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Before asking the obvious question when noticing the "Learn [X] The Hard Way" pattern, the FAQ already addresses that :-) Q: Is this site affiliated with Zed S
by jschulenklopper 12y ago
Before asking the obvious question when noticing the "Learn [X] The Hard Way" pattern, the FAQ already addresses that :-)
Q: Is this site affiliated with Zed Shaw and Learn Code The Hard Way?
A: No. This is a separately run and managed site, based on the format of Zed Shaw's LxTHW open-source package [1] for writing your own programming language course. You should check out the project and see what others are up to! More information is available at: Learn Code The Hard Way [2]
[1] https://gitorious.org/learn-x-the-hard-way/ https://gitorious.org/learn-x-the-hard-way/
[2] http://learncodethehardway.org/ http://learncodethehardway.org/
- andrewstuart 12y agoWhy copy his format? Seems Zed did the hard work to establish the brand.
- ambiate 12y agoWhy would he put up a public repository if he did not want the format copied? Zed A. Shaw created project Learn X The Hard Way 2011-08-29 22:06:48 UTC This is a skeleton book project that makes it easier to start working on a "Learn X The Hard Way"...
- ProAm 12y agoI think you can copy his format, but taking his brand is a different story. Zed put a lot of hard work into that, this is less than honest in my mind.
- AnimalMuppet 12y agoSaying that it's a template for a "Learn X The Hard Way" book sounds to me like an invitation to write a book titled "Learn X The Hard Way" (absent any statement on his site asking that people name their book something different).
- andrewstuart 12y agoProbably the polite thing to do would be to check with Zed first. Maybe the author already did.
- Kluny 12y agoBecause Zed made it open source to encourage other people to use it, and because he laid excellent groundwork so it's a good format to follow.
- steveklabnik 12y agoZed explicitly said this was okay. https://web.archive.org/web/20120124120726/http://sheddingbikes.com/posts/1288945508.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120124120726/http://sheddingbi... Also, read the README: https://gitorious.org/learn-x-the-hard-way/learn-x-the-hard-way/source/663fd4f6afd17f9d16fe10bafe3e64fdfb29e629:README https://gitorious.org/learn-x-the-hard-way/learn-x-the-hard-...
- andrewstuart 12y agoSeems a little ambiguous to me. His wording seems to me to be about how to write a "similar book". Anyway Zed is here on HN from time to time so we might hear what he thinks.
- zedshaw 12y agoA few other people mentioned this but I'll say it officially since the internet has a short memory for good things: 1. You can't really trademark titles of books, and I wouldn't want to in this case because there needs to be more books in this style. This method works for beginners, and works really well, so I want there to be more. 2. I created the repository so that there's an even lower barrier to entry than having a title to copy. I actually need to update this repository, but if I made it then I want people to reuse the methodology and make their own. 3. My only complaint would be when people rip off my words. If someone wants to write one of these, they just need to do their own writing in their own words and not copy mine. That's my stance on it. I like people copying the title and method as it means there's more books that will help people learning to code. I just don't like them copying what I wrote.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- zedshaw 12y agoIt's not affiliated with me other than using my starter kit and the title style. I do support books like this as I think there needs to be more "trainer" style books, especially for beginners, because they work.