In Search of Certainty

Appendix D. Acknowledgements

In this, my first attempt writing popular science, I have striven to tell a complex story of ideas—one that has lived implicitly inside my mind for many years, without particular form or narrative. The act of finally putting it down on the page precipitated many practical problems, such as how much foreknowledge to expect of readers, and how to keep the story both concise and interesting to a wide readership. It was a particular challenge to get everything into an order that would maximize the understanding of the reader, without becoming laborious. Inevitably my version of the story will have its shortcomings, and while potentially improved by the advice of friends and colleagues, I was not able to accommodate all suggestions, and I am entirely responsible for the final result. In some ways, this is the story of the thinking behind CFEngine, but I have avoided discussing details of CFEngine as it is now a commercial company, and I did not want to sully a good story with any taint of marketing or suggestion of competitive bias. Thus, I have not attempted to suggest that CFEngine is better or worse than its competition, I have limited to discussion to an estimation of its own success in solving certain issues.

My understanding of the issues in the book owes much to discussions with colleagues, students and friends over the years. I’d like to mention a few of those that have given me pause to think, in no particular order:

Siri Fagernes, Kyrre Begnum, John ...