Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!cme!libes
From: libes@cme.nist.gov (Don Libes)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: Perl Reference Manual
Summary: I resent this - well some of it
Message-ID: <5611@muffin.cme.nist.gov>
Date: 6 Aug 90 18:23:23 GMT
References: <1990Aug2.103054@czar.Princeton.EDU> <1990Aug2.182625.28021@iwarp.intel.com> <1990Aug5.115930.10276@pegasus.com> <2311@polari.UUCP> <1990Aug6.170217.20065@iwarp.intel.com>
Reply-To: libes@cme.nist.gov (Don Libes)
Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Lines: 41

In article <1990Aug6.170217.20065@iwarp.intel.com> merlyn@iwarp.intel.com (Randal Schwartz) writes:
>In article <2311@polari.UUCP>, 6sigma2@polari (Brian Matthews) writes:
>| However, has thought been given to making the examples in the book
>| available over the net?  I don't need or want the full text of the book,
>| but not having to type in the examples to use them would be very handy.
>| Randal, Larry, have you talked with the publisher about this?  Any feeling
>| if it's possible?
>
>Larry and I are in discussion right now about how much of the book to
>make available in machine-readable format.  Your requests are being
>noted.  (I hadn't thought of making just the examples available...
>that's a good one!)

This discussion is silly.  Obviously, this book is a for-profit
venture.  If not, it would be made accessible through the same route
that Perl is now.

Don't get me wrong - I have no problem with book selling, but why
would you expect the authors to make the examples machine-readable
when you say "I don't need or want the full text of the book".  If you
aren't going to buy the book, the author's have nothing to gain by
publishing it commercially to begin with.

Ideally, the authors would be happy to sell a completely machine-
readable copy.  This would allow readers to search through it on-line.
But if you expect to download it from jpl.nasa.gov, you're crazy.

	>Stay tuned... it's getting closer...
	>-- 
	>/=Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095

Anyway, I resent these "advertisements" which are clearly only for
profit.  (Well, one is ok, but to see this commercial so frequently is
annoying - even more so because the product doesn't exist yet.)

I'm in no way denigrating the wonderful things Larry has brought us
over the years for no charge.  Larry is entitled to make money on any
efforts people are willing to pay for.  I just don't care to see them
repeatedly advertised.

Don Libes          libes@cme.nist.gov      ...!uunet!cme-durer!libes