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What about creating The Ubuntu Administrator’s Handbook?

October 18, 2011 by Raphaël Hertzog

I am currently running a crowdfunding campaign whose ultimate goal is to liberate the English translation of a French book that I have written. This book will be named The Debian Administrator’s Handbook because it has primarily been written for Debian.

Creating a new Ubuntu book based on The Debian Administrator’s Handbook

But since Ubuntu is based on Debian, a large part of its content applies equally well to Ubuntu. While discussing with Mark Shuttleworth, he suggested me to reuse those parts and to create a new book dedicated to Ubuntu. It would also cover the latest cloud technologies that Ubuntu has been delivering (since this is a topic that the current book does not cover).

This is something that I have been envisioning for a while and something that I would be ready to try if we manage to complete the liberation of the current book. This project would then bring a truly free book to the Ubuntu ecosystem.

Why? The official Ubuntu books are not really free

There’s a policy in place that ensures that official Ubuntu books use a free software/culture license and they are effectively available under the terms of a Creative Commons Share Alike license. But try to create a derivative book… you won’t find the “sources” (LaTeX or DocBook usually with most big books). You can only find a few PDF copies if you google for it. But this is really not the preferred form of modification for such a book.

Those books are also not packaged. Ubuntu much like Debian deserves to have a good book embodying the values of free software that can be shipped together with its product.

When I speak of liberation of the book, I really mean it in the way that free software hackers are used to: a public Git repository containing the DocBook sources, the pictures and the .dia files for the various schemas.

Help Ubuntu by spreading the word

I understand that at this point this proposed Ubuntu book is really hypothetical (“vaporware” one could say) but we need to go step by step to make it a reality. And the first step is to ensure that we manage to liberate the Debian Administrator’s Handbook.

For this I am seeking the support of the Ubuntu community to promote the current fundraising campaign. If the perspective of the Ubuntu book is not enough to convince you, you’ll be glad to learn that I also commit to give back to Ubuntu 15% of the money raised via the link below (once VAT has been subtracted).

Click here to go to the crowdfunding campaign page and pledge a few euros. Then share this article (or the link https://debian-handbook.info/go/ulule-ubuntu/) and convince others to participate.

At this point, the liberation target is entirely reachable with your help and the help of the community: the remaining 18 K€ needed in the liberation fund represent 720 persons giving 25 EUR each or 1800 persons giving 10 EUR each.

Thank you very much for your support and your help in this project!

Contribute to Debian while promoting the Debian Administrator’s Handbook

September 27, 2011 by Raphaël Hertzog

We just announced the launch of the fundraising campaign for the Debian Administrator’s Handbook.

We wanted to use this opportunity to let people contribute money both to our project but also to Debian itself. That’s why we have setup a special link that you can use to participate. 15% of any donation made through this link (after VAT has been subtracted) will be given back to the Debian Project.

Here’s the link: https://debian-handbook.info/go/ulule-debian/

Feel free to use this link when promoting the project to your friends, so that even more money goes back to Debian.

You can also embed a special widget on your website where any visitor that ends up becoming a supporter will also contribute 15% to the Debian project.

Help us spread the word about the project, and help raise money for Debian!

Do You Want a Free Debian Book? Read This.

September 27, 2011 by Raphaël Hertzog

A bit more than a year elapsed since we announced our plans to translate our Debian book into English and to try to get it published under a license compatible with the Debian Free Software Guidelines. But we’re now ready to go to the next step.

Completing the translation of 450 pages book is a huge work, we estimate it’s going to take roughly 3 full time months for both Roland and me. Since we’re freelancers, we can take the required time provided that we have a minimum income during that period. That’s where you come into play: we have setup a crowdfunding campaign on Ulule.com and we need your support to raise €15000 (this is the absolute minimum for us to be able to commit the required time).

Even if a good and up-to-date book on Debian is a great perspective, we want to go further than that by adding the perspective of getting a DFSG-free Debian book. That’s why we have transformed the crowfunding campaign in a liberation campaign. When you support the project, you can pledge money towards a liberation fund… and if this fund reaches €25000 then the book will be published under the GPL-2+ and CC-BY-SA 3.0 licenses.

On top of this, when you support this project you can select a reward that goes from a copy of the ebook to a dinner with the authors (only 10 places for the latter)! Among the other rewards, there’s obviously a paperback version of the book, but also an individual one-hour mentoring session with me… a nice way to get you hooked as a new Debian contributor (limited to 40 persons, don’t miss the opportunity!).

Wait no longer, click here and pledge some money to bring this reference book to Debian and the rest of the world.

We also need your help to spread the news and get as many supporters as possible. Share the link with your friends, write an article on your blog, put a widget on your website, etc. Thank you very much!

Click here to go to the fundraising page and to learn more about this project.

Discover my Debian DVD shop

February 21, 2011 by Raphaël Hertzog

After a private launch (with discounted prices) for my newsletter subscribers, it’s now time to open my Debian DVD shop to the public.

I did not want to become yet another DVD reseller, so my DVDs are different and better. Here’s why you want to get one (or more):

it’s easier to install Debian with my DVDs since they provide all the (non-free) firmwares that have been stripped and that you’re supposed to provide on a USB key;
the installed system features the former theme (MoreBlue Orbit) and not SpaceFun (although you can reactivate SpaceFun easily if you prefer it);
100% of the benefits are reinvested into Debian (90% to fund my Debian work, 10% given back to Debian to fund work meetings)
they are provided in a beautiful DVD case and despite this they are not expensive (between $3.49 and $5.49)

Click here to learn more about my DVD offer.

PS: Click here and join my newsletter to not miss other opportunities.

Creating a new Ubuntu book based on The Debian Administrator’s Handbook

Why? The official Ubuntu books are not really free

Help Ubuntu by spreading the word

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