Novell NetWare |
In an effort to please myself,
I started writing a book about Novell NetWare 2.15 and 3.11. But there turned out to be other interested parties,
who thought the text was both fun and pedagogic. The book was named 75 good advice to the owner of a Novell
network (75 råd till dig som har Novells nätverk), was published in 1993 and printed in 5000 copies,
which were all was sold out rather fast. That's pretty unique for a book covering such a narrow subject, in the
small country of Sweden.
The book got good reviews and one schoolteacher wrote something like this in a letter: “I was thrown in as systems administrator for the campus network, and as your book seems to be the only one in the Swedish language, covering the subject with enough detail, I...” A large part of the popularity was due to good pedagogics, good humour and the large command syntax summary.
IDG sold the book in Denmark too, and it was
so popular that it was translated into Danish and published in 1994. They gave it the name Novell NetWare.
Short and snappy.
NetWare 2.15 disappeared from the
scene and NetWare 4 started to march in. Soon there was time for more updates, among others in the Configurations
and Windows chapters. NetWare Lite, Novell's short-lived try on peer-to-peer networking was gone, and more tips
and tricks on Windows was added. The book was now named 94 good advice to the owner of a Novell network
(94 råd till dig som har Novells nätverk) and was published in 1994.
Novell announced they were going to drop
the support for NetWare 3.2 (which they eventually didn't do, but those were the forecasts) and the world was to
be guided towards NetWare 4 and the NDS system. It was necessary to reissue the book. The new name was The great
big guide to Novell's networks (Stora guiden till Novells nätverk), it counted nearly 400 pages and was
published 1996. Now, the emphasis was on Novell Directory Services, the feature that gives you the possibility
to manage all the resources of the network from a single location. The book was reprinted in 1998.
IDG\Books in Sweden has a page about the book on their site (in Swedish only).
The Internet |
Suddenly the Internet was a hot subject and
of course my publisher wanted a book about it. In co-operation with my journalist friend Ahrvid Engholm, I wrote
The great big guide to the Internet (Stora guiden om Internet) that became an immediate best-seller in 1994
(10,000 copies in the first printing, great for little Sweden). My part of the text covered modem technology, communication
theory and a little about the graphic user interface. To set us aside from other books about the Internet, covering
only the World Wide Web, having half the book filled up with descriptions of web sites that will be gone three
months later anyway, we directed this book towards the practical side of getting connected to the Internet, and
other providers of data, such as BBS's. We thought practical modem management and troubleshooting to be more interesting
than simple web surfing.
In 1995 the Internet had changed so much,
that it was time for a reissue of The great big guide to the Internet (Stora guiden om Internet). Graphical
tools had come into the picture (Netscape Navigator and others) and other software for management of the Internet
resources had sprung up. The list data had became outdated, and had to be updated, as well.
MS-DOS |
MS-DOS is not dead, if that's what you think. I had a request
from the KnowWare publishing house about a book on DOS which would be sold in the Swedish Pressbyrån (ordinary
kiosks), which I found quite exciting. It was named A shortcut to DOS (Genvägen till DOS) and was priced
at only SEK 45 (USD 5.60 approx.). Strangely enough, people still buy books about MS-DOS, and the publisher makes
a profit. Once again the pedagogics and humour play an important part. DOS lives! You can find KnowWare
if you click here (a summary available in English only)!
The Book of Acronyms |
I am compiling a book of acronyms. Computer network technology is an area containing way too many acronyms, and many people use acronyms blindly without knowing what they actually mean. Something I thought I'd do something about.
Americans love acronyms. There are even acronyms for acronyms. “TLA” means “Three Letter Acronym,” ridiculing those who just barf out acronyms high and low. Just read through a computer magazine, and the acronyms start falling all over you. The magazines never really care to explain all the acronyms, and the reader is the loser. So far no book publisher has been interested in the list, but I search on. Perhaps you would be interested in publishing it? (in Swedish). The link takes you to a short extract from the, presently, 6000 lines long list.
Lustifications |
Ralph Lundsten's Lustifications (Lustbarheter)
was published in 1992, and it is one of the finest books I have ever done, although I didn't write it myself. It
was also the very first book published in Sweden, containing a CD record. Ralph Lundsten is the best known composer
of electronic music in Sweden, and the most played composer in the world, on top of that. His music is in the back
of everyone's mind in Sweden, and you can find his homepage by clicking here!
|
Title |
Pages |
ISBN |
Publisher |
Language |
Year of issue |
|
75 good advice to the owner of a Novell network |
130 |
91-88310-03-5 |
IDG\Books |
Swedish |
1993 |
|
Novell NetWare |
214 |
87-7843-008-9 |
IDG\Books |
Danish |
1994 |
|
94 good advice to the owner of a Novell network |
241 |
91-88310-23-X |
IDG\Books |
Swedish |
1994 |
|
The great big guide to Novell's networks |
374 |
91-88310-44-2 |
IDG\Books |
Swedish |
1996, |
|
The great big guide to the Internet |
346 |
91-88310-42-6 |
IDG\Books |
Swedish |
1994 |
|
The great big guide to the Internet 2 |
354 |
91-88310-70-1 |
IDG\Books |
Swedish |
1995 |
|
A shortcut to DOS |
64 |
91-88782-05-0 |
KnowWare Publishing |
Swedish |
1995 |
