Re: Linux Gnome/GTK+ Programming Bible

[Arthur Griffith <arthur belugalake com>]

At 05:48 PM 12/28/99 -0800, you wrote:
>That last statement about the checks "still coming in" make it sound
>like you're defending yourself as to why you're qualified to write a
>book about GNOME programming without being one of the GNOME
>developers.  It would be more helpful if you supplied a url to an
>online draft copy of your book, so that it could be reviewed by anyone
>interested.  I'm sure this would help a lot more than trying to defend
>yourself.
>
>regards,
>--andy
>

No defense intended. I make my living as a writer. Someone requested
information about the author, so I supplied it. Almost everybody laughs
when I tell them I wrote COBOL for Dummies. I laughed into the phone when
the publisher first came up with the idea. Once I actually saw someone
nudging a friend while pointing and chuckling in a book store.

In this business, the whole open source thing has us a bit puzzled. I love
the open revolution and fully intend to join it--just as soon as I can
figure out how to do it. As you know, writing software is different from
any other endeavor. The business of writing documentation also has its own
set of peculiarities, and all of these must be taken into account. As the
open software movement has shown, it is quite possible to develop excellent
software, but the documentation lags way behind. I am currently in
discussions with a publisher about the model to be used to open the
documentation. I think you will like what is coming.

Anyway, there will be at least one chapter of this book online. And there
could be more.

--
Arthur Griffith                  http://www.belugalake.com
arthur@belugalake.com