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I want to thank all of you that constructively answered my call for book
ideas. There were a few things that came up that I hadn't thought about.
One in particular is intriguing - Gentoo for Servers. I like the idea
of separate chapters on a desktop install and server install.

For the desktop install obviously it would cover X windows
(derivatives?) and desktops. I would probably cover KDE and GNOME in
some detail. I know there are a slew of other desktops out there as
well. Does anyone think it is important to cover them in some detail? If
so, which ones?

For the servers, what should be covered? I assume most people would say
DNS services, IMAP/POP services, LDAP(?), Apache/PHP. I'd like some idea
of what services should be covered? Any help would be appreciated.

For the base system I was going to cover custom kernel building as well
as configuring hardware components. I was planning to cover graphic
controllers, audio, networking, USB and Firewire.

Right now the book is divided into 3 sections - Getting your base Gentoo
system running, Customizing it, and a true geek section on ebuilds, how
the system boots, etc. Any other ideas?

TIA,
Chuck

C Ginger enlightened us with:
> I would probably cover KDE and GNOME in some detail.

Probably? I think they are essential for any book talking about a
Linux desktop.

> I know there are a slew of other desktops out there as well. Does
> anyone think it is important to cover them in some detail? If so,
> which ones?

Fluxbox, Enlightenment, IceWM, and others.

> For the servers, what should be covered? I assume most people would
> say DNS services, IMAP/POP services, LDAP(?), Apache/PHP. I'd like
> some idea of what services should be covered? Any help would be
> appreciated.

Be sure to talk about the Gentoo-specific things, like webapp-config,
dispatch-conf, /etc/env.d/*, /etc/conf.d/*, etc.

> For the base system I was going to cover custom kernel building as
> well as configuring hardware components. I was planning to cover
> graphic controllers, audio, networking, USB and Firewire.

Don't forget TV cards and webcams.

Sybren
--
The problem with the world is stupidity. Not saying there should be a
capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the
safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

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Well, first about desktops: I'd appreciate if the reader is given
freedom of choice. One attempt to to so is to provide a comprehensive
guide on how to setup KDE, GNOME, xfce4, and, say, 2 other window
managers - one lightweight, and one ultra-lightweight one. You could
recommend apropriate USE-flags for the given aims, and provide the
reader with information regarding libraries like gtk, qt, motif and the
like. Every single Liux-related book I've read so far spends dozens of
sites about how to wipe your arse under GNOME and KDE, and all the other
smaller systems left unmentioned. That's neither right nor fair, imo.

Speaking of servers, there are some classics that definetly deserve
making it into the book: http, ftp, ssh & mail are absolutely essential
imo. Though you could also expand the readers horizon a little bit by
giving an overview about alternatives on established
server-applications, for instance to use vsftpd instead of proftpd or
so. There are also other fields which are rarely covered, I can't think
of any book describing how to set up an ircd. That would certainly push
the book's value.

What I'd also love to see in a book like this were how to write an
ebuild for a specific app - and to give back a little to the community,
- -a great project would be to add psybnc (some kind of advanced and
enhanced irc-proxy-thing) to portage and maintain it's ebuild

Regards, keep up with the work!
Johannes

C Ginger wrote:
| I want to thank all of you that constructively answered my call for book
| ideas. There were a few things that came up that I hadn't thought about.
| One in particular is intriguing - Gentoo for Servers. I like the idea
| of separate chapters on a desktop install and server install.
|
| For the desktop install obviously it would cover X windows
| (derivatives?) and desktops. I would probably cover KDE and GNOME in
| some detail. I know there are a slew of other desktops out there as
| well. Does anyone think it is important to cover them in some detail? If
| so, which ones?
|
| For the servers, what should be covered? I assume most people would say
| DNS services, IMAP/POP services, LDAP(?), Apache/PHP. I'd like some idea
| of what services should be covered? Any help would be appreciated.
|
| For the base system I was going to cover custom kernel building as well
| as configuring hardware components. I was planning to cover graphic
| controllers, audio, networking, USB and Firewire.
|
| Right now the book is divided into 3 sections - Getting your base Gentoo
| system running, Customizing it, and a true geek section on ebuilds, how
| the system boots, etc. Any other ideas?
|
| TIA,
| Chuck
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Johannes Truschnigg enlightened us with:
> Though you could also expand the readers horizon a little bit by
> giving an overview about alternatives on established
> server-applications, for instance to use vsftpd instead of proftpd
> or so. There are also other fields which are rarely covered, I can't
> think of any book describing how to set up an ircd. That would
> certainly push the book's value.

In that case, don't forget Jabber!

Sybren
--
The problem with the world is stupidity. Not saying there should be a
capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the
safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

C Ginger wrote:

> For the servers, what should be covered? I assume most people would
> say DNS services, IMAP/POP services, LDAP(?), Apache/PHP. I'd like
> some idea of what services should be covered?

samba, cups, iptables, quotas, software-raid (0,1,5), DHCP vs. fixed
IPs, gated, ltsp, remote administration, news (INN/leafnode), VPN

> For the base system I was going to cover custom kernel building as
> well as configuring hardware components. I was planning to cover
> graphic controllers, audio, networking, USB and Firewire.

pcmcia, APM/ACPI, pppoe, i4l/hisax, wlan, installation w/o (bootable)
CDROM, low-memory installation (older PCs/laptops)

Only suggestions...

BTDT
Roland

Roland Schulte-Osthoff enlightened us with:
> samba, cups, iptables, quotas, software-raid (0,1,5), DHCP vs. fixed
> IPs, gated, ltsp, remote administration, news (INN/leafnode), VPN

Well, OP has to be careful to keep it a Gentoo book, instead of a
Linux book with a bit of Gentoo.

Sybren
--
The problem with the world is stupidity. Not saying there should be a
capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the
safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?