The OpenBSD Gazetteer

Contributed by jose on 2003-03-12 from the new-book dept.

"I can finally answer some of the questions you've been asking me for the last 12 months. Yes, I am writing a book about OpenBSD. It is titled The OpenBSD Gazetteer . The first edition will be available soon after the official release of OpenBSD 3.3, and I have plans for a new edition after every new release of OpenBSD. I will donate $1 for each copy sold to the OpenBSD project.
If you want to know more, bookmark this page ."

Woot! This makes at least two OpenBSD books coming out in the near future!

(Comments are closed)

Comments

By Benjamin Teugels () on 2003-03-12 16:57

Isn't a new release every 6 months (of the book) a bit overkill? It's not like every 6 months there are earth shaking new things to mention (but yes, sometimes you can)..

What you could do also is sell the OpenBSD CD set with the book and donate the money you get from selling the CD's to the OpenBSD project. Doing it that way, you can go on every 6 months.
Comments
1. By Jacek Artymaik () on 2003-03-12 16:59
2. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 17:03
  
  It will depend on the number of changes made to OpenBSD between consecutive releases of course.
  As for selling CDs, I leave it to the OpenBSD Project. They can handle it much better than I can.
3. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 17:12
  
  I agree.
  One book per release is a bit overkill. One book every 1-1,5 year (2-3 releases) would be a better number, I guess. Of course it depends on how big the changes in OpenBSD are.
4. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 17:28
  
  Every six months would be fine, if the upgrade process wasn't so painful.
  Comments
  1. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 17:32 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
    
    upgrade process
    Did you mean the process of upgrading the software or the process of upgrading the book contents?
    
    Comments
    
    By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 02:28
    
    Upgrading OpenBSD... or should I say reinstalling.
    
    Great idea about the book by the way, best of luck.
5. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 17:30
  
  I think the same argument could be made for releases. Probably most would buy a book every other release, since there would not be so many changes. But if you really wanted to latest you could get the book each time.
  
  The problem is in the business model. Print enough books to get a good quantity discount and you may eat your profits in unsold, out-of-date books. Print on order and you don't make very much. I wish him well, and if he keeps it up long enough to get a reasonable prediction of how big the market is, it would be great.
  Comments
  1. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 17:33 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
    
    Thanks!
    (Yes, I worked on the numbers ...)
6. By Sam Wilson () on 2003-03-12 18:23
  
  I think you're on to something with this... I think rather than a book, a printed "pamphelet" or thick, magazine or journal-type work would be much better. Especially if it included documents from some of the developers. Like an overview of PF internals, Pro-Police, etc.
  
  I also agree that it would be great if it were packaged with the CD.
  Comments
  1. By Shane () on 2003-03-12 21:08
    
    I agree. A book seems like it's overkill, but maybe I'm just not thinking of everything that will be included.
    
    Bundling a CD is a great idea though. I'd be much more inclined to buy the book/magazine/journal if it came with a CD. If I could get a CD with a collection of writing about that particular release, I'd probably buy a copy for each release.
  2. By coldfire () rolick571@duq.edu on 2003-03-12 23:37 mailto:rolick571@duq.edu
    
    i'd like to second that suggestiong ... a "pamphelet" or something would be much more desirable than, say, a hardcover book ...
By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 17:14

Maybe he could sell a printed, typset quality, bound version of the man pages. I for one would buy a copy. I could print it my self, if I knew how.
Comments
1. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 17:20 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
  
  man -t troff > troff.man.ps
  Your OpenBSD box is a pretty powerful typesetter ...
  Comments
  1. By Paul () ppruett@webengr.com on 2003-03-12 18:30 http://cocoavillage.us/
    
    If you can make a pdf that views properly from
    adobe acrobat, Office Depot print center and others can print and spiral bind from floppy/cdrom
    
    Comments
    
    By Chris Hedemark () chris@yonderway.com on 2003-03-12 19:26 mailto:chris@yonderway.com
    
    Oh, but you can. Oh, but you will.
  2. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 21:43
    
    # man -t troff > troff.man.ps
    man: illegal option -- t
    usage: man [-achw] [-C file] [-M path] [-m path] [-s section] [-S subsection] [section] title ...
    usage: man -k keyword
    usage: man -f command
  3. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 22:00
    
    Actually the command listed in the FAQ 2.3 is
    
    groff -mdoc -Tps [man_src_file] > outfile.ps
    
    but it doesn't go far enough. What if you want to print a book the size of the Oreilly books, not A4 or 8.5 x 11 paper? What if you want page numbers, and an index? "Well go learn {n,g,t}roff" Well, I don't want to. I _use_ OpenBSD to manage my network, I don't dabble in esoteric printing.
    
