Re: manuals

I'd definitely like to see this happen.  What is the copyright of the
man pages and the papers?

On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 10:45 AM, Brian L. Stuart <blstuart@...> wrote:
>> As is always the case, printed manuals do get out of date (usually
>> just after printing them). Most things are common between the third
>> and fourth editions, but the fundamental problem remains.
>>
>> Personally, I find the printed manuals very useful when I'm first
>> trying to understand a new batch of code; I end up going to the
>> references quite a bit, and the paper's much easier on the eyes. On a
>> day-to-day basis, the versions included in the system are more
>> reliable.
>
> I've given some thought to this.  There's an online print-on-demand
> company called lulu.  You send them a PDF of the interior and a
> PDF of the cover and they'll handle ordering, printing and shipping.
> I've used them for a couple of small personal projects, and I've
> thought they might be a good way to get 4th edition manuals printed.
> I ran a quick check on their current pricing and a 600 page book
> would run $16.53 assuming no one made any profit on it.  This is
> for a perfect bound paperback.  Other bindings are available.
> You can even arrange for them to get it listed on amazon.
>
> What I'd envision is the same two-book structure we've seen all
> along in paperback.  Periodically, we could release a new sub-edition
> and at the same time release an addendum containing all the changes
> between the previous one and the new one.  A 30 page addendum
> would run about $5.
>
> As I have dealt with them before, I'd be willing to set it up.
> I don't have time to get into editing or any other quality
> control.  But if VN gives permission, we get the cover artwork
> and copyright page set up, and if I can get all the fonts sorted
> out, then I'd be willing to make them available.
>
> It's a thought anyway.
>
> BLS
>