Books

I just noticed this... and I haven't read it... yet... but yeah, look... a trailer... for a... book. Enjoy!

For anyone with iframe issues, here's the direct Youtube link. Want more? How about the unlisted making of video?

H&B #2I got an email from Jeremiah Gray announcing a new issue (#2) of Hackett and Bankwell, the educational comicbook about Linux and Free and Open Source Software from Intarcorp Ltd. Issue #2 is currently only available in electronic format (PDF) and they have decided to release it under a Creative Commons license. Thank you!

Intarcorp Ltd.You may recall that I bought the print version of Hackett and Bankwell last year at Linuxfest Northwest 2008 and mentioned it in my LFNW 2008 Report. I'm a comicbook collector from way back but I don't have much of a collection to speak of these days.

It turns out they have done some updates to the original issue #1 and also released it in electronic format (PDF) but are calling it #1.1 because of the updates. If you haven't checked this comicbook out, do so. Pass it along to younger readers too... it is for all ages. I can't say enough good things about Hackett and Bankwell... and will definitely be dropping by their booth at Linuxfest Northwest 2009 to say hello.

H&B #1.1Almost forgot to mention... a couple of months ago they were kind enough to mail us (the BozemanLUG) 10 issues of #1 to give away to LUG members. They are very interested in getting feedback from readers so they can improve the comicbook with each issue. They are really stressing the educational approach. Please download issues #1 and #2 (you can find the PDFs as attachments to this post), share them with everyone, and give them some constructive feedback if you are so inclined.

You are also encouraged to buy a copy of the print version of #1 or make a donation to help them produce future issues.

In March of 2005 Dr. Peter H. Salus started writing a book which he posted a chapter at a time on Groklaw. You may recall that Groklaw is a website that sprang into prominence after SCO filed suite against IBM. Part of Groklaw's goals were to analyse and report on the case and to help gather up historical information about the development of Unix and Linux (and everything related) such that it could be used to dispute the claims of SCO.

It appears that the SCO vs. Novell case has come to an end today.

Getting back to Dr. Salus' book, it is entitled, The Daemon, the GNU, and the Penguin: A History of Free and Open Source. A while ago I discovered the book on Groklaw and since it is licensed under a Creative Commons Atrribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License I gathered up the web pages and assembled them into a nice printable format (PDF) which you can find as an attachment to this blog entry.

Some years ago I purchased Dr. Salus' A Quarter Century of UNIX and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately I loaned it out to a student at Rocky Mountain College who was doing a report and don't think I ever got it back. Oh well, there are plenty of used copies for sale.

Give The Daemon, the GNU, and the Penguin a read. It is worth your time.

A few months ago I was listening to a pod cast that was covering some books. I was hearing good things about this book. Personally, I have never been a big fan of a "tech thriller", it always seems that the tech that is in these type of books are (a) impossible or (b) poorly explained. Not really so in this book. The tech could happen, and the stuff that seems a bit over the top are quickly explained out in layman's terms not to lose the average reader.

To quote the Authors site about this book....