Over the next year, this book will tackle one of the greatest challenges
for any book about modern, open source software: remaining current.
Using the traditional publishing method, books quickly become
out-of-date and irrelevant, rather than remaining up-to-date, useful
references. By updating this book every month, SourceBeat has created a
unique publication format that solves these problems with traditional
publication methods.
First, it's hard to get a book about a complex piece of open source
software 100% correct; in fact, almost impossible when one or two
authors and one technical reviewer must often document a system built by
dozens or perhaps hundreds of programmers. By creating orderly,
feature-based releases each month, the book can evolve over time to
cover more and more complex features of the software, and we can catch
errors quickly in the first few updates.
Second, open source software, like Plone, often does not follow a
hard-and-fast feature plan, but instead adds new, innovative features as
they are thought up by creative developers trying to solve real world
problems. By updating the book each month, the book can quickly adapt to
cover any new technologies or trends that emerge from the community of
users. Books that are released once every year or two cannot follow or
easily adapt to these trends.
Third, like open source software, books have communities. However,
traditional books have a large disconnect between the reader and the
author because there is no way for the reader to get feedback to the
author. Even if they could, there are seldom clear, easy-to use-channels
for redistributing books or errata. By creating the “live” book format,
SourceBeat is creating a new way for readers and authors to make better
books cooperatively.
You can buy this book online from Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0976553406/002-2820793-0614428%
29%2Cas/104-8538093-5697530