Book Errata
Forum: User Feedback
Topic: Book Errata
started by: roberts
Posted by roberts on Sep. 08 2007,23:01
As requested, for posting of errata for the "The Official Damn Small Linux Book".Please post no other.
Posted by Juanito on Sep. 09 2007,03:54
I've just been using the book to build a uci with icons and wrapper (and suceeded thanks to the book). P206, item 4 says:| Quote |
| mkisofs -R -hide-rr-removed -cache-inodes -pad zile/ \ | create_compressed_fs - 65536 > /tmp/zile.uci |
When I tried the format above, I got an error of the form "file not found", but this worked:
| Quote |
| mkisofs -R -hide-rr-removed -cache-inodes -pad zile/ | create_compressed_fs - 65536 > /tmp/zile.uci |
Perhaps there's something about the command I don't understand, or perhaps this is due to gnu-utils being loaded?
The same command is repeated on P199, 201 and 207.
Posted by roberts on Sep. 09 2007,04:07
That "\" was introduced during formatting the text. It is to indicate a continuation, i.e., that long command line could not be formatted to fit on a single line.For example:
$ ls \
> -la
Is the same as ls -la
The backslash is literally meant to break the command at that point.
I agree that the secondary (continuation prompt) ">" should have also been displayed. But then again, it may have just added to the confusion.
HTH
Posted by jpeters on Sep. 25 2007,04:43
P. 73 "Selecting Files and Directories to Back Up with .filetool .lstShould be "Type ls -a /home/dsl to see the .filetool.lst file" (not ls -l )
Posted by jpeters on Oct. 06 2007,20:19
P. 207 3. # cp -a /opt/zile
needs a destination: (sudo cp -a /opt/zile . )
Posted by jpeters on Oct. 07 2007,19:17
P.105First paragraph: "Because these extension types are mounted, you
can return your system to a pristine state by simply unmounting the extentions or rebooting"
UNC's can't "simply" be unmounted
Posted by roberts on Oct. 07 2007,19:32
What I wrote versus what I meant.P.105
First paragraph: "Because these extension types are mounted, you can return your system to a pristine state by simply unmounting the UCI extensions or rebooting (both UCI and UNC) extensions. This is true ..."
Posted by jpeters on Oct. 07 2007,21:35
| Quote (roberts @ Oct. 07 2007,15:32) |
| What I wrote versus what I meant. P.105 First paragraph: "Because these extension types are mounted, you can return your system to a pristine state by simply unmounting the UCI extensions or rebooting (both UCI and UNC) extensions. This is true ..." |
Same thing when I'm writing a report. Why doesn't the reader know what I meant?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 10 2008,22:16
| Quote (roberts @ Sep. 09 2007,00:07) |
| I agree that the secondary (continuation prompt) ">" should have also been displayed. But then again, it may have just added to the confusion. |
I vote for the 'secondary (continuation prompt) ">" ' because that is what the beginner will see if they use the line continuation escape character and a carriage return.
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 11 2008,21:57
Page 25, "... (currently, 1GB models are offered)."Perhaps this could be left out of the book since technology is moving too rapidly for editions of the book to be correct in this statement.
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 11 2008,22:43
Page 32, " A Qemu Virtual Macine version -- ... within a running Linux system."I believe Chapter 7 describes running in a running Windows system. Should the "Linux" reference be changed to a "Windows" reference?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,00:22
Page 45 the title, "Running in Background Services Daemons of DSL" perhaps should be "Running Background Services Daemons of DSL"?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,00:40
Page 52 "correspon-ding" is broken across two lines. I believe the syllables are "cor·re·spond·ing", thus the break needs to be somewhere other than before the "d".
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,00:48
Page 55 "In this section, we are outlying ..."Is "outlying" a typographical error of some other word? Perhaps, "outlining"?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,00:52
Page 56 "It packs features that browsers ..."Is Beaver an editor or a browser or both?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,00:58
Page 56 "... otherwise constraint systems."How about "... otherwise constrained systems."?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,19:53
Page 67, "Often daemons are perform ..."Perhaps that should be, "Often daemons perform ..."?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,19:57
Page 68, Under BetaFTPD, "Yet, mainly include BetaFTPD easy cross-platform file sharing when one does not have access to an SCP client."Are there some words missing from that sentence. I don't quite understand what it is attempting to say.
Posted by lucky13 on April 12 2008,20:05
Why don't you make one list as you go through the book instead of adding each page's errors and bumping a seven month-old thread like this?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,20:54
| Quote (lucky13 @ April 12 2008,16:05) |
| Why don't you make one list as you go through the book instead of adding each page's errors and bumping a seven month-old thread like this? |
Mainly so I know I have not missed reporting the errs I find. I find an err; I report the err; I move forward.
I approach it the same way I would approach errs in a code module. If the err is separable from other errs, that is, has no apparent cross-effect that should be researched, I report it. That way, if any err needs individual comment, it can be separately discussed.
