Hi Jon.
>> What really worries me is that a decent book of 100-200 pages on
>> using Linux for ham radio would tend to be too short, and a
>> proper treatment would take at least six months to write -- by
>> which time it would be largely out of date.
> First, please understand that I don't make the final call on
> what will/will not be published by ARRL. I do have some
> influence in the decision-making process. That said... I'm not
> saying a larger book is out of question. I'm only saying a small
> book is a no-brainer; the risk is small because the cost is
> small.
> Your "largely out of date" comment, along with the size of book
> you are anticipating, makes me wonder just what you expect to be
> in the book? I wasn't imagining something that would be the
> complete documentation to all of the ham-related applications --
> that's what man pages and other on-line documentation files are
> for.
> I was envisioning something that would guide the reader in
> finding out what kinds of things are available for hams under
> Linux, some quick-start "how to" information for the kernel
> (AX25) stuff and the more popular applications, and some
> pointers to how to stay current.
What I would like to see would be a book that fits the following basic
outline, with a rough guide to the sizes I would expect the various
sections to be, assuming A5 pages:
Section 1: An introduction to making use of computers for Ham
Radio use, aimed at the ham with little knowledge
of using computers in a Ham Radio setting. This
would cover the details the user is assumed to
know in the rest of the book, and would be quite
thoroughly indexed.
Introduction: 30-40 pages.
Index: 2-5 pages.
Section 2: An introduction to the various aspects of the Ham
Radio hobby where computers can be of assistance.
This would include chapters on packet radio, DF,
satellite tracking and the like.
Section: 10-15 pages.
Section 3: An index to software available for the ham to help
with his or her hobby, grouped by category, and an
index to the same software listed alphabetically by
name, both stating where in section 4 each package
can be found.
Section: 10-15 pages.
Section 4: A catalogue of the available software, with a page
per package providing a description of the software
covered, together with details of where it can be
downloaded from (a non-version-specific URL), and
contact details for the author where available.
Section: 100+ pages.
How does that sound for an outline? I make it somewhere around 150-200
pages as the likely size based on the guesstimates given...
> Six months seems like an awfully short time for something like
> that to be "largely out of date."
Some URL's are out of date within a week of their coming into
existence, but I wouldn't see the book as a whole being out of date so
quickly...
> The next step, it seems to me, is to put together an outline of
> the book. Trying to determine a page count is pointless until
> you know what material you're going to cover.
How does the above look in this respect ???
>> The shorter the book, the more quickly it could be produced and
>> the more frequently it could be updated. It should certainly
>> come with a CD-ROM. The speed at which Linux evolves is going
>> to force some new ways of thinking about publishing.
> A CD-ROM is no problem. Heck, I'd be willing to publish the
> whole thing on CD-ROM -- that's dirt cheap and page-count isn't
> a significant issue. But it's my impression that what people on
> this list are talking about is a paper book, not just a CD.
Personally, I find that books only available on CD are a nuisance, as
the time when they're most needed is when one's CD drive is already
occupied by something else, and I can't see any CD accompanying a book
keeping up with software development, so I don't see this as an issue.
Best wishes from Riley.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| There is something frustrating about the quality and speed of Linux |
| development, ie., the quality is too high and the speed is too high, |
| in other words, I can implement this XXXX feature, but I bet someone |
| else has already done so and is just about to release their patch. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
* ftp://ftp.MemAlpha.cx/pub/rhw/Linux
* http://www.MemAlpha.cx/kernel.versions.html
