# The Ubuntu Forum Community > Ubuntu Community Discussions > The Fridge Discussions >  Official Ubuntu Book

## TheFridge

<p>For the last few months, <a href="http://www.jonobacon.org/">Jono Bacon</a> has been working with Benjamin Mako Hill, Corey Burger, Ivan Krstic, Jonathan Jesse and some other authors to write the Official Ubuntu Book. The book will be published by Prentice Hall PTR and available for sale in shops as well as being available online under the CCL license.</p>
<p>One of the chapters of the book provides a range solutions to common problems in the form of recipes. Each recipe describes a specific problem complete with a concise solution. Although a range of recipes have already been written, Jono is looking for your contributions to make it even better. With your contribututions of recipes, the chapter becomes far more expansive and will cover a greater range of areas.</p>
<p>If you are interested in contributing, you should first take a look at <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Official_Ubuntu_Book_Contributions">this wiki page</a> to see which recipies have already been written. If your idea is not already there, write it up and send it to Jono at ubuntubook AT jonobacon DOT org. Those recipes selected for inclusion in the book will get a free signed copy of the book.</p>
<p>When writing you recipe, bear the following points in mind:</p>
<ul>
<li>Each recipe should be under 700 words</li>
<li>Recipies should be submitted in plain text</li>
<li>Keep your language direct and active. Don’t tell the reader what you are going to do, just do it. A great way of avoiding indirect writing is to strip the word ‘will’ out of everything that you write.</li>
<li>Each recipe should have a title such as ‘My USB key does not work’. Keep this short and to the point.</li>
</ul>
<p>The deadline for all submissions is <strong>Sun 5th March</strong>!</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Terms and Conditions</p>
<p>Not all recipes that are submitted can be used. Recipes will be edited for style where required. If your recipe is selected, you will be asked to sign an agreement with the following terms:</p>
<p>Grantee is Prentice Hall PTR and Grantor is yourself.</p>
<p>* Grantor hereby assigns and transfers the Work to Grantee without limitation or restriction, as the sole and exclusive property of Grantee and with the exclusive right to publish and sell the Work in all countries and in all languages, copyright it and to renew any or all of the copyrights in Grantee’s  name or any other name.</p>
<p>* Grantor warrants that he/she is the sole owner of said material and that he/she has full power and authority to copyright it and to make this agreement;  that the said material does not infringe any copyright, violate any property  rights, or contain any libelous or unlawful matter; and that he/she will defend,  indemnify and hold harmless the Grantee against all claims, losses, costs  including attorney’s fees) and damages in connection arising out of any  breach or alleged breach of these warranties.</p>


*Link To Original Article*

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## earobinson

cant wait!

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## ounas

I was wondering when this would be done, good on them.

Can't wait..

-Ounas  :Very Happy:

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## Canguçu

How about making it dual-license? CCL (Creative Commons License?) and Gnu FDL? That way the web version may be re-used by other documentation projects.

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## bored2k

I wonder if it'll include any info/tips regarding Automatix.

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## ubuntu-geek

I wonder if it will mention the forums..  :Smile:

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## bitfoo

How do I change my desktop?
How do I listen to music?
My music won't play.
My video doesn't play.
My DVD doesn't play.
I can't play games.
My games are slow. 
I run <program/game> on Windows, how can I run it on Ubuntu?
How do I change the screensaver. 
How do I get help?
How do I get on the internet?
How do I check my email?
Linux is not rebooting/won't turn off/unhibernate/wakeup.
How can I sync my wireless device to my (work)email/calendar/data  etc?

 :Smile:

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## j0217995

Trying to look through my section in Kubuntu and I think I mention the forums for help on different topics, so yes the forums are mentioned.

Jonathan

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## towsonu2003

double post 

[clinically obsessed with modems, may double post from time to time, may bite, beware]

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## towsonu2003

the list in the wikipage isn't good enough. You should look into the Tips and Tricks section of the forums and check out the best rated / better rated threads... That would be really useful in a book (tips + problems). 

I think the documentation team (gdoc.org or something like that) is doing something similar. Could they help?

PS. I just emailed the writer for winmodems (wiki page). Hopefully, it will be included. [I am so obsessed with winmodems, I may need counseling]

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## cutOff

I like it!

Great ^3

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## az

> I wonder if it will mention the forums..


You should listen to lugradio more often.  They love the forums.  They have said they are excellent.  The lugradio letters jingle was written by a forum member (Jon Dodson).


