after lots of feedback and pondering from yesterday, i hope i'm not
abusing this mailing list by posting what i've come up with as an
alternative. this would be plan b -- there will be no plan c that i
can think of so i won't be dragging this out any further.
from various sources, it seemed clear that the proper model was that
i need to officially *sell* something so that's what i'm proposing.
i propose an online course in kernel programming for beginners,
available in weekly installments where each week or so, there will be
a new lesson that follows from all of the previous content. it will be
modelled after my former kernel newbie column but it will be updated
somewhat and cover way more material.
it will not simply be documentation -- it will be a *course* in that
each lesson will require you to *do* stuff on your system. you won't
just read how to build and boot a new kernel, you'll do it. and
you'll have that week or so between lessons to get it right. (i just
know that someone's going to suggest putting the whole thing out there
at once. ain't gonna happen as i *want* to do this over time, since
it gives me time between lessons to correct any glitches and adjust
future content based on feedback. so if you were going to suggest
just making it available as a full course right now ... don't.)
and the cost? i was thinking something like $39 (cdn). so for
people who freaked over the idea of five dollars yesterday, well,
you're clearly not my target market. and if you'd prefer to get
perhaps a slightly more professional course but pay $7-800 for it,
elsewhere, that's entirely your choice. and what would you get for
your $39?
obviously, registered user access to all posted lessons, as well as
access to a comments section for each lesson where you and other
students can ask questions and make suggestions. and i'll certainly
be participating in those forums as well. if others can answer
questions, awesome, it just saves me the time and lets me keep
writing. and that's pretty much it -- about six months worth (exact
topics and timeline to be determined) of kernel programming for
beginners, along with an online forum for continual discussion. for
something like that, i don't think $39 is excessive.
but wait, you say! there will be piracy! of course there will.
one person can register, and simply share that with 100 of his or her
closest friends, nothing i can do about that. but only registered
users will be able to participate in the forums and maybe have the
right to email me the occasional question.
finally, as to wondering whether it would be worth the $39, i figure
i can make the first four lessons available for free so anyone can
play along for the first month. at the end of that month, you should
have a good idea whether that's for you and you want to continue, or
you're not interested and you walk away, having spent nothing.
(there's no bait and switch here -- it will be clear from the start
that while the first month is free, you have to subscribe after that.
i think that's fair.)
and let me emphasize that this course is targeted at *beginning*
kernel programmers. if you're already accomplished, you probably
won't learn that much but you never know.
your thoughts?
and please restrict feedback here to what you would consider
*serious* observations or objections, as in, "holy jeez, rob, that's a
disastrously bad idea and it will fail because of XXXXXX," that sort
of thing. don't nitpick by asking, "when you say six months, do you
mean six months *exactly* or just 24 lessons?" obviously, there are
still details to be resolved -- what i'm curious about is whether
an actual *course*, with regular lessons and exercises, has more
appeal to people than what i presented yesterday.
i bounced this idea off another colleague yesterday evening, and he
didn't seem optimistic that it would work since it's not clear who my
target market is. and he's right. i could spend an inordinate amount
of time researching how to market this course, and how to price it and
so on. or i could invest all that time in writing the course, and get
it out there, and tell people about it, and see what happens.
maybe it flops completely, at which point i'll know it's not a
viable income model and won't try it again. but what would constitute
"success"? good question. if i were to attract only 100 paying
students, that might be enough for me to decide that maybe this is
worth trying again with more advanced material. and given the global
reach of the internet, maybe it's not ridiculous to think that i could
find 100 people spread out across the entire planet who are willing
to subscribe because they want to learn how to get started in linux
kernel programming.
in any event, i've said my piece and i'm open to feedback. if you'd
consider taking such a course, i'd like to hear it. on the other
hand, if you think something like $39 is ridiculously expensive for
what i'm proposing, well, clearly, we don't have anything further to
discuss.
thoughts? i'd really like to make this work because, as i wrote
yesterday, i enjoy writing and i enjoy teaching, and if i could
somehow turn that into income, that would be perfect.
rday
p.s. i know someone is again going to suggest that they'd only pay
for a finished book-type product. i really have no interest in that
model. as we all know, books in this industry are obsolete the day
after they come off the presses. i prefer to work with a model that
requires generating new content on a regular basis so it's
*constantly* being updated. so, again, if you're set on a book idea,
you're not my target market. that's just the way it is.
--
========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
Linux Consulting, Training and Kernel Pedantry.
Web page: http://crashcourse.ca
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rpjday
========================================================================
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