Re: [PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January, 2008: php-general@lists.php.net
Andrés Robinet wrote: 3 - I don't like the attitude of both Dan and David. IMHO, David thinks the issue is more severe than it is, and Dan just won't recognize that mangling email addresses is kind of a (arguably also) standard practice. No public apologize is needed, but maybe Yeah, I just didn't consider that would be enough. Well said, Andrés. This has been blown out of all proportion by the sarcastic response I got from Dan, followed up by a group of his friends trying to make out the the problem was all of my own making. If the response had been, Shucks, sorry, I'll mangle the addresses (or leave them out) in future, that would have been an end of it. Instead, Dan and his friends decided that attack was the best form of defence, calling me names and questioning my integrity. But what if everyone's addresses had been gathered by someone with a less innocent intent than Dan's statistics? I consider this conversation closed. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January, 2008: php-general@lists.php.net
Stut wrote: You seem unable to accept that you are the one that put your email address out there for anyone to collect. If you can't understand that then there is indeed no point in continuing the conversation. I do understand it. What I object to is a supposedly responsible member of this list publishing everyone's address, and then attacking me for criticising him for such a dumb move. __ David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January, 2008:php-general@lists.php.net
Robert Cummings wrote: I understand what you are thinking, but the fact remains your address is already public for having posted to the list. It seems you are getting bent out of shape because you aren't grasping this fact. Dan hasn't done anything wrong nor does he owe any apologies or concessions. I am not naive enough to think that my email address would have remained secret if Dan hadn't published the list. Unfortunately, this is the only newsgroup out of more than 20 that I regularly monitor or contribute to that exposes individual addresses. I have tried posting in the past with a munged address, but the post was rejected. I took the risk of using an address that had been spam-free for years in the full knowledge of what might happen. I did so, because this seemed a professional list, and the address remained spam-free for about a year after my first post. It's only within the last couple of months that spam has started coming in. Whether it's this list that's been harvested, it's impossible to say. Of course, anyone with the appropriate coding skill can harvest addresses from this list, as Dan has shown. I just don't think it's sensible for a responsible member to hand the addresses of 100 members on a plate to all and sundry. As I've said before, if Dan's response had been, Sorry, that wasn't meant to happen, that would have been the end of it. And now this really must be the end of it. __ David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January,2008:php-general@lists.php.net
Børge Holen wrote: You really don't get it yet? You distributed it, I knew your email long before Dan did squat, didn't take any programming to acomplish that. Obviously, you don't get it either. It's now common practice to remove email addresses from public forums. Instead of justifying Dan's mistake (which he has acknowledged by agreeing to remove or obfuscate email addresses in future reports), why not consider whether privacy could be improved on the PHP list? A Google check on my email address shows that, with one exception, it has been released into the public domain solely through archives and mirrors of this list. The exception is a private group, whose administrator I have alerted to avoid the leaking of other people's addresses. Of course, I could set up a throwaway address; and I do have a pretty effective spam trap. But I still need to check them both. It's a waste of time. Spam is an upleasant fact of life, but if you consider yourselves competent professionals, you should be doing what you can to combat it. Dan's post didn't start the leak of addresses, but it should be regarded as a wakeup call to the way this list is configured and run. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
[PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January, 2008: php-general@lists.php.net
PostTrack [Dan Brown] wrote: Posting Summary for PHP-General List Thanks a bundle, Dan, for publicizing everyone's email address. All the addresses are in plain text, even on the news server web interface ready for spambots to harvest. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January, 2008: php-general@lists.php.net
Daniel Brown wrote: My pleasure, David but before you start sounding *completely* victimized and pointing the finger, you may want to think about the fact that your email address is already plain text on some of the archive sites --- including MARC. Just go to Google and type in your address five results with plain text email address posting (and much more when you visit each link). Yes, and it's obvious how that happens. It's because people, including yourself, don't have the courtesy to set up your email or newreader program to remove the sender's address from replies. However, if it's that big of a deal to you or anyone else, let me know and I'll have the script omit your address from the report. I'm still going to track the information, including each email address, but I'll remove the addresses of those who may otherwise have nothing to whine about. This isn't a whine. The reason the PHP lists require a genuine email address for posting is to cut back on spam. I managed to keep this address spam-free for many years. Not any longer. Your action has not helped. If you intend to store the email addresses of people using this mailing list, there should be a clear statement of privacy policy on the PHP site. If there is one, I couldn't find it. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January, 2008: php-general@lists.php.net
