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Letter to GNU.ORG about Open Source Publishing

Dear Mr. Crawford:

I found interesting your articles on kernel testing and the nature of open source documentation. I do agree that a lot of useful programs never get wider exposure because of lack of documentation. That is interesting to me because I am a technical writer gradually gaining expertise in linux and open source initiatives. (I still have a ways to go though). I had a comment. It is not entirely fair to single out Oreilly for criticism about not making their content available online for free. In the past Oreilly books have done a fine job of bridging the gap between open source and readers managed to make a healthy profit in the process. While publishers usually don't allow their content to be online, Oreilly has proved to be the notable exception (publishing books on samba and docbook free on the web).

(And if you want to know the truth, I bought both books despite their availability online!)

Oreilly has started a safari initiative for online perusal of books. It seems pricy right now, but eventually they'll hit a point where it is a commercially attractive service.

You might find interesting to hear that I ordered a copy of Richard Stallman's emacs manual from free software foundation just yesterday. I had never seen or heard of the book until I came across quite by accident an old 1997 edition at a bookstore. It was very easy to read and very helpful and just what I needed; I was determined to obtain the most recent copy. Ironically, I did find a more recent edition later at another bookstore, but the plastic wrapping prevented me from perusing it. That doesn't seem to be in keeping with the spirit of open source, does it?

Finding an "unwrapped edition" of the Stallman book was a fluke, but it illustrates a point. FSF, by its nature, doesn't focus on market need. Oreilly, on the other hand, is great at distribution and marketing and responding to trends. I've seen Oreilly books and displays in countless bookstores, even in Eastern Europe. I've seen FSF books almost nowhere.

The real challenge seems to be making open documentation viewable by portable readers or ebooks. "Dead tree" books can't be updated, but electronic books can be easily updated. It offers a considerable advantage to readers of technical manuals (who are always wanting the latest update or patches). It seems just a matter of time before publishers of technical books start changing over to a model of a subscription service. For open source people, they need to make sure they are using a uniform stylesheet for portable readers.