How To Run A Successful Free Software Project - Producing Open Source Software Review

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How To Run A Successful Free Software Project - Producing Open Source Software ReviewThis SoHo Books version has absolutely abhorrent typesetting decisions with headings that are out of order as well as text fonts that are far too small which makes the book almost unreadable. Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project is the original version and whilst I don't have a copy, if you're going to get a copy of this book, I would recommend it over this horribly typeset and put together version.How To Run A Successful Free Software Project - Producing Open Source Software Overview

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Linux Toys II: 9 Cool New Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment (ExtremeTech) Review

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Linux Toys II: 9 Cool New Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment (ExtremeTech) ReviewChris Negus is an excellent writer and one of the most knowledgeable Linux people to be found. He wrote "Linux Toys" in 2003 and he is the first to admit that it is now completely outmoded. "Linux Toys II" was published in 2005 and in only four years, it is showing its age. A testament to the rapidly evolving Linux and electronics worlds to be sure, but something of a disappointment to anyone hoping to expand their knowledge of Linux through the creation of practical projects.
The projects didn't require any great smarts to begin with: all the software needed was provided on the DV bound with the book.
Additional hardware was required for some of the projects and it is a pleasant surprise to how the prices of components have declined. For example, "Creating a Personal Video Recorder with Myth TV" was projected to cost $943. Today with a much more powerful CPU and bigger hard drives, the project would cost substantially less. But the reality is that MythTV is a far less appealing project today than it was yesterday because DVRs have become so commonplace. Also, the MythTV software has changed considerably.
The "Customizing A Live Linux Pen Drive" project was reasonably applicable in 2005. Today, directions for doing this project are everywhere and the process itself has become simplified as more publishers have adapted their software to flash drive.
Other projects such as setting up an Internet Radio Station and controlling X10 devices would have little appeal to most people.
Like I said, Chris Negus is an excellent writer, so there is something that can be learned from this book currently - but there is nothing here that can't be found in other books or on the web. I bought a used copy for a few dollars on Amazon, so I don't feel like I've wasted money. Still, having breezed through the book once, I don't think I'll be reading it again.
Jerry
Linux Toys II: 9 Cool New Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment (ExtremeTech) Overview

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Fedora Linux Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for Fedora, CentOS and Red Hat Power Users Review

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Fedora Linux Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for Fedora, CentOS and Red Hat Power Users ReviewHey folks... I've been an RHCE since 2000, training RHCEs since 2003, and "doing Linux" since 1996.
What I like:
The three big things that I like about Linux Toolbox are:
1) It concisely shows you how to use the Linux command line to solve many of the most common personal and administrative tasks.
2) It uses the proven "learn by doing" method to show the reader how to just "get stuff done" from the Linux command line.
3) What really sets this book apart from other "next level" type books is its well thought layout and how they organized the content in a quickly accessible way. Negus & Caen split the content out by Shell stuff, Working w/Files, Text Manipulation, Multimedia, Administration, Backups, Networking, etc.. . Well thought out and quickly useful as an on-hand reference.
So who should buy this book?
I see it being a "best fit" for two groups of people:
1) Technical users and admins who want to become more competent on the command line and be able to do ten times more work thought automation (scripting).
2) Windows power users who want to become more savvy on the Linux side (Linux power user wannabes). Especially those who need to get Linux CLI/shell proficient quickly (such as Windows sys-admins who have had Linux forced on them)
Old Timers Too:
The cool thing is that even if you've been using Linux for years (as I have), there are still useful "Oooo.. cool!" moments peppered throughout the book. Do you know how to properly (and quickly) get the most out of classic power tools like find, sed, awk, case, and tr? Are you armed with experience in all the newer uber tools such as screen, dmidecode, growisofs? Do you know how to do software RAID from the command line (mdadm) or know how to build & control LVM via its command line tools? If you answered "no" to any of these.. you should check check out Linux Toolbox.
Negus and Caen have a winner here. Good job guys.
TweeksFedora Linux Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for Fedora, CentOS and Red Hat Power Users Overview

