This is the web page of Roderick W. Smith, aka rodsbooks.com. On sub-pages accessible from this one you'll find information about me, my interests, and the books I've written. You'll also find links to outside sites I find worthwhile.
I'm a Linux expert based in the Boston/Providence/Worcester area. My areas of specialization include Linux on the desktop, Windows interoperability (including file and printer sharing, remote access, and multi-boot configurations), disk management, and general system administration.
If you'd like help setting up or debugging a Linux system or a whole network of Linux systems, feel free to contact me (rodsmith@rodsbooks.com) with details and we can discuss your needs and my rates. I prefer not to travel far, but if you've got problems that can be solved remotely, I can certainly help with that.
I'm the author of many books on Linux and multi-OS computing. Counting revisions and co-authored titles, the number reaches 20, as of August 2009, so I won't bore you with a list here; instead, see my books page.
Between 2003 and 2008, I was the author of the "Guru Guidance" column for Linux Magazine. A search on that site turns up my articles, but you'll need to register to read them.
To date, I've written several articles for IBM developerWorks:
I'm a competent programmer, although that's not my primary career path. I have three open source projects to my name (although one is so trivial that calling it a "project" may be stretching matters:
In addition to my books, published articles, and programs, I've written several Web pages on a wide range of topics. Some of these are so old that I've officially retired them. Those that aren't too stale are:
For the past ten years, I've managed to build a career out of one of my interests: computers. I'm particularly intersted in Linux and other Open Source software. I've written a few C and Pascal programs, but this isn't my greatest interest in the computer field. Instead, I enjoy learning about system administration, networking, and so on, and sharing that knowledge with others.
Another interest of mine is science fiction. I've got a web page with some of my favorite SF books. I'm also a big fan of Babylon 5, which has done more for the medium of TV science fiction (or TV in general) than anything to come before it. Sadly, I don't have as much time to read science fiction as I'd like.
In the summer of 1999, I took up sailing at Community Boating. I didn't really get very good at it in one season, but I did manage to capsize a boat once! (It was a squishy trip home after they pulled me out of the river.)
More recently, I've begun biking regularly along the Blackstone River Bikeway, which is within a mile of my house. It's great exercise and that particular bike path has some wonderful scenery.
Photography is a long-time interest of mine. In 2005 I put together a darkroom in my basement -- something I've wanted to do since I was a teenager! I prefer film photography to digital for several reasons. Film appeals to me more aesthetically, it enables me to create something without the help of a computer, I've always preferred simplicity in my cameras, and replacing my film cameras and lenses with digital equipment would be prohibitively expensive. Although I'm not a big poster of photos in online forums, I do have a Flickr page with a few samples of my photos. Mostly I use that page to demonstrate specific things, such as the results I get from outdated films.
Here are a bunch of links to other things I find interesting:
So, if you've gotten this far and would like to contact me, drop me some e-mail at rodsmith@rodsbooks.com.