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bos@559: <preface id="chap:preface">
bos@587:   <?dbhtml filename="preface.html"?>
bos@559:   <title>Preface</title>
bos@26: 
bos@583:   <sect1>
bos@705:     <title>Technical storytelling</title>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_72e">A few years ago, when I wanted to explain why I believed
bos@705:       that distributed revision control is important, the field was
bos@705:       then so new that there was almost no published literature to
bos@705:       refer people to.</para>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_72f">Although at that time I spent some time working on the
bos@705:       internals of Mercurial itself, I switched to writing this book
bos@705:       because that seemed like the most effective way to help the
bos@705:       software to reach a wide audience, along with the idea that
bos@705:       revision control ought to be distributed in nature.  I publish
bos@705:       the book online under a liberal license for the same
bos@705:       reason: to get the word out.</para>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_730">There's a familiar rhythm to a good software book that
bos@705:       closely resembles telling a story: What is this thing?  Why does
bos@705:       it matter?  How will it help me?  How do I use it?  In this
bos@705:       book, I try to answer those questions for distributed revision
bos@705:       control in general, and for Mercurial in particular.</para>
bos@705:   </sect1>
bos@705:     
bos@705:   <sect1>
bos@705:     <title>Thank you for supporting Mercurial</title>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_731">By purchasing a copy of this book, you are supporting the
bos@705:       continued development and freedom of Mercurial in particular,
bos@705:       and of open source and free software in general. O'Reilly Media
bos@705:       and I are donating my royalties on the sales of this book to the
bos@705:       Software Freedom Conservancy (<ulink
bos@705: 	url="http://www.softwarefreedom.org/">http://www.softwarefreedom.org/</ulink>) 
bos@705:       which provides clerical and legal support to Mercurial and a
bos@705:       number of other prominent and worthy open source software
bos@705:       projects.</para>
bos@705:   </sect1>
bos@705: 
bos@705:   <sect1>
bos@705:     <title>Acknowledgments</title>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_732">This book would not exist were it not for the efforts of
bos@705:       Matt Mackall, the author and project lead of Mercurial.  He is
bos@705:       ably assisted by hundreds of volunteer contributors across the
bos@705:       world.</para>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_733">My children, Cian and Ruairi, always stood ready to help me
bos@705:       to unwind with wonderful, madcap little-boy games.  I'd also
bos@705:       like to thank my ex-wife, Shannon, for her support.</para>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_734">My colleagues and friends provided help and support in
bos@705:       innumerable ways.  This list of people is necessarily very
bos@705:       incomplete: Stephen Hahn, Karyn Ritter, Bonnie Corwin, James
bos@705:       Vasile, Matt Norwood, Eben Moglen, Bradley Kuhn, Robert Walsh,
bos@705:       Jeremy Fitzhardinge, Rachel Chalmers.</para>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_735">I developed this book in the open, posting drafts of
bos@705:       chapters to the book web site as I completed them.  Readers then
bos@705:       submitted feedback using a web application that I developed.  By
bos@705:       the time I finished writing the book, more than 100 people had
bos@705:       submitted comments, an amazing number considering that the
bos@705:       comment system was live for only about two months towards the
bos@705:       end of the writing process.</para>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_736">I would particularly like to recognize the following people,
bos@705:       who between them contributed over a third of the total number of
bos@705:       comments.  I would like to thank them for their care and effort
bos@705:       in providing so much detailed feedback.</para>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_737">Martin Geisler, Damien Cassou, Alexey Bakhirkin, Till Plewe,
bos@705:       Dan Himes, Paul Sargent, Gokberk Hamurcu, Matthijs van der
bos@705:       Vleuten, Michael Chermside, John Mulligan, Jordi Fita, Jon
bos@705:       Parise.</para>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_738">I also want to acknowledge the help of the many people who