Daniel Brown wrote: On Jan 19, 2008 12:30 PM, David Powers wrote: Yes, and it's obvious how that happens. It's because people, including yourself, don't have the courtesy to set up your email or newreader program to remove the sender's address from replies. By removing the email address, it completely defeats the purpose of post tracking. That bit may have escaped you from the layout of the report. I wasn't referring to that, but to the thoughtless way that you and others automatically include the sender's email address in plain text every time you respond to a post. Surely it's not too much to ask that you set your mail program or newsreader so that it doesn't display the address? Considering this is the second time it's been (properly) sent out, I highly doubt, David, that I've contributed to your inbox being bombarded with SPAM. Get to the point do you want your address omitted? Point 1: Yes, I do want my address removed. Point 2: My address has been exposed by the thoughtless acts of others not setting their mail program/newsreader options correctly. Apart from the ex-BBC forum (where I have since changed the settings and edited the relevant post), all Google references to my email address came from the archives of this list. That's where the spam has probably started. By publishing a weekly list of email addresses, you're just making life easier for the spam merchants. If you intend to store the email addresses of people using this mailing list, there should be a clear statement of privacy policy on the PHP site. If there is one, I couldn't find it. That's because it has nothing to do with the PHP site or project. It's a private project intended to be of interest to those who post here. And you're here as well. Whoah, hang on a moment. It has everything to do with the PHP site and project. It's hosted on the php.net news server. When I subscribed to the PHP general mailing list I did not give permission for this. This is an international list, and what you're doing breaks EU privacy laws, and possibly those in other countries too. Please remove my name and details from your system. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January, 2008: php-general@lists.php.net
Daniel Brown wrote: Finally, I don't want you to think that I'm personally-attacking you in the same way you did to me Sorry, Dan, you just don't get it, do you? You published the name and email address of every single person who contributed to this mailing list in the past week. I didn't give you permission to publish my details, and I'm pretty sure the same goes for just about everyone else. Instead of apologizing to everyone here, you have sought to ridicule my position. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January, 2008: php-general@lists.php.net
Daniel Brown wrote: Notice, if you will and are able, that all other posts to this thread are responses of interest, not the ramblings of a crybaby. I have also noticed that many of the responses come from #1 Rated Year's Coolest Guy By Self. A little humility might be in order. I done nothing wrong, but I've created something that is useful and stimulating to those who Actually Matter[TM]. Just to remind everyone what this useful and stimulating exercise was for, in your own words, it was 'For bragging rights, to keep track of how much time you've spent doing community service or whatever else.' By publishing everyone's email address, you screwed up, but don't have the decency to admit it. And at no time have I stooped to calling you names. __ David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Posting Summary for Week Ending 18 January, 2008: php-general@lists.php.net
Jochem Maas wrote: if I am correct you are or were a journalist. forgive if I have mistaken you for another, but if that is correct then how often have you trodden on someone's privacy for the sake of a story? Yes, I was a journalist for some 30 years, but roughly two-thirds of that time was spent in an editorial capacity, not on the road. I cannot honestly remember an occasion on which I infringed someone's privacy for the sake of a story. The privacy guidelines that applied to my job are publicly available online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/edguide/privacy/consent.shtml as Dan pointed out he's not actually in violation of anything That's Dan's interpretation. why not get over it and join the club instead of knocking it? All that was necessary was for Dan to acknowledge that he'd made a mistake publishing a list of everyone's email address in plain text. It was wholly unnecessary for the purpose of creating a chart of the most prolific posters. Counting the number of posts is pretty meaningless anyway. It says nothing about the usefulness of those posts. I rarely post here, not for any negative reasons, but because I can see there are plenty of knowledgeable people here giving a lot of valuable help to others. So I spend my time contributing to other forums where PHP expertise is thin on the ground. If treating someone's complaint with contempt, even if you don't agree with the substance of it, is the way this club works, it's not one that I feel comfortable joining. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
[PHP] Re: A good book for a perspective programer.
