[Rpm-maint] Writing new book: "The RPM Reference"

[Panu Matilainen]

On 01/09/2013 09:44 PM, Andrew Ford wrote:
> I mentioned on the rpm-list almost two years ago that I was writing a
> book "Linux Software Management with RPM and YUM".  That stalled for
> various reasons, one of which was that the subject was just too broad. I
> have narrowed the focus now and am working on a book, provisionally
> entitled "The RPM Reference".  It will do what the title implies,
> provide a reference primarily for the rpm and rpmbuild commands
> (including coverage of spec files, macros, scripts, triggers, etc)
> covering rpm versions 4.4.2 (SLES 10), 4.4.2.3 (RHEL5, SLES 11), 4.8.0
> (RHEL6), 4.9.1.3 (Fedora 17 and openSUSE 12.2) and 4.10.1 (Fedora 18),
> and whatever RHEL7 uses when it comes out.  I have been reviewing
> whatever documentation, books and articles I can find and exploring the
> source code for the different versions (including the patches for the
> disto packages). There are areas, like SELinux policies, that I am going
> to have to learn up on, but I am hoping to have the bulk of the book
> written in the first half of the year.  Double checking the correctness
> of everything, especially all the compatibility information is going to
> take quite a while though.

Feel free to ask if you need help, be it specific features, 
compatibility or whatever. The existing RPM books are getting (very) 
long in the tooth, getting an accurate and up-to-date reference book out 
is something I'm willing to help with in any way I can.

>
> If you would like to help with reviewing the new book, drop me an
> email.  I am anticipating having the first chapters ready for review by
> early February.

Count me in.

>
> BTW - I would not be averse to helping out on the documentation on the
> rpm.org website and the man pages.

Documentation improvements are always welcome. For rpm.org website docs 
you'll need a Trac account and then just ask for edit permissions. Man 
pages (and other in-source documentation) updates are best dealt in patches.

	- Panu -