Comments on: Ruby Cookbook: Rough Cuts Version

By: gabriele rtenzi

gabriele rtenzi — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

hey congrats for the inclusions 🙂
Thr ruby cookbook sounds interesting, at least looking tat the existint TOC.

Even if I think that building it like the python one (i.e. let the community post lots of recipes than just choose them) would have been more interesting and useful.

By: null

null — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

it’s too bad the quality of the rough cut is so poor — I really wanted this
to be something worth getting.

By: Antonio Cangiano

Antonio Cangiano — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In answer to the anonymous comment, I'd like to say that the rough cuts are not to be benchmarked against the final product. The whole idea is to involve the reader more in the evolution process leading up to the release of the final product. As O'Reilly says on their site: "You can read it online, download as a PDF, or print. Once you've purchased a Rough Cuts title, you have a chance to shape the final product - you can send suggestions, bug fixes, and comments directly to the author and editors."
Thanks, I appreciate your post.

Antonio

PS: Thanks for your comment too, Gabriele.

By: James

James — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

“Once you’ve purchased a Rough Cuts title, you have a chance to shape the final product – you can send suggestions, bug fixes, and comments directly to the author and editors.”

What’s somewhat dissappointing about this approach is that one has to commit to a purchase before one can participate in the betterment of the book (of which there is no assurance ). Seems that the quality would go up much more if the beta were free until publication. But I gather there are whatever concerns that giving stuff away like that eats sales.

Unless you’re Bruce Eckel or Peter Seibel or David B. Lamkins.

By: Dave Lehman

Dave Lehman — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I have to concur with James here: The rough cuts program is a great idea, and I would love to be involved in shaping the final product. However, O’Reilly is effectively penalizing those who would like to be involved by making them pay (significantly) more for the beta PDF + hardcopy then just buying the hardcopy alone. If you have to pay up-front to be involved, it should at least not cost more than the final book.

By: Antonio Cangiano

Antonio Cangiano — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I agree with you guys, it would be nice to see a more "Open Source" approach to book publishing. Take "Learning Programming with Ruby" for example, the main reason why it's a great book for newbies is the huge amount of feedback Chris Pine has got from the community. In a way the online readers have completely shaped the published book.

When I'll write my own guide or book, I'd love to use this publishing method where the "beta" is freely available on my website.

I appreciate your comments.

Antonio

By: foo

foo — Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Didn't actually look into this one, but also check out http://pleac.sf.net and http://bigbold.com/snippets/ for some useful Ruby code!