bos@705:       caught errors and provided helpful suggestions throughout the
bos@705:       book.</para>
bos@705: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_739">Jeremy W. Sherman, Brian Mearns, Vincent Furia, Iwan
bos@705:       Luijks, Billy Edwards, Andreas Sliwka, Paweł Sołyga, Eric
bos@705:       Hanchrow, Steve Nicolai, Michał Masłowski, Kevin Fitch, Johan
bos@705:       Holmberg, Hal Wine, Volker Simonis, Thomas P Jakobsen, Ted
bos@705:       Stresen-Reuter, Stephen Rasku, Raphael Das Gupta, Ned
bos@705:       Batchelder, Lou Keeble, Li Linxiao, Kao Cardoso Félix, Joseph
bos@705:       Wecker, Jon Prescot, Jon Maken, John Yeary, Jason Harris,
bos@705:       Geoffrey Zheng, Fredrik Jonson, Ed Davies, David Zumbrunnen,
bos@705:       David Mercer, David Cabana, Ben Karel, Alan Franzoni, Yousry
bos@705:       Abdallah, Whitney Young, Vinay Sajip, Tom Towle, Tim Ottinger,
bos@705:       Thomas Schraitle, Tero Saarni, Ted Mielczarek, Svetoslav
bos@705:       Agafonkin, Shaun Rowland, Rocco Rutte, Polo-Francois Poli,
bos@705:       Philip Jenvey, Petr Tesałék, Peter R. Annema, Paul Bonser,
bos@705:       Olivier Scherler, Olivier Fournier, Nick Parker, Nick Fabry,
bos@705:       Nicholas Guarracino, Mike Driscoll, Mike Coleman, Mietek Bák,
bos@705:       Michael Maloney, László Nagy, Kent Johnson, Julio Nobrega, Jord
bos@705:       Fita, Jonathan March, Jonas Nockert, Jim Tittsler, Jeduan
bos@705:       Cornejo Legorreta, Jan Larres, James Murphy, Henri Wiechers,
bos@705:       Hagen Möbius, Gábor Farkas, Fabien Engels, Evert Rol, Evan
bos@705:       Willms, Eduardo Felipe Castegnaro, Dennis Decker Jensen, Deniz
bos@705:       Dogan, David Smith, Daed Lee, Christine Slotty, Charles Merriam,
bos@705:       Guillaume Catto, Brian Dorsey, Bob Nystrom, Benoit Boissinot,
bos@705:       Avi Rosenschein, Andrew Watts, Andrew Donkin, Alexey Rodriguez,
bos@705:       Ahmed Chaudhary.</para>
bos@705:   </sect1>
bos@705: 
bos@705:   <sect1>
bos@704:     <title>Conventions Used in This Book</title>
bos@583: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_73a">The following typographical conventions are used in this
bos@704:       book:</para>
bos@583: 
bos@704:     <variablelist>
bos@704:       <varlistentry>
bos@704:         <term>Italic</term>
bos@583: 
bos@704:         <listitem>
bos@705:           <para id="x_73b">Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames,
bos@704: 	    and file extensions.</para>
bos@704:         </listitem>
bos@704:       </varlistentry>
bos@583: 
bos@704:       <varlistentry>
bos@704:         <term><literal>Constant width</literal></term>
bos@583: 
bos@704:         <listitem>
bos@705:           <para id="x_73c">Used for program listings, as well as within
bos@704: 	    paragraphs to refer to program elements such as variable
bos@704: 	    or function names, databases, data types, environment
bos@704: 	    variables, statements, and keywords.</para>
bos@704:         </listitem>
bos@704:       </varlistentry>
bos@583: 
bos@704:       <varlistentry>
bos@704:         <term><userinput>Constant width bold</userinput></term>
bos@583: 
bos@704:         <listitem>
bos@705:           <para id="x_73d">Shows commands or other text that should be typed
bos@704: 	    literally by the user.</para>
bos@704:         </listitem>
bos@704:       </varlistentry>
bos@583: 
bos@704:       <varlistentry>
bos@704:         <term><replaceable>Constant width italic</replaceable></term>
bos@583: 
bos@704:         <listitem>
bos@705:           <para id="x_73e">Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied
bos@704: 	    values or by values determined by context.</para>
bos@704:         </listitem>
bos@704:       </varlistentry>
bos@704:     </variablelist>
bos@583: 
bos@704:     <tip>
bos@705:       <para id="x_73f">This icon signifies a tip, suggestion, or general
bos@704: 	note.</para>
bos@704:     </tip>
bos@583: 
bos@704:     <caution>
bos@705:       <para id="x_740">This icon indicates a warning or caution.</para>
bos@704:     </caution>
bos@583:   </sect1>
bos@26: 
bos@559:   <sect1>
bos@704:     <title>Using Code Examples</title>
bos@26: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_741">This book is here to help you get your job done. In general,
bos@704:       you may use the code in this book in your programs and
bos@704:       documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission
bos@704:       unless you’re reproducing a significant portion of the code. For
bos@704:       example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from
bos@704:       this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a
bos@704:       CD-ROM of examples from O’Reilly books does require permission.
