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Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

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Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#71

Post by simonebrunozzi »

strzibny wrote: post #28
__blockcipher__ wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should disclose that, though. Otherwise the feedback is indistinguishable from astroturfing. Pretty much everything about this guy rubs me the wrong way. The usual cheesy testimonials / vague promises of content which never really gets previewed, the obvious astroturfing, which he continues to respond to as if they're organic genuine comments, etc. Just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

I am really sorry you feel that way. It's all pure feedback from people I don't know. All organic. And I am replying, because I promised I will be around for discussion. Testimonials, podcasts appearances, and comments here were not solicited. People just did that on their own. Jeremy from Software Engineering Radio actually really bought the alpha version, and his invitation to the podcast was out of the blue. Jason…

Thanks for your straightforward reply.

The comments could have been seen as odd, but your openness suggests it was just a coincidence.

Also, congrats on writing a full book!

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#72

Post by strzibny »

turtlebits wrote: post #48

For a book on deployment, I feel there is too much content on setting up a server. Would have like to see pros and cons of differing ways to deploy. Also, for taking apps to production, there should definitely be a part on high availability.

I talk about some of it (like push vs pull approach to server configuration, containers or not, single server or not), but most likely not to the extend you are probably thinking of.

As for high availability I discuss whether it's worth it or not in the Scaling chapter. I also show how to use NGINX as a load balancer. I currently don't have HA content written for PG and Redis, but there are planned (as a free update).

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#73

Post by strzibny »

padthai wrote: post #62

I am working through the book right now. It touches a lot of things, albeit superficially, to get you up and running. I have done plenty of deployments in the past so I do not need half of the book, but it has been helpful to put into context holes in my education (SELinux, Systemd, firewalls, etc.) @strzibny, it would be great if you can put some curated links or references at the end of the book so the reader know…

Thanks a lot for your review. I'll think about it. Is there a topic/chapter specifically you want to dive deeper?

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#75

Post by __blockcipher__ »

d4mi3n wrote: post #46
__blockcipher__ wrote: post #15

This might just be paranoia but a couple of the early comments on this thread feel very astro-turfy. For example: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=vich (hasn't commented since aug 2020) https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=matthieuchabert (hasn't commented for 10 months) https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=vivty is slightly sketchy as well but not super cut and dry

Aside: Is HN so fragile that it requires end-users to police anomalous activity? Given the age and influence of the platform I'd assume dang and co. who moderate and maintain the board are old hands at staying on top of manipulation of the platform. Could any mods comment on this? _Should_ we be keeping an eye out and calling out odd activity? It'd be nice to avoid posts like __blockcipher__'s; while well intentioned…

Not sure if you saw it but another user pointed out that there's already a section in the guidelines about it:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29542871

> Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email hn@ycombinator.com and we'll look at the data.

That guideline makes sense to me. I was previously unaware of it [the guideline] but the justification is sound, doubly so because it turned out the comments were genuine* :) My apologies.

* Albeit at least one user presumably found the post via Twitter from following the author which is a little bit of a grey area

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#76

Post by strzibny »

mcguire wrote: post #68

Comprehensive? " Deploy Ruby, Python, PostgreSQL, and Redis. "

Comprehensive means going from networking to configuring NGINX as a load balancer. And everything in-between.

But to provide more value I chose certain language runtimes and databases, because writing only in general is not as useful and tangible. What it means is that a chapter on application servers goes through some options you want to look for, and after that discusses configuration of Puma and Gunicorn as examples.

So if you are running Node.js, I don't have (currently) specific configuration directives listed, but you would know what to look for.

I might add more to the current list, but obviously I can never cover everything.

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#77

Post by strzibny »

kingcharles wrote: post #74

What is a good alternative to this book for Windows / ASP.NET / Azure? (don't judge me!)

Do people actually deploy on Windows?

(It's a joke, but as a Red Hat guy I yet have to see it in real life to believe it.)

My last Windows was XP, but I actually use Azure at work right now. If you want to mostly do cloudy things (use clouds for more than simple VMs), you might want to look into certifications[0].

[0] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/browse...

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#78

Post by strzibny »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #71
strzibny wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am really sorry you feel that way. It's all pure feedback from people I don't know. All organic. And I am replying, because I promised I will be around for discussion. Testimonials, podcasts appearances, and comments here were not solicited. People just did that on their own. Jeremy from Software Engineering Radio actually really bought the alpha version, and his invitation to the podcast was out of the blue. Jason…

Thanks for your straightforward reply. The comments could have been seen as odd, but your openness suggests it was just a coincidence. Also, congrats on writing a full book!

Thank you!

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#79

Post by strzibny »

__blockcipher__ wrote: post #67
strzibny wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am really sorry you feel that way. It's all pure feedback from people I don't know. All organic. And I am replying, because I promised I will be around for discussion. Testimonials, podcasts appearances, and comments here were not solicited. People just did that on their own. Jeremy from Software Engineering Radio actually really bought the alpha version, and his invitation to the podcast was out of the blue. Jason…

Thanks for the explanation. Sorry for the false alarm. My spidey senses started tingling but I should have held back a bit. As you mentioned, I was flat-out wrong about the previews. Not sure if I scrolled straight past that section or what. Wishing you the best with your book. And FWIW I like the bash-based approach; I agree with the philosophy of peeling away the abstraction layers.

No problem, I know where you are coming from. I regularly get spammed with "we are not PH" and "we are on HN" posts from people I don't even know, and the hard truth is that for lot of these "marketers" it actually works in the end.

Thank you!

Re: Show HN: I wrote a book on web application deployment

#80

Post by pezzana »

strzibny wrote: post #2

Hi fellow readers of HN, I am Josef, a full-stack developer, a formal Ruby Linux packager at Red Hat, and an author of Deployment from Scratch (which is this post about!). After working at Red Hat and technically leading a start-up (of which I was the primary production engineer), I decided to write down a resource I felt was missing on the market: A book that gives you the confidence to deploy your first application…

> Took me more than 3 years to write (1+ year of fulltime billable time)

It shows - very polished. Have you described your process for writing the book anywhere? Given the quality of the landing page and samples, I'd also be interested in that.

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