2009/1/28 Erik Moeller erik@wikimedia.org:
First, we think it's wonderful that O'Reilly has done this; TMM is a fantastic book and a great introduction for newbies. (We have been giving copies away as gifts for a while.)
Also, as the O'Reilly press release notes, it's John who took the initiative to make this happen. So big, big thanks to John. :-)
I've been meaning to write about this for a while, as a quick related heads up: We're also contracting John to write a Wikipedia Educator's Guide for us, which will hopefully help students and educators to get a better understanding regarding Wikipedia use. It will also include case studies about student assignments.
The guide won't be directly developed on a Wikimedia wiki to avoid an icky paying-for-content situation, but once it's ready we'll publicize it widely and hope it'll find a home on Wikibooks or elsewhere for future development. For those who want to get a first glimpse behind the scenes, John is working on at it at <howto.pediapress.com>. He is happy to collaborate, but it's his baby and he'll build it however he wishes.