Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote: > In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Blair P. > Houghton wrote: > > > wesley chun wrote: > >> > >> 1. never write against older versions of Python... you will only > >> obsolete your book even faster (well, "sooner") > > > > I believe there is some market for documentation of older > > versions of software. Many installations are constrained > > by the cost of upgrading and can not migrate to a newer > > version. > > And they can afford to buy books??
Buying a book costs $40, max. An hour of upgrade wrangling costs $40, min. And it's never just one person involved. And it's never just an hour. And yes, there are plenty of places using software, especially "free" software, for which any expense greater than a book is a major decision. > If they're that strapped for cash, it's cheaper to access documentation on > the Web. Yes, it is, but the documentation on the web doesn't make the author any money, which is why it's poorly constructed, poorly edited, difficult to read, inaccurate, and abandoned when the next version of the software comes out. If book authors are reluctant to get paid to write new books for old versions of systems, can you imagine how few people want to maintain old web-docs for old versions of systems? But there's a market there for someone willing to make a few bucks, and a publisher with the savvy to find it and serve it. --Blair -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