Sean-Michael wrote: What I want to ask is if anyone can recommend a good/best text book to learn from, I like to have a good book on hand! It's very difficult to recommend the best book to learn from (although I'm tempted to suggest my own). Different people learn in different ways. Also, people want to use PHP in different ways, not to mention the fact that you don't say what your current skill level is. My advice would be to go to Amazon, and browse the books on PHP. Read the reviews. See which are the best sellers. I have a lot of PHP books on my shelf. The two that are the most well-thumbed as PHP Programming by Rasmus Lerdorf and Kevin Tatroe, and Upgrading to PHP 5 by Adam Trachtenberg. The book by Matt Zandstra that you mention is very good, but it's very specialized. If you're already at an intermediate-advanced level, and want to learn about design patterns with PHP, it might be a good choice. If you're at a less advanced level, maybe not. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] re-compiling PHP on Mac OS X
Frank Arensmeier wrote: When you install PHP5 with the package from entropy.ch, the new PHP5 will install under /usr/local/php5. The Mac package from entropy.ch is not compatible with Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5). Marc Liyanage is working on a Leopard-compatible version. Check the forum on his site for the latest details. There's an extremely long thread about PHP on Leopard. A command line installation is somewhere around page 15 of the thread. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Using PHP to determine if user has Java installed
tedd wrote: At 3:17 PM -0600 9/5/07, Matt Livingston wrote: I want to know if it is possible to use PHP to find out if a visitor has Java Runtime Environment installed on a computer. But you can attempt to run a js script from php to see if javascript is enabled. Java Runtime Environment == Java JavaScript != Java There is a PECL extension for Java, allows you to get the version of Java installed. I have never used it, but details are here: http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.java.php -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
[PHP] Re: PHP Books - A poll of sorts
Jay Blanchard wrote: If there was a best practices book would you buy it? I write books on PHP aimed at the beginner/intermediate level, and have a considerable collection of PHP books written by others. Two relatively recent books that struck me as being important are Pro PHP Security by Chris Snyder and Michael Southwell, and Essential PHP Security by Chris Shiflett. (I know there's also php|architect's Guide to PHP Security by Ilia Ashanetsky and Rasmus Lerdorf, but I haven't read it.) The thing that struck me most about the books was that anyone thought there should be a need for them. Of course, there is a need - that's why they were written. However, surely security should be taught from the very beginning? Every book on PHP (or any other language) should be a best practices book. The problem is that books are written by human beings, who are prone to mistakes (myself included), and whose own view of best practice might leave gaps in security. The other problem is that a lot of people who use PHP just want to copy and paste a script that works. Even if the ready-made script has been designed with security in mind, using it without understanding *how* it works can lead to unforeseen problems. By the way, I would welcome constructive criticism of the scripts in my books. I have tried to incorporate what I perceive to be the best practices at the time of writing, but I'm sure there's room for improvement. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Pirate PHP books online?
Larry Garfield wrote: If a plumber fixes your toilet, he gets paid once. A plumber came recently to fix our hot water system. It took him less than one hour. He got paid about $100. If a writer writes a book, he gets paid n times, where n is a (hopefully for him) ever-increasing number. I write a book (actually, I've written several). It takes me on average seven or eight months' full-time work. You buy a copy of my book, I get $1.50-$2.25. For me to get the same rate of pay as a plumber, I would need to sell 70,000 copies of each book. I should be so lucky. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Pirate PHP books online?
Larry Garfield wrote: copyright infringement is NOT taking something without paying for it. Copyright infringement is duplicating an expression of an idea that is fixed in a medium without the permission of the copyright holder. Money doesn't enter into it. If the licence under which the work was released stipulates payment, money does become an integral aspect of any infringement. If copyright infringement were taking something without paying for it, then anyone who's ever installed PHP is guilty of copyright infringement unless they sent Rasmus a check. That is, of course, nonsense. This is a nonsensical comparison, because installing PHP is not an infringement of copyright. The PHP licence specifically grants the right to use and distribute PHP, as long as certain conditions are met: http://www.php.net/license/3_01.txt A great many people -- myself included but also the Creative Commons folks, the FSF, many open source developers, and many others -- believe the current system of copyright law to be fundamentally flawed. Not that we shouldn't have copyright, but that the current form of copyright is broken. A work restricted for an entire generation after the original author is dead? Digital Restriction Management software that makes even Fair Use a felony? Retroactively extending copyright terms? Making experimentation with either art or technology either prohibited or prohibitively expensive? Yes, broken. These are excellent points, with which I basically agree. And the rank-and-file artists and authors of the world do not benefit from perpetuating that lie. The current direction the law is moving, toward more restrictions on the exchange of information, is bad for anyone who isn't Robert Iger or Britney Spears. That's why it is important to confront and correct that lie. It must be corrected before copyright can be sanely reformed to benefit the public (its supposed goal) and original artists/authors, not a select few mega-corps. Unfortunately, the tactics used by pirates are disproportionately harmful to rank-and-file artists and authors. I don't see the pirates simply going away if and when copyright law is amended. At no point have I said that copyright infringement is not illegal. At no point have I said that copyright infringement is a good thing. At no point have I encouraged people to engage in copyright infringement. Thank you for clarifying that. I highly recommend Larry Lessig's book Free Culture: http://free-culture.cc/ You can even download it free, not for money, legally, without it being copyright infringement. How about that. That's because he has released it under a Creative Commons licence. However, if you copy it and sell it or use in some other way for commercial gain, you break the terms of the licence. When somebody distributes copies of my eBooks to others, they break the terms of the licence. They also deprive me of income, as do bit torrent sites that assist in that distribution. It might not be stealing in a strict legal sense, but it results in financial harm to me. So money does frequently come into it where copyright infringement is concerned. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Pirate PHP books online?
