# Hard copy of 9.x FreeBSD Handbook available soon?



## xavi (Aug 15, 2013)

Hi,

Does anybody know when a hard copy of the FreeBSD Handbook for a 9.x release will hit the FreeBSD Mall? Currently, the FreeBSD Mall shows that the "Handbook is completely up to date for the latest FreeBSD 4.x and 5.x versions".

I did read in the January edition of the BSD Magazine that the new handbook would be in place by the time that BSDCan 2013 had taken place. This obviously hasn't happened. I'm not sure if this is a FreeBSD Mall issue or a FreeBSD documentation team issue, so if I'm asking in the wrong place please let me know.

Many thanks,
Xavi


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## SirDice (Aug 15, 2013)

xavi said:
			
		

> I'm not sure if this is a FreeBSD Mall issue or a FreeBSD documentation team issue, so if I'm asking in the wrong place please let me know.


It's not a documentation team issue because the handbook is up to date.


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## wblock@ (Aug 15, 2013)

Making a print version is in the list of projects, and some people have worked on it.  Last I heard, it was planned to be done before the end of the year, but it's not a hard target.  You can get a PDF of the current version now: ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/.


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## xavi (Aug 15, 2013)

Hi,

Thanks for the responses. I do have a PDF soft copy already, but I prefer a hard copy for reading on my commute. I could print out the PDF but I find it's easier to read and store when it's printed professionally. And I'm bound to want to read it more than once. I also think it's a nice way to donate money to the FreeBSD project.

Anyway, I've dropped an email to the FreeBSD Mall. If I get a response from them I'll update this post for any one else interested.

Thanks again,
Xavi.


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## Uniballer (Aug 15, 2013)

Realistically, how many copies are they going to sell?  I search the handbook occasionally, and I've been known to read sections in the PDF, but I'm not likely to sit down and read it like a book.  Obviously, it was a financial disaster the last time the handbook was typeset, printed, and bound or the Mall wouldn't still be hawking 5.x handbooks.


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## wblock@ (Aug 15, 2013)

Actually, there is a demand for a new printed Handbook.  I should clarify that I'm a documentation committer, so have been a little involved.  One big problem with a printed version is that there is just way too much content in the Handbook to fit in a printed book.  Picking what gets left out can be tricky.  Then there is the problem of selecting a method of marking up the source for these not-for-print sections.  Then there is the overall job of editing.  Dru Lavigne has done some nice work on that, but there's plenty left.

The point is that it's not that a printed book is not wanted, it's just a huge job to create.


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## xavi (Aug 15, 2013)

I take your point. However, as a newbie I wanted to read a definitive book on FreeBSD, which only seems to leave two options, the Handbook and Absolute FreeBSD, which is almost 7 years old now. Is Absolute FreeBSD still a recommended book? Or from the point of view of anyone more experienced than me, is it showing it's age?


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## xavi (Aug 15, 2013)

> One big problem with a printed version is that there is just way too much content in the Handbook to fit in a printed book


 
The previous version of the printed Handbook seemed to be in more than one volume. Is it not possible to do the same thing? There appear to be distinct sections (Getting Started, Common Tasks, System Administration, Network Communication, Appendices etc) that look like they could stand on their own as single books. I'm sure that most people would probably prefer a number of slim specialised books to one huge 'bible'.


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## wblock@ (Aug 15, 2013)

Splitting it into multiple volumes does not make it any easier.  Harder, actually, because then each volume has individual overhead like indexes and glossaries.


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## J65nko (Aug 15, 2013)

If you do not want to wait, you could print out the chapters you would like to study during your commute, and make a donation to the FreeBSD Foundation


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## dlavigne (Aug 15, 2013)

There is also The Best of FreeBSD Basics: http://www.reedmedia.net/books/freebsd-basics/, though admittedly now 6 years old.

I'll be updating that volume for 10.x once the published version of the Handbook is out the door.


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## cpm@ (Aug 16, 2013)

In addition to the above @J65nko's comment, I suggest you take a look at the PDF builds created using FOP in case that you want to print it. 

You can find them at http://kovesdan.org/files/fop/.


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## mix_room (Aug 16, 2013)

wblock@ said:
			
		

> Splitting it into multiple volumes does not make it any easier.  Harder, actually, because then each volume has individual overhead like indexes and glossaries.



Shouldn't the type-setting environment be able to do this? I would have thought that an appropriate tool takes care of this. Each volume needs an index, and then the whole book needs an index.  

Just my 2 cents, but I wouldn't want the handbook in printed form. I would like something relatively short that could be printed, and then the in-depth material in electronic form. I have never been able to sit down and read instruction manuals of any type without being able to try them out, I just end up skimming over them, and then following them when I get back to the 'thing' that needs the instructions.


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## wblock@ (Aug 16, 2013)

mix_room said:
			
		

> Shouldn't the type-setting environment be able to do this? I would have thought that an appropriate tool takes care of this.
> Each volume needs an index, and then the whole book needs an index.



It should, but...  Partly this depends on how the volumes would be split.  Right now, the Handbook is a single book.  We can get it to leave out some chapters or sections for a printed version, but the generated index will be for everything included.  A volume is a subset of that, so either it requires some heavy editing of the source to split into separate books, or heavy editing of the generated output to remove things that aren't in that volume.  As far as I know, DocBook does not have a concept of a multi-volume book, although it does understand parts.  We use those already for the five parts of the Handbook.


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## fatmac (Aug 19, 2013)

As a newbie to the forum I might have missed some of the discussion about a printed handbook update, but may I suggest you look at 'crowd funding' for it.

I bought/paid for a book this way; The Debian Administrator's Handbook - ISBN 979-10-91414-00-5.

I would be interested in an up to date printed version; my present BSD books are dated 2002 and 2003, a lot has changed since then, I'm quite sure.


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## tanked (Aug 19, 2013)

xavi said:
			
		

> I take your point. However, as a newbie I wanted to read a definitive book on FreeBSD, which only seems to leave two options, the Handbook and Absolute FreeBSD, which is almost 7 years old now. Is Absolute FreeBSD still a recommended book? Or from the point of view of anyone more experienced than me, is it showing it's age?



Absolute FreeBSD was/is a great book, probably the best one on FreeBSD for the general user. It would be nice if the author released a new edition for FreeBSD 10


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## ronaldlees (Aug 21, 2013)

*Licensing on printed handbook?*

You can upload a PDF to lulu.com, and in a few days have your printed book (paperback or hardcover).  I don't know if the handbook license would be acceptable of that


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## Monoecus (Aug 21, 2013)

xavi said:
			
		

> I take your point. However, as a newbie I wanted to read a definitive book on FreeBSD, which only seems to leave two options, the Handbook and Absolute FreeBSD, which is almost 7 years old now. Is Absolute FreeBSD still a recommended book? Or from the point of view of anyone more experienced than me, is it showing it's age?



Absolutely. I think this book is still very useful and interesting. I would definitely recommend it.


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## xavi (Aug 21, 2013)

> Absolute FreeBSD was/is a great book, probably the best one on FreeBSD for the general user. It would be nice if the author released a new edition for FreeBSD 10


I dropped a note to No Starch Press (the publishers of Absolute FreeBSD) to ask if there was a new edition of Absolute FreeBSD in the pipeline and was told that there wasn't. And I think Michael Lucas is currently working on a new book about sudo, so a new version of AF for FreeBSD 10 looks unlikely


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