FAQ

PDF FAQs

You must have many questions about the PDFs. This page will attempt to answer them all.

How many eBooks are there? Linux Home Networking ($15.00)All the Linux chapters are now available in PDF format.Cisco Home Networking ($15.00)This is a 50 page PDF companion document to the Linux Home Networking Linux web pages. It is written for home and small office users who need to setup basic network connectivity using Cisco equipment.Data Center Relocation Guide ($15.00)This is a 70 page PDF document that outlines the rationale for either considering hosting your own website in a data center run by a third party or for relocating your existing servers from one data center to another. It covers the cost justification for making such a decision, data center selection criteria, detailed preparation steps, and comprehensive action plans. It also includes a wide range of work sheets aimed at making the job easier.
How current are the eBooks?

  1. As current as the website.

  2. You will receive everything listed in the table of contents of the book. This includes the appendices which are not available online.

  3. The eBook has a much better presentation format for printing. The page breaks are correct, you have an accurate table of contents and the chapter number and title are at the top of each page
Do I get a traditional book or an electronic document?
  1. You’ll receive an Adobe Acrobat PDF document
  2. It will be sent to you by email within an hour of purchase. There is no download link.
  3. You will have to print it at your home or office to get a more traditional book format.
What’s an electronic book (eBook)?
  1. It’s a computer document that can be printed but not edited.
  2. The site’s e-books can be read using Adobe Acrobat Reader. The program can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe website.
Where can I print it?
  1. At home or your office.
  2. It is best to print it double sided (on both sides of each sheet) to make it manageable.
  3. You should be able to get it bound at a neighborhood office supply store.
How do I receive the book? It will be emailed to you within an hour of purchase. You will actually two emails. A purchase confirmation plus the an email with the PDF attached.Please make sure you have at least 500 KB of space available in your email mailbox.
I received the the email, but the PDF wasn’t attached. What should I do? Outlook Express will sometimes give a message stating that it has removed an unsafe attachment and will prevent you from opening the PDF file. This is a security feature that can be temporarily disabled this way:

  1. Access the security menu: Tools -> Options -> Security
  2. Then deselect the option that says “Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus”
  3. Open & save your file
  4. Reactivate the security feature
Do you automatically supply free updates to the book when you make revisions? No, but I will provide free updates to persons who point out mistakes.
I didn’t receive the email at all. What happened? This usually happens because your mailbox was too full. Please contact me by email and I’ll send you a copy manually after I check the purchase status.
Is payment via the internet secure? Yes. PayPal and Amazon credit card services are well respected in the field. I have no access to your credit card information.
Why have you stopped using Amazon? Unlike PayPal, Amazon has a monthly fee I have to pay for their credit card service. The fee, though small, was still too high.
How do I use PayPal? Like Amazon, you’ll need to setup an account before you will be able to use the service. Here’s what you need to do: Within the USA

  1. Click on the PayPal link above
  2. Click on the button with the label “If you have never paid through PayPal – Click Here”
  3. It will then prompt you for your credit card information and a PayPal username and password for future purchases.
  4. It will then lead you through the process for the purchase.

Outside of the USA

PayPal is available to surfers in a limited number of countries. Please read the next FAQ if your country isn’t listed in PayPal in the link below.

You can become a member by clicking here or by

  1. Click on the PayPal link above
  2. Click on the button with the label “If you have never paid through PayPal – Click Here”
  3. Click on the “Outside the US?” link
  4. It will then prompt you for your country, credit card information and a PayPal username and password for future purchases.
  5. It will then lead you through the process for the purchase.
What do I do if my country isn’t on the PayPal list or I don’t have an International credit card? PayPalSadly, not much. I have investigated various ways to receive international payments, but the fees associated with international money orders and bank drafts are often much more than the cost of the PDF. For example, Western Union / Moneygram has a minimum charge of about US$12. The time taken to process bank drafts is also too long for most interested purchasers.Despite this, if you are interested in using Western Union, please send me an email.AmazonI am also willing to accept payments via amazon.com. Most people who have used this method have made a donation to the site for the amount of the books and have sent me an accompanying email reminder. I then manually send them the PDFs afterwards. Automated Amazon payments are still too costly.
Can I use PayPal’s eCheck feature? Yes. You’ll receive the the PDFs after the check clears. I have to manually send PDFs using this method, so there may be even further delays. If you use this method and don’t get a copy of your PDFs in 3-4 days then please send me an email reminder.
Do you accept other forms of payment besides PayPal? Not yet.
Do you offer a tarball or ZIP version of the site? No.
Who tends to buy the eBooks? All sorts of people who need an affordable offline reference guide.

  1. Many external to the USA
  2. Small IT consulting firms
  3. Home users & charities
  4. Family run retail stores
  5. Teachers and students
  6. Persons in towns and smaller cities
  7. Government
  8. Occasionally employees of Fortune 500 companies
Why did you write the original Linux eBook? I bought a bunch of books and tried to set up a Linux network at home. The books were good but they focused more on Linux concepts and I just needed a cookbook. When I became frustrated, I surfed the Web for more information. I found the material out there either too detailed or inaccurate.I decided that no one should have to go through what I did so I created a web page on what I did. As you can see, it grew.
How often do you update the eBooks? I frequently help friends with IT work. I don’t carry any books,I just use the website. I make note of any mistakes or omissions I may find and use the feedback from the site and friends to make improvements.I therefore make corrections, add clarifications and insert new topics all the time.
When are you going to publish a traditional book? The Linux pages of the site generated enough visits to justify my approaching Prentice Hall to publish the Linux Quick Fix Notebook.Updated Linux chapters are now available as PDF documents.The visitor volume for the “Cisco Home Networking” and “Data Center Relocation” pages is small, so I’d have to self publish. This which would be costly. Printing, distribution, marketing and professional editing require high up front costs. I don’t have the money to do that and the sales volume would probably be small.
Why are the PDFs so cheap? The creation of electronic documents has few of the hidden costs associated with traditional printing. No fees to publishers, editors, marketers and distributors.Simple format, simple price.

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