Stut wrote: This conversation is getting pointless guys. I agree that it's going round in circles, and is best left alone. * Nobody thinks copyright infringement is a good thing and nobody is denying that it causes harm to every layer of the commercial chain that exists to create and publish copyrighted work If that were the case, I don't think this would have dragged out so long. The book that Larry Garfield pointed to (Free Culture by Larry Lessig) argues that *some* copyright infringement is harmless, and in certain circumstances, it can be beneficial (for example, when a work is out of print). Larry Lessig's arguments are quite persuasive and worthy of consideration. And for the record, Larry Lessig is in favour of seeing creators of original material receive fair payment for their efforts. It's irrelevant whether copyright infringement is stealing, or whether big companies are making too much money out of rights management. Copyright infringement is against the law in most countries, and it does disproportionate damage to the vast majority of artists and authors. End of story. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Richard Lynch wrote: At no point did I intend to sound unsympathetic to your plight! I only wanted to make it clear that 99.9% of musicians are in the same boat with you, despite what you read in the newspapers. Understood. I simply want to lay to rest the idea that piracy is somehow OK because it's getting back at the big boys, who can afford it anyway. Piracy also hits hard-working individuals, to whom the loss of income usually does make a difference. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Sancar Saran wrote: Those publishers ripping the authors then they blame the pirates... Real steal was %95 of book prices No, the author gets 10% of what the publisher gets. If you look at prices on Amazon or other online bookstores, you'll see that 35-40% discount is common. So, a $40 book often sells for $26 or less. Delivery within the same country is frequently free, so that's a cost that gets deducted. Amazon also pays a commission to websites with affiliate links. So the publisher ends up with less than $20. Publishing a book involves a lot of people: not just the author, but at least one technical reviewer, editor, copy editor, indexer, compositor (who lays out the pages), designer, and printer. Printed books also need to be transported and stored. The costs quickly mount up. EBooks are cheaper to produce because there's no cost for printing or storage, but a professionally produced eBook still takes a huge amount of human effort. Unfortunately, an eBook is very easy for a pirate to rip off. The danger with piracy is that authors will be discouraged from writing, and in the end everyone will be worse off. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Sancar Saran wrote: It was still ripping, They got 18 USD you got 2 USD. Out of that $18, the publisher has to pay the editor, copy editor, technical reviewer, compositor, printer, etc, etc. Unless the book sells several thousand copies, the publisher normally makes a loss. I'm not sure author of Harry Potter acceps same condition. The Harry Potter books have sold an estimated 325 million copies. Even if the author gets only 10 cents a book, that adds up to $32.5 million. I'm sure she gets a lot more than 10 cents a book, but it's the number of books sold that makes the real difference, not the amount per book. Harry Potter also generates a lot of money through Hollywood movie rights. It's hard to imagine the same with a book about PHP. ;-) You made everyone rich except yourself... I don't mind others making money out of my books, as long as they have contributed to them in a positive way. Publishing books involves a lot of people. They all need to be paid. The publisher takes a gamble, paying everybody up front before a single copy is sold. Since most books make a loss, it's reasonable for the publisher to take a share of the profit of successful books. As far as an author is concerned, the deal lies in royalties. The more books you sell, the more you get. I also get a higher share of the profit if the book sells more than a specified amount. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Sancar Saran wrote: I think we still missing the point main purpose of those books spreading the information. The other things have to come second. Everybody has to eat. If spreading information means I can't afford to eat, I'll stop writing books. It's as simple as that. Ironically publishers can't bring your content much more people than pirates. The same would happen if I did everything myself. Within days of self-publishing a eBook, it would be on a pirate site. At least with a publisher, legal copies do get sold, and I do get a return on the time invested, even though it's not as much as I would like. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
