{"id":1088,"date":"2013-01-03T21:00:39","date_gmt":"2013-01-04T02:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hibbets.net\/blog\/?p=1088"},"modified":"2013-01-03T22:59:28","modified_gmt":"2013-01-04T03:59:28","slug":"writing-a-book-about-raleigh-being-an-open-source-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hibbets.net\/blog\/2013\/01\/03\/writing-a-book-about-raleigh-being-an-open-source-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing a book about Raleigh being an open source city"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s about time to come out of hibernation mode and come out swinging for 2013. I’ve been quiet the last two weeks. Red Hat had their annual holiday shut down from December 24 to January 1 and I decided to extend that until January 3. I head back to the office this Friday.<\/p>\n

Over the last two weeks, I spent some time with the family, did a lot of running (I made my goal of running 1,000 miles in 2012), and I played a little too much Skylanders Giants.<\/p>\n

Before the break, I was contemplating writing a book about the open government movement in Raleigh with a focus on the characteristics of an open source city. I jotted down a few title ideas and drafted an outline in early December one Saturday morning. And I sat on that for a week or two. Letting the idea marinate.<\/p>\n

I shared my book idea with a few select people and they seemed excited and supportive. I turned my contemplation into a reality and starting writing over the break. As I was working on it, I shared hints about writing the book on social media. A lot of curiosity ensued.<\/p>\n

Merri Beth thought I was crazy and that I wouldn’t spend any time with the family over the holiday break. However, I reassured her that I would be present and wouldn’t get too distracted with the book. And for the most part, I didn’t.<\/p>\n

My approach<\/h1>\n

My strategy was to collect a lot of the content I’ve written for opensource.com about open government, CityCamp, and Code for America that’s under a Creative Commons license and organize it in some sort of sane manner. I would write original content where needed and make sure everything flowed together nicely.<\/p>\n

My initial goal for writing this book is to collect Raleigh’s open source story and share it. I’m not interested in making a huge profit from the book, but I wouldn’t mind bringing in a few extra bucks.<\/p>\n

I plan on releasing the book under a Creative Commons license but I’m undecided how I want to publish. Self-publishing is an option and I’m leaning towards Lulu, but I want to keep my options open. I’ll cross that bridge in due time.<\/p>\n

For now, I’m focused on finished the book. I’ve completed most of Chapter 6 and plan to wrap up Chapter 7 this weekend. Then the first draft will be complete.<\/p>\n

Below is the working outline of my book. Your feedback is welcome. For what its worth, I’ve had fun putting all of this together. I’m bias, but I think this is a really good story. And a few parts of the book really made me think about things. Hopefully, this story will be a catalyst for more open government, open data, and citizen participation in Raleigh, and beyond.<\/p>\n

An open source city: Laying the foundation<\/h1>\n

Chapter 1: What makes a city open source?<\/h2>\n