The thread really is only as dormant as the sale of the book and will go quiet again when I am finished reading my newly purchased copy. If I was reporting errors against DSL would you expect me to leave errs unreported just because the current version had been officially released seven months ago and I am just now experiencing the bad behaviour?
I don't intend to cause anyone any additional work, but the errs do exist in the copy of the book that is currently being sold.
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,21:03
Page 73, Two occurences of ".filetool.1st" instead of ".filetool.lst", that is, the numeral one instead of the letter "el".Page 74, another two occurences.
Posted by lucky13 on April 12 2008,22:24
| Quote |
| If I was reporting errors against DSL would you expect me to leave errs unreported just because the current version had been officially released seven months ago and I am just now experiencing the bad behaviour? |
Minor grammatical and spelling errors don't lead to bad book behavior.
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 12 2008,22:36
| Quote (lucky13 @ April 12 2008,18:24) |
| Minor grammatical and spelling errors don't lead to bad book behavior. |
The book becomes a misrepresentation of the quality of the product. (At least I hope it is a misrepresentation.)
Thank you, lucky13, for the correction.
Posted by lucky13 on April 12 2008,22:53
Oh geez.Edit...
| Quote |
| The book becomes a misrepresntation of the quality of the product. (At least I hope it is a misrepresntation.) |
You misspelled misrepresentation. TWICE. Look at the 'quality' of our new grammar cop.
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 13 2008,00:26
Page 112, "... to read the extensions' info file." perhaps should be "... to read the extension's info file."The previous verbiage refers to "an extension". The context appears to be referencing one extension, even though the advice to read the info file applies to all extensions.
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 13 2008,02:19
Page 122, "There are also some types on how ..."Perhaps, "There are also some tips on how ..."
Posted by jpeters on April 13 2008,02:37
Well, it looks like the money they paid for their professional editing service will need to be returned.
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 13 2008,02:41
Page 126, "Next you will be presented with a question about drive location, as shown in Figure 6-4."I believe the drive location was established after the display looked as is recorded in Figure 6-3. Figure 6-4 appears to include the responses to the installation or upgrade and the location of the DSL iso questions.
Perhaps this sentence is a remainder from a previous edit of the book text and needs to be reworked to match the current Figure set?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 13 2008,03:09
Page 127, "Next you are asked to choose language options: ...; and so on.""and so on." presumes two things are known by the reader, the language designator abbreviations being used are the International Standard designations (if that is true) and where one finds the designations for the other languages if another is needed.
I would not bring this up if I was not under the impression this book is written to allow the use of DSL as one's entry into the *nix community.
Additional question, do all the applications in the LiveCD support the same set of languages to the same degree?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 13 2008,03:20
Page 130, "Before the script proceeds, it needs to know if you are installing DSL for the first time or are upgrading. The dialog is shown in Figure 6-8."With the exception of the reference to Figure 6-8, isn't this what the previous paragraph stated? Perhaps the Figure reference could be incorporated into the previous paragraph and the remaining sentence, "Before ... upgrading." eliminated?
Posted by roberts on April 13 2008,03:26
| Quote |
I would not bring this up if I was not under the impression this book is written to allow the use of DSL as one's entry into the *nix community. |
The book is not an introduction to *nix. It is a handbook for DSL and in particular to document its unique features.
| Quote |
Additional question, do all the applications in the LiveCD support the same set of languages to the same degree? |
No not all. Most of the apps were chosen for size and function not language support. DSL is mostly english only. Language and keymaps are still a challenge in most cases.
Posted by jpeters on April 13 2008,03:58
| Quote (DmSmLxRep @ April 12 2008,23:20) |
| Page 130, "Before the script proceeds, it needs to know if you are installing DSL for the first time or are upgrading. The dialog is shown in Figure 6-8." With the exception of the reference to Figure 6-8, isn't this what the previous paragraph stated? Perhaps the Figure reference could be incorporated into the previous paragraph and the remaining sentence, "Before ... upgrading." eliminated? |
Well, I had to open my book to check this out. It's true, and then repeated yet a third time as the figure description ("you are asked if you want to upgrade or install"). Funny though, many readers will next proceed to install vs upgrade, and then complain on the board that there was no other option after their drive was reformatted.
I hope you're available before the next version. I'm horrible at editing.
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 13 2008,13:31
| Quote (roberts @ April 12 2008,23:26) | ||
The book is not an introduction to *nix. It is a handbook for DSL and in particular to document its unique features. |
I stand corrected. I will go back and re-read the Introduction with that firmly in mind.
| Quote | ||
No not all. Most of the apps were chosen for size and function not language support. DSL is mostly english only. Language and keymaps are still a challenge in most cases. |
Perhaps a note to that effect is in order near the explanations of the language choice entry on Pages 127 and 131?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 13 2008,14:38
On Page 135, "... you need to save them in your pen drive's mydsl/directory." perhaps should be "... mydsl/ directory"? That is, perhaps the font change should not include the word "directory"?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 13 2008,15:11
Page 139, "... Qemu achieves good performance do to ..." perhaps should be "... due to ..."?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 16 2008,00:23
Page 123, "... you need to know your device ... To do that, you need to look at the output from dmesg."Perhaps a little more guidance could be given as to what we need to "look at"? dmesg(8) produces a lot of output that is not relevant to identifying the device name. The install scripts seem to know what to display from the dmesg output. How about a description of what they use to construct that display?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 18 2008,18:03
Page 124, "The display look much like what you see in Figure 6-1." perhaps should be, "The display should look ..."