AmirBehzad Eslami wrote: I'm living in a country where people do not afford to buy real books. Most people earn $250~$400 per month. $50 for a book is too damn expensive. In addition, since US has restricted business with us, no body ships books to us. And we don't have Credit Card, since Master Card, Visa, Paypal do not offer services to us. How can we read books in such a country? With great difficulty. $50 is too expensive for most books, even in a rich country, but the actual price is usually much lower because of heavy discounts. But that's of little help in your situation. I know that many publishers license cheap editions of books in India, and I personally would like to see the cost of eBooks reduced. If you have no access to either, I suppose the pirates offer you a valuable service. However, don't be under any illusion that the pirates are good-hearted philanthropists taking from the rich and giving to the poor. The best known pirate site sells advertising - a small banner reportedly costs $5,000 a month, and a larger one $10,000 a month. http://rixstep.com/1/20060715,00.shtml David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Chris Shiflett wrote: David Powers wrote: I suspect that your estimate of the advances paid by Apress/friends of Ed is inflated. Based on the fact that this is almost identical to every other publisher (O'Reilly, Sams, etc.), and based on the fact that Richard said he has a lot of experience in this industry, I suspect his estimate was spot on. Read my first sentence again. The royalties paid by Apress/foED are industry standard, but the advances are very small. Since I have never written for another publisher, I don't know what a typical advance is likely to be. However, the technical reviewer on one of my books is a successful author himself, published by both friends of ED and O'Reilly. He told me that his advance from O'Reilly was much bigger. Sales never reached the level to trigger further royalties, but he didn't mind, because he was better off than with the foED system of low advances and regular royalty payments. You're right, though, it's difficult to get any return on your time investment. :-) PHP Solutions seems to be doing quite well, but I certainly couldn't exist solely on the income from books. I think a major problem is that publishers tend to flood the market in the hope that one or two will be bestsellers, and they find lots of willing authors hoping to strike it rich. According to Amazon, 28 books on PHP have been published or are planned for this year. Even if each one is superbly written (highly unlikely), the potential market isn't large enough for more than four or five to make a reasonable return for their authors. Still, we all dream of hitting that sweet spot when a book goes through successive editions, selling a cumulative million copies (like Elizabeth Castro's HTML CSS). That's why books keep on coming. The situation in the music industry is similar. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Ryan A wrote: Just wanted to clear up the misconception that the main people who start copying (RIAA/MPAA slang pirates) are making money. So the real rogues... or pirates... are the siteowners, but when the site itself is named thepiratebay its not exactly like they dont already know it. Piracy, unauthorized copying, call it what you will, involves a chain. Perhaps if the poor saps who make the unauthorized copies realized just how they're being exploited, things might change. I doubt it, but there's no law against me dreaming. However, I think this horse has been well and truly flogged to death. Time to bring this thread to an end. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Richard Lynch wrote: I've got a pretty good idea what your advance was, and what your royalties are. I suspect that your estimate of the advances paid by Apress/friends of Ed is inflated. Royalties are no secret: Apress publishes its standard contract on the web for prospective authors to see. The basic rate is 10% of the net income received by the publisher. Since heavy discounting is prevalent in the publishing industry, this means the author ends up with less than 5% of the book's cover price. So on a book with a cover price of $40, the author gets less than $2. You need to sell a very large number of books to make a reasonable return on the time invested. I'm sticking to my statement that, surprisingly, you've probably made more than some rock stars with bad contract who had only one hit song. I have no doubt that a lot of musicians end up with a very poor deal. So do many authors. The point is that the pirate site in question seems to take particular pleasure in defying the big movie and recording companies. Those companies are profitable enough to sustain the loss of royalties, and big-name artists do get a large enough advance to enjoy a high-octane lifestyle. However, piracy hits the individual author or musician disproportionately. I'm under no illusion that the 2,000+ downloads of my book would have turned into legitimate sales if illegal copies weren't available. But writing about PHP is a highly competitive niche market. Any loss of sales is unwelcome. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Dotan Cohen wrote: David, I am the OP, and I have not posted the URL to the pirate site. Nor did I see it posted anywhere. Check the email, maybe someone else sent it to you directly. Dotan, I'm fully aware that you didn't post the URL, and I apologize if my post gave the impression that you were the culprit. The URL was posted by another person approximately six hours after your original post. It might have been removed from the web interface, but it's definitely still there in my newsreader. It has been quite fascinating to read this thread, even though it has nothing to do with PHP. As an author, I have frequently thought about the contradiction between the fact that PHP is free and open source, but I claim copyright and payment for the books I write about it. But it's no secret that many people involved in developing open source software make a living selling their knowledge