    So Jacek, tell what you will print, and what it would cost for a man pages book for each type of binding and you will be flooded with orders. Of course, shipping charges may kill the concept....
    
    --
    
    Comments
    
    By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 22:42 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
    
    Yes, for these seemingly simple changes you need to know troff, and you don't want to learn it, I assure you.
    I'll do a test this week and see what numbers I can come up with. If it all adds up, I'll let you know via the OpenBSD Journal.
    
    Comments
    
    By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 04:13
    
    yes, YES! ;)
    
    By nuintari () on 2003-03-12 23:27
    
    I got bored watching the simpsons, this should be good to print, assuming you know groff right, cause I sure don't. It looks printable to me, your welcome to try them. I'll print em on the university's nickel after spring break is over, unless I screwed something up.
    
    http://nuintari.net/download/manpages-obsd-3.2.tar.gz
    
    --Nui
2. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 17:29 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
  
  OK. I can do something like that, provided I don't get into copyright trouble. What type of binding would you preffer, glued (paperback), thermobinding (stronger glued spine), metal spiral (does not close itself when you place it on a desktop), or hardcover?
  Comments
  1. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 20:24
    
    i'd prefer metal spiral and i'd even buy me one of those as soon as it comes out. might be very handy
    :)
  2. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 03:27
    
    metal spiral would be nice. i long time ago i bought a book of manpages that redhat published, it was bound with a thick spine and had very thin pages. since the pages were so small and the spine was so thick, the book was hard to read normally, let alone sitting by itself on a desktop.
    
    definetly something that can sit open on a desktop for reference.
  3. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 04:15
    
    "metal spiral (does not close itself when you place it on a desktop)"
    
    :)
3. By hubertf () hubertf@netbsd.org on 2003-03-13 03:41 mailto:hubertf@netbsd.org
  
  I did something like this some time ago for NetBSD, and it was several thousand pages IIRC. Dunno if you want to cut down that many trees. :-)
  
  - Hubert
  Comments
  1. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 04:16
    
    "several thousand pages" ?
    
    ew...
4. By Jacek Artymiak () openbsd-gazetteer-ed-01@devguide.net on 2003-03-14 12:06 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
  
  OK, I did some rough estimates for printing OpenBSD man pages. The numbers are a little frightening ...
  The whole documentation set would take approx. 6000 (six thousand) pages @ 8.5 x 11 in. It would be even longer @ 7 x 9 in. The costs of the whole set, including shipping (US) would be around 400 USD for the 8.5 x 11 format or 600 USD for the 7 x 9 format. Ouch! Now we know why the OpenBSD team does not sell them in print form ...
  OK. Who wants one (email me)?
  Comments
  1. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-14 05:01
    
    Ouch is rght! But the beauty of onlne man pages is the abilty to get what you want. Maybe it would work to get a 1000 page book that covered the top 200 man page topics. I looked, and realized that I didn't want to read every topic, because for instance, I don't have every different type of NIC. Some programming topics don't interest some types of users.
    
    It is too bad it costs that much, I remember the Wall of Binders for the VAX documentation. You would never use them for more than reference.
    
    Comments
    
    By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-14 10:20
    
    If I do offer OpenBSD manuals in printed format, I will split them into separate volumes. That will make them less expensive.
    Binders... there's an idea...
By earxtacy () on 2003-03-12 17:39

i would buy it for sure
By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 17:58

That's one more to add to my wishlist :)
By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 18:17

Jacek since you're here :)

Want to describe to us what we can get in this book that isn't freely available (perhaps with a little hunting) on the net?

Convince me and I'll be your first customer.
Comments
1. By Srebrenko Sehic () haver@insecure.dk on 2003-03-12 18:24 http://www.insecure.dk
  
  If that was the case, nobody whould ever buy any techincal books.
  
  Sure, you can find a lot of info online, but a book is always nice to have.
  Comments
  1. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 18:34
    
    I understand. Back when I was using FreeBSD I bought the FreeBSD handbook, not only because I had a lot of information under my fingertips, but because it had printed versions of almost all the man pages in the appendix.
    
