Atanas Georgiev Rusev is the author of Manjaro Linux User Guide, 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)?
Atanas: Embedded Software C/C++ Engineer since 2006 with 18 projects behind my back. Graduated as Master of Embedded Electronics in 2009. Freelancer since 2014 and a startup owner since 2017.
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Atanas: I wrote a series of articles on Manjaro Linux on a Raspberry PI 4 in 2019. After being a Linux user for 13 years, Manjaro is the greatest Linux distribution I know. I use it since 2018.
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Atanas: I needed a month to check existing books, and then research which topics are important, and never covered in one book. I also had to consider what are the most essential daily topics for all users.
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Atanas: Yes. Explaining complex topics requires multiple revisions. Trying to cover a lot also lead to lengthy contents. With many iterations I squeezed the text to short and clear explanations with examples.
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Atanas: Linux runs on PCs, servers, Android, cloud, IoT, embedded devices, supercomputers, and is a development environment. It is essential for business, education, science, and developers as the best and most secure operating system.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Atanas: The topics covered in the book are not found together in any other book. From the simplest GUI applications, through settings, terminal usage, services and advanced topics, it is one-of -a-kind user-friendly guide for Linux.
Q. What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away from the book with?
Atanas: That Linux is easy, great, the best operating system which guarantees security, quality, entertainment, development, collaboration, and the best free and open-source project on Earth.
Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Do you have any top tips?
Atanas: Use Linux to get unlimited free libraries and projects, free knowledge, and guaranteed access to high-tech jobs. AI just can’t create Linux. But AI can be running on Linux.
Q. Can you share any blogs, websites, and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Atanas: Here it is – https://triplehelix-consulting.com/blog/
Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Atanas: Exciting and long. I found a lot of support during the book writing, and people dedicated to quality like me. Packt is a magnificent place for fresh authors. Just don’t think that serious book can be out in 6 months. Plan for an year.
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?
Atanas: I participate in over 40 groups on LinkedIn, related to Embedded/C/C++/Linux/IoT to get the latest news, webinars and companies announcements.
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Atanas: Apart from the mentioned LinkedIn groups, I have subscribed for the lwn.net, kernelnewbies, hackster.io, ItsFOSS on Twitter (X), and periodically read articles on the topics I’m interested in.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Atanas: I worked on the book full time for 1 year. After each chapter initial version I did several additional iterations. Once all was finished, the last 4 months I did restructuring, rewriting, reviews and tens of edits.
Q. What is the one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Atanas: Do iterations. Then leave the chapter for at least a few weeks, while working on the subsequent content. Meanwhile read the news. Test every single command multiple times. After the pause, return to each chapter for improvement and rework. You will be astonished how much you can improve.
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, please share.
Atanas: Here it is – LinkedIn
You can find Atanas’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
