Acknowledgments

Andrew Hudson

Wowthe amount of times The Fedora Project moved the goalposts was unbelievable, making writing this book challenging and even more enjoyable than usual. I would like to offer my thanks to a few people who have helped form this book. First of all I have to tip my hat to the Fedora community, which has come a long way in the nine months of development for Fedora Core 5. The new release is fantastic and places Fedora firmly ahead in the distro stakes.

Secondly I would like to thank Damon Jordan for putting up with our continuing requests for extensions. It was certainly worth it, and his encouragement and management of the text was first class; without him, there would be no book. Once again Damon has kept his cool whilst working with two quirky Brits. Mike Henry sets a new standard for copy editing, managing to successfully tie up our text and figures, keeping us on track. Thanks also to Dallas Releford who again provided technical criticism of the text, providing helpful advice and suggestions; it was certainly appreciated.

Of course, those who are nearest to you take the most heat when you are on deadline. Paul has been a great co-writer, offering suggestions and a sounding board for several changes that made their way into this edition. We are turning out to be a good writing team, something which neither of us could have predicted. Our parents are equally stunned by our cooperation and we cherish them for their love.

Behind every good man is a very surprised woman, and this is certainly true of my wife Bernice. She has provided a lot of support to me for writing this book, allowing me to shut myself away from dirty nappies, bottles, and dummies/binkies/pacifiers in order to complete this book. Our son John is a miracle, and is a constant motivation for me whenever I see him.

During the course of writing this book, Paul and I lost our grandfather to lung cancer. Our Bampa passed away with dignity and we have many fond memories of him. He taught me to work hard and have patience, two things that have stood me in good stead during the writing of this book.

Finally I want to thank Almighty God for the many blessings he has given to meI only hope I use them for His glory.

Paul Hudson

Although there are only two names on the cover of this book, it is the culmination of many years of writing, refining, testing, rewriting, exploration, and passion from many people. I feel lucky to be part of the team and want to thank the others for their enthusiasm and humorit makes a huge difference to know that everyone who works on this book enjoys the topic!

I'm grateful to the entire team at Pearson for their help and feedback, particularly Damon, Dallas, and Mikeit's great to work with people who really care about free software and want to help others along that same journey. Of course, Andrew and I both owe a huge debt to our good friend Hoyt Duff, who we hope is somewhere sunny buffing up a classic car!

My family's contribution to this work has been immense. Andrew was brave in accepting the job of co-writing, but it turns out that we work in tandem very wellhe has done a marvelous job, and we are both very proud of this end result. My wife, Ildiko, managed to put up with even more months of me doing no housework, although I think that the minute I am finished with this it is back to the grindstone for me (why do you think these acknowledgements are so long?). My parents have been immensely supportive throughout, and I love them dearly.

Finally, none of this work would have been possible without the grace of God. Andrew and I have been blessed to be able to write this book, and I pray it blesses you even more.