P-H V/386 Manuals (was: Re: CBS UNIX(tm) Manuals.)

[Wolf N. Paul]

In article <657 at pcrat.UUCP> rick at pcrat.UUCP (Rick Richardson) writes:
>And then there's the Prentice Hall UNIX System V/386 series.  Only a couple
>of months ago I made my final 'payment' to own the complete set.  I
>can remember wondering if they expected these manuals to last through
>all those releases.  I guessed that they would come out with addenda
>volumes to describe the changes in 3.2 and maybe again in 4.0.  
>
>Boy, was I wrong!  There's a whole new set of manuals for System V/386,
>*release 3.2*.  Same high prices, and I didn't see anything like an
>upgrade for the original set.  I haven't even cracked open some of
>the manuals and they're now obsolete!

That has been one of the major sore points with MINIX users: Prentice-Hall,
like all other book publishers, has no concept of reduced-price upgrades.

In the book trade, there is no such thing as an upgrade. You want the latest
edition of a work you already own -- well, go and buy it!

That's because (a) new editions cost as much to produce for an upgrade as
for a fresh sale, and (b) book royalty contracts usually are based on 
number of copies sold, whether the buyer already had an earlier edition or not.

And P-H, even when dealing with software (MINIX) or software docs (UNIX, etc.)
is still a traditional book publisher.

Software royalty contracts, on the other hand, often have provisions to pay
a royalty per LICENSEE, rather than per copy of the media. Thus, the publisher
does not pay another royalty for each upgrade he sells to an existing 
user.
-- 
Wolf N. Paul * 3387 Sam Rayburn Run * Carrollton TX 75007 * (214) 306-9101
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