OpenBSD Journal

Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF as PDF

Contributed by grey on from the saving trees or not saving trees thanks to newer editions dept.

In his latest weblog article No DRM, because I trust people, Jacek Artymiak, author of Building Firewalls with OpenBSD and PF (BFWOAP), announces availability of the first edition of the book as PDF for download ($9.99, 247 pages, no DRM i.e. fully search- and printable). The more current second edition is available in paper print.

Also, Jacek mentions that he's working on the third edition of the book, which will be published by none other than O'Reilly this year. (We'll leak some more inside information and disclose that this will be the most comprehensive book about PF so far, as not only is it completely revised, updated and edited by Jacek and O'Reilly, but it contains new chapters written by several OpenBSD developers.)

(Comments are closed)

Comments

  1. By Anonymous Coward (69.70.33.181) on

    I'll definatly be buying the third edition! The first edition was AWESOME and well worth it; I just scimmed on the second edition. Can't wait till it's out! Sweet!

    Comments

    1. By Bryan (64.1.201.130) on

      I read the second (from local library[1]), but was interested more in CARP at the time. I will be buying the 3rd edition.

      [1] Go request your library buy a copy. The project could always use the dough. Even if you are buying your own.

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (69.70.33.181) on

        That's a great idea! I didn't even think of that...

  2. By Anonymous Coward (207.58.193.48) on

    to anyone that has read the first or second editions ... are these books geared towards those who are new to designing and implementing a firewall? or are there some serious technical discussions regarding <insert firewall topic here>?

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward (69.200.82.9) on

      The book moves from the very basics, including how to install the operating system, hardware requirements, and basic firewall operations to the more advanced operations that pf is capable of. Sort of a full featured journey. It's well written- if you're into the dead-tree thing it's a great alternative to the pf faq.

  3. By Shabani (65.94.27.80) on

    Publishing three editions of the same book in three years is quite unusual. This isn't a FAQ that gets updated on a regular basis. Why not wait a few years between each edition ?

    Comments

    1. By jona/BSD (217.148.68.113) on

      A portion of the price goes to assist OpenBSD...

    2. By Marcos Carvalho Latas (81.193.133.78) on

      You have a most unusual concern... Everyone wants frequently updated editions (specially in the case of a good book on a subject matter that is always changing). The more the better. Not to mention that it helps funding the project.

    3. By Anonymous Coward (67.121.51.10) on

      you're kidding right?

      Comments

      1. By Anonymous Coward (211.30.156.113) on

        Think about it...The dynamic nature of open-source projects are going faster than the books published for them. By the time you put a book to print, the software you wrote for is one version out of date, possibly two if it takes too long to get to the bookstore shelves. Although maybe it would be better to print say, 1st Edition, and provide Errata chapters to keep up with the changes of an OS. After say, 3yrs, bring in a 2nd Edition. (updates will stop on first edition, and updates for the 2nd edition comes, and so on for third, forth, fifth, etc). So...Maybe like this? 1st Edition. 1st Edition updates via web for 3 yrs 2nd Edition. (1st Edition with all updates + new stuff) 2nd Edition updates via web for 3 yrs 3rd Edition. (2nd Edition with all updates + new stuff) And so on...

        Comments

        1. By Anonymous Coward (211.30.156.113) on

          Sorry, screwed up...

          1st Edition.
          1st Edition updates via web for 3 yrs
          2nd Edition. (1st Edition with all updates + new stuff)
          2nd Edition updates via web for 3 yrs
          3rd Edition. (2nd Edition with all updates + new stuff)
          And so on...

          Comments

          1. By Wim (80.236.112.250) wim@kd85.com on

            I think 3 years is a long period in OpenBSD country, that would cover 6 releases. Too much things change in that time.

          2. By Anonymous Coward (64.110.219.155) on

            A better way would be to have a new edition come out with each new release of the software, and print it with an on-demand printing method. A book like this would be perfect because the comtent changes often but the intended audience is rather small. I think that a lot of technical reference books, especially ones that reference quickly changing products will eventually be like this.

            Comments

            1. By Anonymous Coward (217.232.123.101) on

              you mean printing out man pages?

    4. By Anonymous Coward (203.201.96.141) on

      Publishing three editions of the same book in three years is quite unusual.

      It's keeping up with an item of evolving software and the book itself is evolving. I bought the 1st edition, wished I had bought the 2nd and will be buying the 3rd and probably many more as it continues to cover the best damn Packet Filter around.

      If it actually is being updated each year, then it is coming out every second release of OpenBSD. I am okay with that. It makes sense to me. A lot can happen in a 6 month release, let alone a year.

      If it were released every 6 months as a PDF on a subscription basis, I'd probably be all for that too. Even for just new ideas that contributors add to it.

      Hey! How about "PF Magazine"! Which could include coverage of new features and cool ways to use them. Replacement strategies for other firewalls, reader questions and answers, etc etc.

  4. By Anonymous Coward (66.181.79.36) on

    Idiots.

  5. By Peter Vos (212.190.80.114) peter-vos-AT-dns-be on

    I bought the version that applied to OpenBSD 3.4 around the same time 3.5 was released. At that time the website said new material would soon
    be put online (for free) for version 3.5. Unfortunately I must have missed this, or it never appeared...the book was still ok though.

  6. By Anonymous Coward (205.201.29.47) on

    I think you should put this pdf for free on the OpenBSD CD, that would be nice, why? 1) it would pay back the openbsd team for their efforts, 2) it would make some more sales.

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward (81.209.110.33) on

      good idea, but only thing is, I prefer reading paper books more and what i have heard so many other people too, and it fits nicely in the bookshelf..

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