The Debian System
Encyclopedia
The author's native language is German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
but he decided to write it in Debian's de-facto language which is English.
The book was written for publication by Open Source Press
Open Source Press
Open Source Press is a computer book publisher based in Munich, Germany. The company specialises on high-quality publications on topics related to open-source software and philosophy. It was founded in 2003....
and later licenced for co-publication by No Starch Press
No Starch Press
No Starch Press is a publishing company specializing in computer books for the technically savvy, or "geek entertainment" as they term it. They have published such titles as Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, Silence on the Wire, Steal This Computer Book 4.0, Steal This File Sharing Book, Write...
. The English version is thus released under two different ISBNs:
- ISBN 978-3-937514-07-9, available only in central EuropeCentral EuropeCentral Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
. - ISBN 978-1-59327-069-8, available worldwide, notable for its coverBook coverA book cover is any protective covering used to bind together the pages of a book. Beyond the familiar distinction between hardcovers and paperbacks, there are further alternatives and additions, such as dust jackets, ring-binding, and older forms such as the nineteenth-century "paper-boards" and...
featuring a surfingSurfingSurfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
cow.
Due to popular demand, the book was later translated to German, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. A Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
is in the works, and other language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
s are planned:
- German edition, ISBN 978-3-937514-17-8, translated by Ute Hertzog and Martin Krafft
- Japanese edition, ISBN 978-4-8399-1897-2, translated by Kenshi Muto and Junichi Uekawa.
- French edition, ISBN 978-2-212-11904-6, translated by Raphaël Hertzog and Roland Mas
The book is dedicated to Aline (Krafft's girlfriend at the time), and Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, whose contributions to Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
accompanied most of the writing process. Krafft has an agreement with his publisher that after 30,000 copies have been sold, the publisher will have to organise a dinner with the musician [pers. comm. 2005]. The publisher sent a book to Peter Gabriel, which got a stock reply that Gabriel was unavailable for contact.