in one way or another, either as consultants or developers. Although I don't have the skills to contribute to the core development of PHP, I hope that my books help others use PHP in a productive and secure manner. With regard to the argument about free flow of information, all the information in my books is freely available on the internet. However, the value to most readers is that I have pulled together that information, tested it, and presented it in a form that, hopefully, makes it easier for beginners and intermediate developers to understand. Since it takes six months to a year to produce a book, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect readers to pay for it. Unfortunately, computer books are expensive. Few people realize that only a tiny proportion of the price goes to the author. That's why unauthorized distribution cuts so deeply into an author's income. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Richard Lynch wrote: You probably have made far more from your book than most rock artists, and surprisingly more than some of the rock stars with particularly bad contracts, or who have only had one hit song. I'm glad you have such a high opinion of the earning power of my books. It is important to be accurate in this area, imho, as there is already way too much misinformation, oft-repeated by the media. It's also important not to perpetuate the myth that the authors of computer books are in the same league as JK Rowling or Stephen King. A book that sells more than 5,000 copies is the exception, not the rule. http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6353274.html?pubdate=7%2F17%2F2006display=current David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Re: Pirate PHP books online?
Richard Davey wrote: First off, I'd like to know where you got that 2,000 number. Closest I could find was 456 on TPB, and I'm guessing that's 456 people that have downloaded the torrent. Not necessarily 456 that have completely downloaded the book. I didn't post that figure, but it doesn't matter if the actual numbers are 2000 or just 2, it doesn't change a thing. I posted the figure 2,000. There are two listings on that site for my book, PHP Solutions. One has been downloaded 457 times. The other has been downloaded 1,626 times. Although I'm delighted that my book has proved so popular, I would be even more delighted to get some financial reward for my efforts. Fortunately, a lot of honest people have bought legal copies, but certainly not enough to put me in the fat-cat league. :( David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Crayon Shin Chan wrote: What makes you think any of the authors are subscribed to this list? I am subscribed to this list, and I'm disgusted that somebody posted the URL to the pirate site. I see that more than 2,000 copies of my PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Design Made Easy have been downloaded. Although eBooks are cheaper than the printed version, the royalties to an author are much higher (no printing, storage, or delivery costs). I'm not starving, but the loss in revenue is far from trivial, and reduces the incentive to continue to write. I have reported the site to my publisher. Even if it's closed down, my work has already been stolen. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
Re: [PHP] Pirate PHP books online?
Stut wrote: I'm not defending what they do, but don't expect it to go anywhere - it's proven several times to be untouchable and is likely here to stay for a very long time. I'm not naive enough to believe that piracy can be stopped. Sadly, the publicity surrounding such sites and their philosophy always concentrates on movies or music. Movie companies and rock artists make more money before breakfast than the author of a computer-related book is likely to make in a whole year (at least from book royalties). It's also quite likely that the 2,000 people who have downloaded my book so far wouldn't have bothered to buy it if they hadn't been able to get it for nothing. So, I realize that a large part of it is a paper loss. Nevertheless, I'm being ripped off. Pirate sites like to portray themselves as battling against big business, but they do immense damage to independent writers. If they drive us out of business, everyone will be worse off in the end. David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
[PHP] Re: PHP textbook suggestions?
Chris Lott wrote: I will be teaching, so a book that a student can-- before the class-- work through and understand is good-- doesn't have to be a traditional textbook! But it shouldn't be a reference manual either. If you're looking for an up-to-date beginner's book that advocates (what I consider to be) good practice, you might want to consider my PHP Solutions (http://foundationphp.com/phpsolutions/). It takes a practical approach, is based on PHP 5, but also offers PHP alternatives if PHP 5 isn't available. It has received good reviews on Amazon. If you are considering it for adoption as a textbook, my publisher (friends of ED) supplies textbook review copies: http://www.friendsofed.com/contact.html#academic -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
[PHP] Re: issue with Apache/PHP loadmodule
Alain Roger wrote: I have the following lines in my http.conf from apache 2.2 configuration file. # - for PHP LoadModule php5_module c:\PHP\php5apache2.dll php5apache2.dll doesn't support Apache 2.2. Use Apache 2.0. -- David Powers -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
