Andrew Hudson

It’s good that I am able to say thank you to a number of people. Writing a book is a collaborative effort and requires a lot of coordination, especially as Paul and I are located in the UK whilst our editorial team at Pearson is located across the pond in the U.S. But right now I’d like to thank Damon Jordan who is our development editor for his persistence and careful management of the many chapters floating to and fro across the Internet.

Vanessa Evans is one of the most organized individuals I know, and her ability to answer nearly any query relating to the publishing of the book is unbelievable. She has been extremely patient with a Brit trying to navigate through the Web that is the U.S. tax system and I thank her for all her help and assistance.

A little closer to home and I’d like to thank the Computer Services department at Future Publishing, of which I am a part. They gave me access to many different hardware configurations allowing me to thoroughly test a lot of the material in this book. Particularly mentions go to Avi Abadi, Jon Moore, and Derek Smith, all of whom have helped me along the way.

My own family has been incredibly supportive of my writing this book. Juggling a book and being a full-time father and husband is no mean feat, but thankfully I have a loving wife in Bernice who has allowed me to shut myself away for days at a time to get this book completed. Our young son John is a constant source of amazement and joy and he keeps me firmly rooted to the ground.

Finally I want to thank God for the many blessings He has given me. My life would not be anything without Him, and I am eternally grateful for His grace.

Paul Hudson

Although there are only two names on the cover of this book, it is the culmination of many years of writing, refining, testing, rewriting, exploration, and passion from many people. I feel lucky to be part of the team and want to thank the others for their enthusiasm and humor—it makes a huge difference to know that everyone who works on this book enjoys the topic!

I’m grateful to the entire team at Pearson for their help and feedback, particularly Damon, Dallas, and Mike—it’s great to work with people who really care about free software and want to help others along that same journey. Of course, Andrew and I both owe a huge debt to our good friend Hoyt Duff, who we hope is somewhere sunny buffing up a classic car!

My family’s contribution to this work has been immense. Andrew was brave in accepting the job of co-writing, but it turns out that we work in tandem very well—he has done a marvelous job, and we are both very proud of this end result. My wife, Ildiko, managed to put up with even more months of me doing no housework, although I think that the minute I am finished with this it is back to the grindstone for me (why do you think these acknowledgements are so long?). My parents have been immensely supportive throughout, and I love them dearly.

Finally, none of this work would have been possible without the grace of God. Andrew and I have been blessed to be able to write this book, and I pray it blesses you even more.