    I was referring to insights, tips and tricks, code, unix hacks, etc that might not be as readily available online (or as easily found).
By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 18:26

Woot! This makes at least two OpenBSD books coming out in the near future!
What's the other one?
Comments
1. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 18:35 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
  
  Michael Lucas is writing another one.
2. By Michael Lucas () mwlucas at black helicopters dot org on 2003-03-12 19:14 mailto:mwlucas at black helicopters dot org
  
  My Absolute OpenBSD. You can get status at www.blackhelicopters.org/~mwlucas/openbsd.html.
  
  It's in typesetting right now, should be out just around 3.3.
  
  May the best book win. :-)
  Comments
  1. By Chris Hedemark () chris@yonderway.com on 2003-03-12 19:31 mailto:chris@yonderway.com
    
    If they are both priced reasonably, both contain decent content and are both available at the local Barnes & Noble (I no longer buy stuff online) then I'll be picking up both.
    
    Comments
    
    By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 20:18
    
    That's a good question...is either going to be available in commercial bookstores?
    
    Comments
    
    By Michael Lucas () mwlucas at black helicopters dot org on 2003-03-15 00:35 www.blackhelicopters.org/~mwlucas/openbsd.html
    
    Mine will certainly be available in bookstores, just like my previous "Absolute BSD".
    
    I certainly hope that Jacek's book will be in stores!
    
    By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-14 17:05 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
    
    Mine will be self-published and will not be available in bookstores. I will sell it directly on the Internet.
    If some some enterprising distributor/bookstore/user group wants to deal with bookstores, returns, and all that "fun", they are welcome to get in touch with me about volume discounts, but I have no plans to do it myself.
  2. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 22:28
    
    i already asked in my (tiny) local bookstore for your Absolute OpenBSD book. might have been way to impatient. but i cant wait to get one of both books. or both even....
    anyway, good luck with your book as well :-]
  3. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 04:18
    
    "May the best book win. :-)"
    
    shiet, I'm getting both.
By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 18:39

This isn't really pertinent, but always useful:

Can we get some more people to vote on the mozilla/openbsd bug here:
http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=124958

There are only 40 votes at present, which is pretty sad. You *do* have to register to vote, but it takes about 20 seconds, and the more votes we get the greater the chances of getting some support from the Mozilla coders.
Comments
1. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 19:06
  
  If you are interested in using mozilla under OpenBSD , now is the time to vote for it. With OpenBSD i386 moving to ELF in the near future mozilla won't work anymore.
2. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 04:27
By Michael Anuzis () on 2003-03-12 19:22

I like the design, for whoever made the README icon for deadly.org. It's funny it says "% man faq" ahahahahaha! Maybe I'm the only one that gets a kick out of it.. Hmm.
By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 19:23 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/

I got an early warning of an upcoming Slashdot flood (Thank Brian ...)
If you can't reach the original, the mirror is here .
Comments
1. By John () on 2003-03-12 20:36
  
  The whole site (devguide.net) looks like a joke.
  
  Even there is no information about publisher...
  Comments
  1. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 20:39
    
    Would you like me to spend time making the site beautiful instead of writing the book?
    
    Comments
    
    By John () on 2003-03-12 21:17
    
    The point is: "there is no information about publisher"
    
    Comments
    
    By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 21:19 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
    
    I am the publisher.
  2. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 04:31
    
    "The whole site (devguide.net) looks like a joke."
    
    Jacek Artymiak, the page is PERFECT.
  3. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 04:31
    
    "The whole site (devguide.net) looks like a joke."
    
    Jacek Artymiak, the page is PERFECT.
By Chris () on 2003-03-12 20:30

Will there be detailed VPN info such as creating IPSEC tunnels and connecting, say a remotely connecting a laptop to an openbsd VPN?
Comments
1. By <font color="#336666"><b>I second the request<nt></nt></b><br>b () on 2003-03-12 21:01
2. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 21:39
  
  man 8 vpn
  http://www.vpnc.org/ietf-ipsec/00.ipsec/msg01639.html
By Peter () on 2003-03-12 21:32 pbw.us

From looking at the table of contents it looks like this is going to be a great book. I will be sure to purchase it when it comes out.
By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 21:59

who's the intended audience? beginners, experts, sysadmins?

Will you relate some historical facts, like NetBSD/OpenBSD, BSD 4.4, SystemV/BSD and licensing issues?

Will it be shipped with OpenBSD 3.3?
Comments
1. By Anonymous Protester () root@127.0.0.1 on 2003-03-12 22:14 mailto:root@127.0.0.1
  
  OpenBSD's only audience is the elite. If you ain't leet, you ain't gonna be able to use it. OpenBSD is user-hostile (which is a plus if you know whats going on). By association, the book must also be aimed at the elite.
  Comments
  1. By Another Curious () on 2003-03-12 22:25
    
    Please tell which is the worst part ???
  2. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 22:34
    
    When I think that OpenBSD is used by fags like you, I feel like moving to NetBSD.
  3. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 02:00
    
    > OpenBSD's only audience is the elite.
    
