Hey Tim!

When are you guys going to do a book on LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol for the uninitiated)???

LDAP is just *dying* to explode on the Internet scene if people would just understand it better. Right now, it is a bit obtuse to even the more experienced--but, as usual, your books can clear that up in no time.

Remember, the Internet (and LDAP) are waiting on YOU! (hint, hint)

Pat B.
nomad SUN instructor

Pat,

I do think directories are a very important idea, and LDAP may be the answer we're all waiting for. But I have to disagree that LDAP is dying to explode, if only a good book could be written. The presence of a book can boost a software project that already has momentum, but it can't make it happen if it isn't already on the move.

We get asked all the time to write books to help boost a project, and we almost always turn them down. Part of the problem is that if you release a book before the market is ready, bookstores will give up on it. Then when the market is ready, once burned, they may not carry the book.

In addition, for the kind of books that O'Reilly publishes--in-depth books based on hands-on experience--it is hard to write a book early in a project's lifecycle. We don't know enough yet about what works and what doesn't, and the problems that people are having. This is a generalization, of course, since there are often early adopters who have the necessary experience. But they don't necessarily have the time to write a book.

As a result, you'll usually see an O'Reilly book after a project has been out for a year or two, and has a base of enthusiastic and experienced users.

--Tim

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