It’s been a while since I wrote about my books. Life has been tugging me in different directions (in a good way, overall). Things are going well, overall, but there was always this nagging feeling that I really should do something about the books. They were getting a bit… well… old…
If you follow this blog, you may have noticed a few posts about packaging recently:
If you are a proud owner of my book “Packaging for Apple Administrators” (thank you very much!) these posts should seem somewhat familiar. It has been nearly nine years since I first published “Packaging” and even though it really held up well, it was in desperate need of some updates. More than merely updates, really. Many of the examples not available online anymore. Seriously, some of the examples are to inspect the iTunes and Silverlight installer pkg…
Surprisingly little has changed in the process of actually building packages, so those sections of the book hold up pretty well. But the environment in which packages are used and deployed on macOS has changed. Quite a lot. GateKeeper and Notarization were new and optional, just a few years ago, but now are a core part of Apple’s security strategy on macOS. Bundle package installers, which I covered in a “legacy” appendix in “Packaging” were completely disabled in macOS Sequoia 15. Imaging Macs with NetInstall was still a thing when I originally wrote the book and how to use and prepare installer packages for those workflows took up some space.
Distribution packages were only required in edge cases for Mac admins. Now they are often (but not always) required to work with device management servers.
On the other hand, back then I did not have any experience with the developer side of packaging. Since then I have written about building tools and apps and integrating the packaging (and signing and notarization workflows) in Xcode and Swift Package Manager. These are workflows that are useful to developers, but less so for Mac Admins.
So, I am happy to announce that I have started the work of updating “Packaging.” It’s a work in progress, and I do not want to commit to any timeline yet. However, I plan to continue to share the progress by posting sections on this blog as I update them.
What will happen to old, outdated “Packaging for Apple Administrators” you might ask? Well, I am going to remove the book from Apple Books in two weeks or so. If you really want to own a copy of this old version, this will be your last chance to purchase it. I didn’t want to remove the book without warning. But, honestly, most of you really don’t have to buy the old version anymore, since I will be posting parts as I update and rewrite.
(If you want to buy a copy to support me, don’t do that on Apple Books. The standard 30% of that revenue will go straight to Apple and honestly, they have enough money. There is now a better way, but more on that later.)
In two or three weeks time, I will remove all books, except “macOS Terminal and Shell” from Apple Books.
If you have purchased the book, it should remain available for you in your library, but maybe make a backup to be sure.
I have spent a few days updating “macOS Terminal and Shell” for the current state of macOS. Since this is my latest book and well, the command line situation hasn’t changed very much since Apple switched the default shell to zsh, there wasn’t much to change. I will keep that book on Apple Books and update it as soon as the new version passes Apple’s review. If you have already purchased “macOS Terminal and Shell” you should get the updated version as soon as I have uploaded it. You should then see a notification in the Books app.
I am also starting a new experiment: you can also purchase “macOS Terminal and Shell” on Ko-Fi. (might be more familiar as “Buy me a Coffee“) This is an experiment and new to me, so apologies if there are some rough edges. This should work if you do not want to or cannot purchase on Apple Books.
Also, I get a larger share of the proceeds. And, should you desire to, you can even pay more than the suggested price. (though, really, no-one has to)
As I said, this is a test run, and I am very curious how it goes. I am excited that this should expand the audience for whom the book is available. (Apple Books is not available in many regions, like India and China.) If the experiment works out for this update of “Terminal and Shell” then I will definitely consider this for “Packaging 2.0” and future books, as well. (I have plenty ideas, but so little time)