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Using CiviCRM Review

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Using CiviCRM ReviewIn a nutshell: this is the book I really wish I'd had when we'd first set up our CiviCRM system. It would have saved us a huge amount of time that was wasted by going down paths that we'd later had to backtrack on. But, even better, although we've now been actively using CiviCRM for a few years, I still learned an enormous amount about this complex system by reading through _Using CiviCRM_; this book will _still_ save us a huge amount of time, but now I can appreciate it better!
CiviCRM has its own online documentation, but that document, typical of open-source software documentation, is choppy, not always clear, and often seems written for someone who is already intimately familiar with the system. This book, on the other hand, is solid, comprehensive, and without "talking down" to the reader, pitches its explanations at those with not much familiarity. (That was certainly needed for me.)
Many technical books about software fall into one of two bins of narrowness of approach: either they focus on technical minutiae without creating an overall worldview to fit those details into. Or they focus on a small number of test scenarios with limited overlap to other usages. _Using CiviCRM_ seems to strike the right balance, with plenty of technical detail and test scenarios to be sure, but throughout there is an emphasis on a high-level understanding of the general capabilities of the system and how it can be mapped to many different organizational needs.
In a way, this book is not just a primer on CiviCRM itself; it is also a pretty good discussion of how to manage constituent relations for any nonprofit organization--and then, how CiviCRM can be incorporated into that management plan.
One of the hardest jobs for a user setting up a CiviCRM system is figuring out how to map the organization's use cases to the software. CiviCRM is a complex system with many dependencies among its components: decisions you make early on can have far-ranging impacts in unforeseen ways down the road. The best strategy for minimizing future surprises is to understand as thoroughly as possible the "CiviCRM Way" of doing things; and the best way to do that would be, in my opinion, to read this book from cover to cover before doing anything else.Using CiviCRM Overview

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Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project Review

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Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project ReviewSeems like everyone wants to have a open source project these days. But it's not as easy to run a successful project as you might think. In order to get started on the right foot and increase your chance of success, I would recommend reading Karl Fogel's Producing Open Source Software - How To Run A Successful Free Software Project.
Contents: Introduction; Getting Started; Technical Infrastructure; Social and Political Infrastructure; Money; Communications; Packaging, Releasing, and Daily Development; Managing Volunteers; Licenses, Copyrights, and Patents; Free Version Control Systems; Free Bug Trackers; Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is?; Example Instructions for Reporting Bugs; Index
Fogel definitely has the "cred" to write this book. He's spent five years working on the Subversion open source version control system. While not (yet?) the default open source version control system out there, it's rapidly gaining traction. As a result, you figure that Fogel and company must have done a few things right along the way. He does a very nice job in explaining what makes for a successful open source project in terms of tools, structure, and most importantly, culture. He identifies open source projects that have successfully created a culture that encourages participation without dictatorial control. He even addresses how to deal with people issues like monopolizing discussion boards. Those are items that most techies aren't good at, and having a guide like this is priceless.
At times the book seems to be rather dense, as in a lot of text with little to break it up. I think it's because there's no real use of graphics or code samples to a large degree. I wouldn't expect it in a book like this, either. But still, it's just one of those things that came to mind as I was reading it. If you have the same nagging feeling and can quickly identify it, then it's easy to deal with the problem.
Very valuable information, all condensed into a single volume for easy reference. I'd maintain that anyone looking to start an open source project with hopes of long-term viability would do well to read and digest this book before starting. You'll make fewer false starts and raise your chances of success...Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project Overview

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The Art of Community: Building the New Age of Participation (Theory in Practice) Review

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The Art of Community: Building the New Age of Participation (Theory in Practice) ReviewJono Bacon's book makes a very interesting reading despite the misleading title.
I manage a few online communities and I was interested in learning from an experienced professional (Jono) how to improve my communities and my management style. The title of the book, as well many of the reviews I read were very positive. Only after reading a few dozen pages I recognized that this was not the book I was expecting. "The Art of community" is not about all online communities, it's only about online communities for open-source software. Great topic if your community is about developing some piece of software in an open-source context, but not very useful if your community is a group of people sharing a common interest but not working together toward a common goal. Jono tries to generalize his experience for a wider audience presenting a few non-open-source cases and examples.
But it's evident he has neither experience to support such generalization nor a real interest in adventuring outside the familiar open-source territory. If your community is an open-source community, get the book and religiously read every single word of it. If your community is about cars, movies, commercial software, or something else save your time and your money.The Art of Community: Building the New Age of Participation (Theory in Practice) Overview

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