Lugradio is recorded at Jono Bacon's house.



I wonder if it will mention the wiki?

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## jamesstansell

I added just this kind of recipe to the wiki recently, about how to make OpenOffice.org start faster.  (The key was adjusting the java command that it looks for.)  But as I want it to stay on the wiki, I don't see how I can assign exclusive rights to Prentice Hall.  So I won't be submitting my recipe for this book.

I'm sure this book will be good for many people, but I look forward to one that matches the spirit of Ubuntu itself.

-james.

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## az

Hey!  The deadline has been extended until the 8th!

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## az

It looks like some stuff from the forums will make it into the book....

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## A-star

is it still possible to submit stuff for the book?

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## domzo

> I added just this kind of recipe to the wiki recently, about how to make OpenOffice.org start faster.  (The key was adjusting the java command that it looks for.)  But as I want it to stay on the wiki, I don't see how I can assign exclusive rights to Prentice Hall.  So I won't be submitting my recipe for this book.
> 
> I'm sure this book will be good for many people, but I look forward to one that matches the spirit of Ubuntu itself.
> 
> -james.


This is a very important point. I used to work for a computer book publisher. When you assign 'exclusive rights', they are exactly that - exclusive. 

You won't be able to republish that same work ANYWHERE without permission from Prentice Hall. Say goodbye to your personal/shared blogs/wikis etc.

Prentice Hall may also release the book also under Creative Commons, but remember they will still own the exclusive rights to your work... 

I agree, this book doesn't match the spirit of Ubuntu, so even if I had any decent tips I wouldn't submit them under these licence conditions.

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## domzo

I need to add to this (above).

Okay, so you may be able to publish your work elsewhere under the terms of the Creative Commons licence, but you may not be able to derive other works from it. So if you have written a great tip, and now have a new improved great tip based on the original you might not have the right to publish it withou explicit permission from Prentice Hall.

(I think - I'm not a lawyer!  :Very Happy:  )

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## az

> You won't be able to republish that same work ANYWHERE without permission from Prentice Hall. Say goodbye to your personal/shared blogs/wikis etc.
> 
> Prentice Hall may also release the book also under Creative Commons, but remember they will still own the exclusive rights to your work... 
> 
> I agree, this book doesn't match the spirit of Ubuntu, so even if I had any decent tips I wouldn't submit them under these licence conditions.


I had to sign the contract and I had spoken with the representative from Prentice Hall.  It's a CCL licence which means that all you have to do is state that these are your words in the fist place.  The point is for Prentice Hall to protect themselves, and not to limit the use of your text.   The licence is a public licence which permits redistribution of the text.  They are released to the community, in the spirit of Ubuntu.

I had concerns about a wiki page I started and that others had collaborated on, or stuff I had already mentioned on the forums.

Quote:"Andrew,



The "plain English" concern is that these are your words, and not that you've shared them in other places and forms. The book is being published under a CCL license which means that other folks will be able to reuse the material as well. I just have to warrant that the words/ideas started with you. I don't see any gating problems at all with what you've described below.


Debra"



Since Dapper is delayed for six weeks, I don't know if it is still possible to submit stuff.  Maybe.  Ask.

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## ubuntu27

Check it out! Ubuntu Book is on Amazon!! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0132435942/

Thanks to "LinuxKid" for telling us the "news"

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...624#post886624

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## ubuntu_demon

Mako's latest blog entry about the Official Ubuntu Book :
http://mako.cc/copyrighteous/projects/20060807-00.html

I added the story to my blog :

The Official Ubuntu Book will show up in stores soon
http://ubuntudemon.wordpress.com/200...n-stores-soon/

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## Monotoko

I doubt its coming now man, look at the date of the post above yours, its almost 2 years old.

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## fballem

> I doubt its coming now man, look at the date of the post above yours, its almost 2 years old.


Actually, a new edition of the book is out:

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/...527ubuntu%2527

Indigo is a Canadian bookstore chain. I'm pretty sure it's available from Amazon.

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## Hyside

I wonder how good this book can be considering that Ubuntu updates every 6 months, it would become out of date fairly fast.

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## lukjad

Well, maybe for the LTS edition. I've seen it and I guess it's good to have the help if you are new to linux and want a start off guide. 

PS: I like how the posts are all 2 years ago then a week ago then now.  :Wink:

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