    Clearly so, since only morons troll.
2. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-12 22:27 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
  
  Audience: users new to OpenBSD, but not new to Unix.
  History: yes.
  Shipping with OpenBSD 3.3: no, I don't want to take money away from the OpenBSD project.
By Anonymous Protester () root@127.0.0.1 on 2003-03-12 22:10 mailto:root@127.0.0.1

The author justifies his use of "gazetteer" by using the definition found on dictionary.com, but if you look it up on merriam-websters' site[www.m-w.com], you get "archaic" as a definition... which is bad. Besides that, how many people know what gazetteer means off the top of their head anyway? I suggest a more lucrative title such as "OpenBSD uber-book" or something of equally unbelievable coolness ;-) Yes, the title simply must go!
Comments
1. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 22:23
  
  True, it seems like a poor choice for an OpenBSD book title.
2. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 23:46
  
  Puh-lease, at least it doesn't have Linux in the title. You'll note, that currently the only published book which has OpenBSD in the title, also shares itself with Linux, and half the reading is basically an argument for why OpenBSD is really a great solution for firewalls, which the people who bought the book since it mentioned OpenBSD in the title already knew.
3. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 04:36
  
  not according to http://www.dict.org
By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-12 22:43

Are you gonna include some stuff like:

How to develop an OpenBSD Kernel Module.

How to move from Solaris/Digital Unix/Data General Unix/AIX/ to OpenBSD?

How to 'secure' your OS to raise it to a CMW environment (Compartimented mode workstation/B1)?

also,

Will it be available in pdf/ps?
Comments
1. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 10:47
  
  >Module?
  Example (nonworking) LKM skeletons are in base system
  >Move?
  Who knows, some apps move without problem some never will
By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 04:07

Hell, I would buy it if it was stapled copies of the original work.

maybe after having the book out for 3 OpenBSD releases, giving "The OpenBSD Gazetteer" the ability to mature and collect some errata(the goodies that don't change), would justify printing what looks to be a "Book".

I beg, do not let costs keep you from disseminating information for long periods of time. that is not to mean, publish no matter the costs; it means publish the work, regardless of what it looks like as long as the ink stays on the pages, and the paper does not fall apart in months time. :) pretty colors and pictures can be left out. black and white does the job just fine and keeps my concentration at its peek.

the ability to purchase a digital copy at reduced cost, enabling the same amount of profit, or more, would be ideal. given that I'm allowed to make copies for myself at the local copy place. :)

ACTUALLY, never mind the "digital copy" idea, I can not see "stapled copies" being less profitable than digital copies.
By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 08:03

Will the book be distributed free of charge for use by anybody for any purpose ? If not it rather contradicts the OpenBSD project don't you think ?
Comments
1. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-13 10:53 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/
  
  No.
  No, it doesn't contradict the OpenBSD project.
  I will write for free if you will you pay my bills. How's that?
  Comments
  1. By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-13 23:09
    
    So, I got a great idea, let's do it according to the openbsd project concept, make the pdf/ps freely accessibly, just like theo makes the tarballs freely accessible (including CVS), and sell only the support, or is it just a way to make money? If so, that's a shame. We'll know if you follow my advices or you're just trying to make any profit.
    
    Comments
    
    By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-14 12:18
    
    I have an even better idea. You write your book and distribute it as you wish, and I will distribute mine as I wish. How's that for a fair deal?
    
    By Anonymous Coward () on 2003-03-14 15:01
    
    Unlike the GPL to the GNUtistas, the BSD License
    is not a religion that dictates our every
    economic and social decision.
    
    Theo only sells support for OpenBSD? I wonder
    what those CDs are @
    http://www.openbsd.org/orders.html ?
    Maybe you should buy the book, seeing as its
    obvious you've never thought to buy the CD.
    
    btw, whats wrong with making money, especially
    after investing the effort Jacek has put into
    it?
By BlaJo () on 2003-03-16 16:42

Way QL.

You allready have some estimates about price?
How will we be able tu pay you?

Best wishes with bookproject!

br
BlaJo
Comments
1. By Jacek Artymiak () on 2003-03-20 07:18 http://www.devguide.net/books/openbsdgazetteer/ind
  
  No estimates yet.
  
  You will be able to pay on-line.

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