bos@704:       Answering a question by citing this book and quoting example
bos@704:       code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant
bos@704:       amount of example code from this book into your product’s
bos@704:       documentation does require permission.</para>
bos@200: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_742">We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An
bos@704:       attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and
bos@704:       ISBN. For example: “<emphasis>Book Title</emphasis> by Some
bos@704:       Author. Copyright 2008 O’Reilly Media, Inc.,
bos@704:       978-0-596-xxxx-x.”</para>
bos@200: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_743">If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use
bos@704:       or the permission given above, feel free to contact us at
bos@704:       <email>permissions@oreilly.com</email>.</para>
bos@559:   </sect1>
bos@583: 
bos@583:   <sect1>
bos@704:     <title>Safari® Books Online</title>
bos@583: 
bos@704:     <note role="safarienabled">
bos@705:       <para id="x_744">When you see a Safari® Books Online icon on the cover of
bos@704: 	your favorite technology book, that means the book is
bos@704: 	available online through the O’Reilly Network Safari
bos@704: 	Bookshelf.</para>
bos@704:     </note>
bos@583: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_745">Safari offers a solution that’s better than e-books. It’s a
bos@704:       virtual library that lets you easily search thousands of top
bos@704:       tech books, cut and paste code samples, download chapters, and
bos@704:       find quick answers when you need the most accurate, current
bos@704:       information. Try it for free at <ulink role="orm:hideurl:ital"
bos@704: 	url="http://my.safaribooksonline.com/?portal=oreilly">http://my.safaribooksonline.com</ulink>.</para>
bos@583:   </sect1>
bos@583: 
bos@583:   <sect1>
bos@704:     <title>How to Contact Us</title>
bos@583: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_746">Please address comments and questions concerning this book
bos@704:       to the publisher:</para>
bos@583: 
bos@704:     <simplelist type="vert">
bos@704:       <member>O’Reilly Media, Inc.</member>
bos@583: 
bos@704:       <member>1005 Gravenstein Highway North</member>
bos@583: 
bos@704:       <member>Sebastopol, CA 95472</member>
bos@583: 
bos@704:       <member>800-998-9938 (in the United States or Canada)</member>
bos@583: 
bos@704:       <member>707-829-0515 (international or local)</member>
bos@583: 
bos@704:       <member>707 829-0104 (fax)</member>
bos@704:     </simplelist>
bos@583: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_747">We have a web page for this book, where we list errata,
bos@704:       examples, and any additional information. You can access this
bos@704:       page at:</para>
bos@583: 
bos@704:     <simplelist type="vert">
bos@704:       <member><ulink url="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/&lt;catalog
bos@704: 	  page&gt;"></ulink></member>
bos@704:     </simplelist>
bos@583: 
bos@704:     <remark>Don’t forget to update the &lt;url&gt; attribute,
bos@704:       too.</remark>
bos@583: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_748">To comment or ask technical questions about this book, send
bos@704:       email to:</para>
bos@26: 
bos@704:     <simplelist type="vert">
bos@704:       <member><email>bookquestions@oreilly.com</email></member>
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bos@26: 
bos@705:     <para id="x_749">For more information about our books, conferences, Resource
bos@704:       Centers, and the O’Reilly Network, see our web site at:</para>
bos@559: 
bos@704:     <simplelist type="vert">
bos@704:       <member><ulink url="http://www.oreilly.com"></ulink></member>
bos@704:     </simplelist>
bos@559:   </sect1>
bos@559: </preface>
bos@704: 
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