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 18 2008,18:14
Page 128, "After the installation is complete, you are free to close the term window."And what should we do if we used the boot install option?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 18 2008,18:25
Page 131, "Customization of the boot-up process is possible by adding variable when prompted, ..." perhaps should be "... by adding values ...".It also seems this information is more fully explained in the previous paragraph. Perhaps this sentence needs to be incorporated into that paragraph?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 18 2008,20:43
Page 133, "Using a LiveCD to Boot a Pen Drive". It appears this section assumes the pen drive was created in the USB-HDD format. Perhaps that should be noted in the opening paragraphs.
Posted by lucky13 on April 18 2008,21:36
Are you going to do this for the remaining 300+ pages? Is there any way to exempt this thread from the view of new posts if you're not going to just keep a list of these on your own computer and post them en masse? Are you related to Mrs Jackson, my anal-retentive 10th grade honors English teacher? I'm having flashbacks. 
Posted by jpeters on April 19 2008,04:47
| Quote (lucky13 @ April 18 2008,17:36) |
| Are you going to do this for the remaining 300+ pages? Is there any way to exempt this thread from the view of new posts if you're not going to just keep a list of these on your own computer and post them en masse? Are you related to Mrs Jackson, my anal-retentive 10th grade honors English teacher? I'm having flashbacks. |
If I published a book, I'd want DSLR on the payroll! Interesting the number of errors he's found that nobody else noticed (or I'll speak for myself, anyway), and on a board full of anal-retentives (perhaps also OCD's).
Posted by jaapz on April 19 2008,10:01
Still, he better should have used the edit button xD
Posted by lucky13 on April 19 2008,13:48
| Quote |
| If I published a book, I'd want DSLR on the payroll! |
Big difference between putting someone on a payroll and getting flooded with 30-something one-line editorial suggestions, often several in one day, in a half year-old thread related to a now half year-old book. I don't mind the arm-chair editing (if it keeps'em off the streets...), just the incessant bumps an old thread gets. The same thing could be accomplished by keeping a list on one's own computer and then pasting the suggestions/corrections here once or even once a week -- especially if it continues at the rate of an entry for every four pages (he's presently on course for 100+ "errata"-related posts).
(I have a theory about DSLR's identity and it has nothing to do with my menopausal wreck of an English teacher. Hint: "known issues.")
Posted by jpeters on April 19 2008,14:45
| Quote (lucky13 @ April 19 2008,09:48) |
| (I have a theory about DSLR's identity and it has nothing to do with my menopausal wreck of an English teacher. Hint: "known issues.") |
If true, he more likely would have been correcting the pictures.
Posted by lucky13 on April 19 2008,14:47
| Quote |
| If true, he more likely would have been correcting the pictures. |
Shhhhhh, don't give him ideas.
Posted by roberts on April 19 2008,17:09
Let's look on the positive side. With such a fine comb reading of the book, DSLR,will be able to help answer new user questions,
by actually quoting the book's page number and a link to his correction.
I wonder if he will want to do the Wiki next?
Posted by DmSmLxRep on April 20 2008,04:12
Page 135, "Saving Extension on a USB-HDD Installation" perhaps should be "Saving Extensions ..."
Posted by lkraemer on April 20 2008,19:25
Error located on p.18 4th sentence from bottom of page.Backports for improvements can be added in the same. way.
should be
Backports for improvements can be added in the same way.
LK
Posted by DmSmLxRep on Sep. 30 2008,13:59
My apologies to lucky13 for once again adding to this thread, but I thought it would be useful for everyone to know I have copied all the information here to the DSL Wiki article "The Official Damn Small Linux Book", < http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki....ux_Book >I suggest any further Errata found be reported there.
Posted by stunix*com on Oct. 26 2008,10:57
I found another minor error in the (still exceptional) book, but I'm nervous about being flamed for posting it and taking up space on the forum or messing up the wiki. However, this then poses the question, why is it here if not to communicate and document information including error correction, which may well be useful in writing the forthcoming "DSL 2 - Return of the ping!".?
I see the point in 'saving, then posting "en masse"' but personally I'm glad someone is taking the trouble.
Too many on-line communities create barriers to freedom of speech through feelings vented in black and white, where underlying meanings are not conveyed or mis-understood.
"POST FREELY" I say. Let the moderator make the decision. In this case, too much info is better than too little.
ps. I hope he is looking at the wiki, it does need some work. My view as a developer is that the wiki should be for information storage and the forum for communication.
stu
