Acknowledgments

Bill Ball

To all my readers: Thank you for the numerous comments, criticisms, and critiques from all over the world—I cherish your thoughts. Thanks to my previous acquisitions editor, Katie Mohr, and my new acquisitions editor, Shelley Johnston, for helping make this book one of the best guides to Linux on the market. I wish Katie all the best in her new job, and hope that Shelley can put up with her new charge without losing her mind. Thanks also to fellow author Hoyt Duff for his contributions, advice, and help while writing this book. Thanks to Dave Taylor, DeeAnne LeBlanc, and Chris Newman for their technical expertise and to Lorna Gentry for applying expert development edits to this book's drafts. No acknowledgment in a Linux book would be complete without a big nod to the thousands of programmers around the world who freely share their knowledge, time, and talent in producing quality software such as Linux, XFree86, The GNU Project, and the many software packages created for or ported to Linux. Kind words are also due to friends and comrades-in-arms in the Northern Virginia Linux Users Group (NOVALUG), especially founder Greg Pryzby. NOVALUG has been and continues to be a communal source of inspiration for ideas, hardware hacks, and software fixes. Acknowledgment must be given to Richard M. Stallman for the GNU GPL and to Linus B. Torvalds for sharing Linux with the world. Finally, grateful thanks are extended to Virginia Beach, VA's Lynnhaven Pier for access to voracious bluefish, and to the best bartender in the world, Lorenzo Castrejon, and his wife, Consuelo, a fantastic gourmet cook at Las Palmas, the finest Mexican restaurant in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Hoyt Duff

Until I participated in writing this book, I had no idea the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes by the many editors involved. The popular notion is that editors are mean people intent on destroying the authors' creation. That makes for good cocktail party chatter, but the reality is far from that stereotype. The editors associated with this book are delightful, professional folks who obviously enjoy what they do; I've learned a great deal about writing from them. Thank you Shelley, Lorna, Elizabeth, Rhonda, and all the staff at Sams Publishing.

Special thanks to coauthor Bill Ball, whose affable manner and smooth talk once again persuaded me to tackle this tough project along with him. His support has helped me through the rough spots. He's a pretty good fisherman as well.

The Red Hat folks, the beta testers, and all the software authors and open-source contributors who have helped make Linux the phenomenon that is has become are due my thanks and appreciation as well. Their accomplishments are legion. Without them, I might be writing Windows books.

Special thanks goes to Chris Newman for his contribution to this edition of Red Hat Fedora Unleashed. Without his hard work and fast and furious turnaround it never would have happened.