Re: [docbook] Re: DocBook: The Definitive Guide - Copyright Problem

[Bradford C Smith <bradford.smith@usermail.com>]

On Tue, May 20, 2003 at 12:53:34PM -0400, Norman Walsh wrote:
> | Should you really want it, you can find a tarball at
> | http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/d/docbook-defguide/, made from
> | the CVS data.
> 
> Who's responsible for this? Does it actually parse? Does it include
> all the generated files?

I can't answer all of those questions, but I can tell you why this
tarball exists.  It is a side-effect of the Debian Linux packaging of
the guide.  When a Debian maintainer packages a piece of software or
documentation, he first gets a pristine copy from the original source.
Then he makes a copy of it in which he adds the necessary files and
directories to create a Debian package and possibly tweaks the source
code itself to make it integrate properly with Debian.  Then three
things are made available for public download:

1. A tarball of the original source.
2. A patch that can be applied to get the source as compiled and
   packaged by Debian.
3. The final debian package.

The purpose of this, as I understand it, is to make sure Debian users
can always see exactly what the original source was and what changes
were made to it by the Debian Maintainer(s).

Since I run Debian at work, I looked up the information about this
package and have included it below.

<snip>

Package: docbook-defguide
Priority: optional
Section: doc
Installed-Size: 10244
Maintainer: Yann Dirson <dirson@debian.org>
Architecture: all
Version: 2.0.8-1
Replaces: docbook-book
Provides: docbook-book
Suggests: docbook, docbook-xml
Conflicts: docbook-book
Filename: pool/main/d/docbook-defguide/docbook-defguide_2.0.8-1_all.deb
Size: 1095482
MD5sum: c625ae4de281eeba41d2f6693ec35238
Description: DocBook: The Definitive Guide - HTML version
 The official reference manual for the DocBook 4.x SGML and XML DTD,
 by Norman Walsh, Leonard Muellner, and Bob Stayton.  This version is
 an evolution of the book of the same name published by O'Reilly
 (which documented DocBook 3.1).
 .
 This is a work in progress, which attempts to fully document
 DocBook
 4.1, but may be inconsistent in some places.
 .
 The HTML rendering is a work in progress as well.  Suggestions
 welcomed via the Debian bug-tracking system.

</snip>

Hmmm.  Looks like the Debian maintainer is the same guy who posted the
tarball link on this list.  So, I'm sure he can give you more details if
you want them, and correct me where I'm wrong. ;-)

HTH,

Bradford C Smith