Jack-Benny Persson is the author of Linux System Programming Techniques, we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Jack-Benny: Linux and other Unix-like systems.
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Jack-Benny: Packt Publishing contacted me asking whatever I wanted to write a book about Linux system programming. I’ve written several books about Linux before—and I love to write—so I accepted almost immediately.
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Jack-Benny: I think I spent about a month researching before I started writing, mainly figuring out which topics I wanted to cover. The real research started when the writing process started. Coming up with good examples, double-checking everything, researching best practices, researching what’s actually being used today, and so on.
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Jack-Benny: The biggest challenge was coming up with good examples. You want to write examples that are as close to real-world scenarios as possible. But at the same time, you want to make them short enough to fit in a book. That’s not always as easy as it might seem.
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Jack-Benny: The internet is run by Linux, so Linux will be “hot” for many years to come. So, if you want to have a competitive edge, you should learn Linux well.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Jack-Benny: There’s a lot of examples throughout the book, many of which build upon each other. And as we know, the best way to learn something is by playing around with working examples. I’ve also tried my best to make every example as “real” as possible.
Q. What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away from the book with?
Jack-Benny: Write small programs that do one thing well—and one thing only.
Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Do you have any top tips?
Jack-Benny: Learn the basics really well before you move on. Having a solid foundation is key to level up. It’s not that different from building a house; before you put up the walls and the roof, you need a solid foundation for the house to stand on.
Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Jack-Benny: I’ve self-published three books before writing this one, which can be pretty lonely sometimes. Having an entire team helping you out was really awesome!
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Jack-Benny: Early on, I decided to write at least 1000 words every day. It turns out it was a pretty good plan. Sometimes you don’t come up with anything to write. But if you force yourself to write something anyway, maybe just an introduction, the rest will follow.
Q. What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Jack-Benny: Write every day!
You can find Jack’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
