Why don't we buy sysadmin books anymore? | Hacker News Reader

Why don't we buy sysadmin books anymore?

standalone-sysadmin.com

12 pointsstandaloneSA9 comments

* Because server software configuration sucks much less now (compare sendmail.cf to Postfix or qmail)

* Because modern server software is more sophisticated and delegates less to insanely complicated configurations; more unicorns and fairy dust, more "batteries included"

* Because things that involve complex configurations are more likely to sprout "aftermarket" utilities (like monit or god)

* Because a 5-minute "get it up and running" first user experience is now the barrier to entry for new server programs

* Because so much server software starts out pure open source and requires good documentation just to get people to use it in the first place

* Because high-end sysadmins are far more likely to be Python, Perl, or Ruby programmers now than they were in 1996

Because after the author has spent a year putting words to the page, getting it printed, putting it on the shelves, getting positive reviews, and getting word of mouth out there, the software I'm using has gone from 2.x to 3.x, the config file format has changed, and it's compatible with the thing I couldn't figure out already.

I could understand buying RHEL books, since RHEL (by virtue of 'tested and supported' software), is typically a few years behind the times anyway, or 'starter' books for people who aren't familiar with the topic, but there are so many good howtos, config examples, setup scripts, utilities, IRC channels, etc. that spending $80 on a book that will likely only come in handy two or three times before it's completely out of date just makes no sense at all.

Software these days moves too fast for dead trees to keep up. Give me a Safari Bookshelf app on my iPad and maybe we can talk.

Just in case you didn't know, the Safari Bookshelf mobile website is quite good. Most of the books I use are deemed "mobile friendly" and the experience is good enough that at times I will choose to read on my iPhone rather than on my desktop.

I didn't know, but I'll consider taking a look. I find it's far too expensive to be worthwhile though, at least at the advertised prices.

Become an ACM member. Membership includes access to a subset of Safari Books and Books 24x7.

Funny, looking by my recycle bin, there are three large stacks of outdated unix/linux/sysadmin books. The best resource for recipes is the internet once you have the base.

Seems technology moves faster than books can be written, published, and shipped. The digestion cycle is just too long for this media. Personally, I see a big future in people publishing their own ebooks. Cuts many of these old fashioned publishers out of the game and returns profits to the people.

Because we have the internet, and most books with "Sysadmin" anywhere in the title are garbage beyond entry-level.

There are a few gems out there about system engineering and longer-term good practices, but anything else is a waste of time.

It also depends on your definition of sysadmin books. I recently purchased Windows Powershell 2.0 TFM. Could I have found most of this information on the web? Most definitely, but buying the book allows me to have it all in one place. In addition to that I get it in a limited amount of voices.

I'm not even an admin. Powershell is just too much frakkin fun. If you haven't checked it out yet you should. Maybe you will find it is not for you, but maybe you will enjoy it as much as I do.

i bet the rise of cloud hosting providers and SaaS has decreased the demand for sysadmins and self-hosting. Also the state of free online tech info is much better than say in the 90's, plus there's all the pirated and copylefted ebooks and PDF's available through mechanisms like BitTorrent.

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