Alessandro's Introduction

I've always enjoyed computers because they can talk to external hardware. So, after soldering my devices for the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum, backed with the Unix and free software expertise the university gave me, I could escape the DOS trap by installing GNU/Linux on a fresh new 386 and by turning on the soldering iron once again.
Back then, the community was a small one, and there wasn't much documentation about writing drivers around, so I started writing for Linux Journal. That's how things started: when I later discovered I didn't like writing papers, I left the univeristy and found myself with an O'Reilly contract in my hands.
That was in 1996. Ages ago.
The computing world is different now: free software looks like a viable solution, both technically and politically, but there's a lot of work to do in both realms. I hope this book furthers two aims: spreading technical knowledge and raising awareness about the need to spread knowledge. That's why, after the first edition proved interesting to the public, the two authors of the second edition switched to a free license, supported by our editor and our publisher. I'm betting this is the right approach to information, and it's great to team up with other people sharing this vision.
I'm excited by what I witness in the embedded arena, and I hope this text helps by doing more; but ideas are moving fast these days, and it's already time to plan for the fourth edition, and look for a fourth author to help.