Re: [Exim] What do you want in a book?

On 2000-08-15 at 13:20 +0100, Roger Burton-West gifted us with:
> (The rants on this topic can be saved for ASR. The short version:
> dammit I can read documentation, why does it seem as if nobody else
> can?)

Which single piece of documentation would you refer someone to, which
explains things clearly?

One chapter which warms the reader up, leading them through the basics,
such as those I mentioned, and things like "what are email headers" and
"Received:" headers and "What's the SMTP Envelope?" - all things which
establish clearly what's being talked about, and leaves a whole bunch of
people less confused. Many of the people setting up MTAs these days are
GNU/Linux users who've migrated from Windows and have been shielded "for
their own good" from how things work.

10 to 15 pages on subject basics for a first chapter is something which
would mean that I could recommend the book to a lot more people. I
could say, "Yes, sendmail.cf _is_ line noise. Here, borrow this book,
it explains how everything works, how a mail system fits together, and
teaches you about a good piece of software called Exim. And here's a
floppy disk with the latest Exim on it. Yes, we still have software
which fits on a floppy. Keep the disk, give me the book back in a
couple of weeks".

I have a reasonable personal library, and at any given time a number of
the books are on loan. Some of them are books which people end up
buying for themselves after having already read it. A good mail book
will fill a good gap in the market. Because I've not seen one (unless
you want to learn sendmail rewriting rules).

If necessary, Part I and Part II, with Part I being the newbie
introduction, leading through things like MX records and what they
should point to, what smarthosting is (showing use of route_list in an
Exim router). Etc etc. The first part with all of this should be well
under 100 pages, leaving the meat of the book to continue in more depth.

My not-quite-so-humble opinion,
--
"We've got a patent on the conquering of a country through the use of force.
We believe in world peace through extortionate license fees." -Bluemeat