“I’ve been working with technical books for quite a while now,
as a reader, a reviewer and an author. I’ve also been working with
Linux and other free software for a long time. Often, I’ve wondered
how publishers could take advantage of the testing that software
receives as it goes through alpha and beta cycles. Recently,
several publishers have begun to take advantage of that testing
cycle for their books. Here, I take a look at how they’re doing.
I’m not involved in any of these books, so what follows is
completely an outsider’s view.“Although several publishers now have early access programs, I’m
focusing on three: Pragmatic Programmers, Manning Press and Apress.
In each case, I look at the quality of the offering, the benefits
and the negatives…”