Hi, Don't forget that some people are not developers but are ready to write documentation (in my native langage for me ;) ).
Open Source is not only for developers, but for everyone who want to share his works (software, documentation, ideas, etc.). [my life]That's why I am working on OSGeo-fr, translating news about soft release, translating documentation (GDAL-Og, ImageMagick) into French, writing documentation about OpenLayers or OGC standards, etc. [/my life] And I am not alone :) They/we just don't talk so much on mailing list (it's bad I know :D ). Best regards, Y. Le Monday 05 May 2008 17:13:01 Landon Blake, vous avez écrit : > Bruno, > > You are the exception! > > I am familiar with your book, as I bought a copy about 4 months back. > iText is a great open source library! Please accept my commendation of > your work. > > Having said that, I don't know that there are many of us that would have > time to write a book on our favorite FOSS program. This is a great task > that you have accomplished! > > Landon > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bruno Lowagie > Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 8:04 AM > To: OSGeo Discussions > Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Your open source career > > Landon Blake wrote: > > The lack of good user documentation is a weakness of many open source > > projects. The problem is that most of us like to code, but few of us > > like to write! > > Speak for yourself! ;-) Am I the exception to the rule? *LOL* > > Please don't regard the following as shameless promo. I just want > to share a very interesting experience with future F/OSS writers. > > I'm an Open Source developer ( http://www.lowagie.com/iText/ ) > but I also like to write. In 2004, I took some time off from > my day job to write a free online tutorial for iText because > the lack of proper documentation was a problem that had to be > addressed (you're right about that, Landon). > > Once the first pages of the free tutorial were online, I immediately > received an offer to write a book about iText, first from O'Reilly, > later on also from Manning. After long consideration, I decided to > try writing a book for Manning Publications Co. because they have > the reputation that they are very demanding. > > You may think I'm a masochist, but I thought that would be the > best guarantee to write a good book. And it was! I talked with > some authors who claimed that writing their first book for > Manning was a good choice. In hindsight, I agree, although I > might choose for O'Reilly next time ;-) > > I spent 3 months writing the book proposal (full TOC included). > 6 months writing the manuscript. After these 9 months of hard > labor, another 9 months were needed to get the book ready for > production (copy editing, proof reading, making the index,...). > > The result is: http://www.1t3xt.com/docs/book.php > > Want to know how much I earned? No problem! Have a look at > my Quarterly overviews here: > http://www.lowagie.com/maand.php?year=2008&month=4#806 > The revenue listed is limited to the Royalties. You don't > get rich from writing a book, but I also have indirect revenue > from sales (when people buy the book after clicking a link on > my site). I get 10% Royalties and if you study the Quarterly > Overviews, you'll see that the sum I get for each book varies > depending on many factors (time, location,...). > I get between 5% (Amazon) and 15% (Manning) for selling the > book using a link on my site. > > But it's not only about the money: the product has gotten > much more attention and it has really boomed! Having a book > is (almost) a guarantee for success for every F/OSS project. > > If you are planning to write a book, and you want an introduction > at Manning Publications; or if you just want to talk about starting > such a venture, let me know, and we'll chat. > > I know plenty of people who dream of writing a book, how I would > like to persuade them that they should just start writing. > I like to quote Henry David Thoreau: "If you have built castles in > the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. > Now put the foundations under them." > > best regards (and please pardon my enthousiasm), > Bruno Lowagie > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss > > > Warning: > Information provided via electronic media is not guaranteed against defects > including translation and transmission errors. If the reader is not the > intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, > distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If > you have received this information in error, please notify the sender > immediately. _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss -- Yves Jacolin --- http://softlibre.gloobe.org _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
