write an independent book (after I check my previous
MacMillian author agreement), I'd write something else first.

<tangent>
Something like "PC Certification Post-Exam Reference."  I'd like to write a
guide that is both a quick, but extensive "assessment" exam at the beginning of
each section, with references throughout a detailed set of chapters.  I'd cover
6 concepts at the "fundamentals":  PC hardware, operating systems (incl. Linux),
networking, servers (incl. Linux), internet and security.  If you haven't
guessed it, the "objectives" would closely mirror a set of 6 "fundamental"
certifications.

The idea is that people who just want to study for the cert would do the
assessment part, and reference as needed.  They would also have a reference for
after the exam.  And people who wanted to learn the technical details (but were
already PC literate) could read the reference part, and then come back to the
assessment.  I wouldn't "skimp" on the questions either, I'd have at least 100
per section, maybe more.  I figure the book would come to about 600-800 pages
total (about 100-150/section).

I'd release it with a 100% electronic redistribution license, in PDF.  You'd
only need to pay if you'd wanted a "license" to make a print copy.  The cost
would only be $10/copy (or my general rule, $1/100 pages, rounded up to the
nearest $5), for upto 49 copies per person/company.  Your full name or company
name, plus the check number, would be your reference, and there would be a place
to put that on the cover if you printed it out.  50+ copies would require a
signed license agreement.

The idea here is that you proliferate the document, and trust the end user.  The
end user can then always download the latest version of the document.  At the
same time, I save on overhead costs.  For $10, I'm sure I'd get a lot of people.
 Probably people who just got the book to study for a certification, but felt
like they'd like to have a print copy for a reference on their desk.  And even
if they didn't, they might send $10 anyway.

In the end, if the book was popular enough, maybe O'Reilly would pick it up. 
Okay, okay, now I'm dreaming.  I need to just start "doing" first.
</tangent>

-- 
Bryan J. Smith, E.I. (BSECE)       Contact Info:  http://thebs.org
[ http://thebs.org/files/resume/BryanJonSmith_certifications.pdf ]
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