Translator Agreement

From JavaSpec.org

This is very much a work in progress, little more than note taking as I start to develop relationships with the translation teams. A formal contract must be signed at some point in the future, and the terms of that agreement will be binding, but my word is good. You can count on me in that regard, always.

 

Member of the ITechWrite.org Family of Educational Networks

My Gift to the Java Community: Please remember that I have made a gift of my translation rights not only to the translation teams from which to profit, but also to the Java community at large in the target language countries. This website represents years of full-time work for which I have never been compensated. I do not think I am asking too much in exchange for this. The following is a long list of rules and guidelines that will only get longer and more specific over time. We are at sea in uncharted waters, and I need to stay in control of the fleet, so-to-speak. I exercise legal control, but regard myself as one of many team members. If you object to any of these rules and guidelines, tell me. Explain why, and if it makes sense to me, I will change them.

General Information

 

Taking the Bruce Eckel model of computer book publishing to an entirely new level...

OUR STATED MISSION IS TO EDUCATE AND LEARN. We do not compete with JUGs, blogs, and the websites of the best and brightest. The JavaSpec.org Network shall forever remain focused on Java fundamentals within the narrow scope of The Java Language Specification. Our goal is to have the best organized and most complete Java fundamentals book on the market, within that narrow scope. As a member of one of The JavaSpec.org Network translation teams, you are more than a translator. You become a co-author and are part of a large, international team of Java programmers who are going to make a significant contribution to the Java community. Each translation team is self-supportive through the use of unobtrusive, vertical-only online advertising and printed book sales.

What We Do: Highly Synchronized, International Thinking in Java Fundamentals

Our passive job is to educate but our active job is to learn more about Java fundamentals from our users. The Spanish translation team alone has the potential of bringing the thought of thousands of Java programmers in South America to bear on the subject of Java fundamentals. We’re going to tap into such “knowledge reservoirs“ all over the world. The prime directive for translation teams is to pass along this knowledge so that it can be disseminated to the other team members. Actually, so long as we are talking Star Trek, it’s more like a Borg collective thing, with Doug playing the role of the evil Borg Queen until such time as a Board of Directors can be appointed. If we succeed, other such networks will follow and significantly fewer trees will be destroyed in the name of the old publishing models. But beware, this is still only the first season. The Klingons are apparently still our enemies. I almost lost my job for that.

PUBLIC FACE (JUG Membership Requirement)

At least one member of every translation team shall be a member of a local JUG in which he or she can display a portrait picture and bio (but not necessarily anything more than your professional Java career). Other than these two requirements, I have no comment on the rest of your bio page. If, and only if, there is no JUG in your country, you must rent your server and display your face to the public along with a bio before I will hotlink your server. You will also be required to display your real name, city of origin and a link to your bio page on my server’s Translation Teams page. (I’m American. I try to learn from my mistakes.)

HOW MANY ON A TEAM?

I would prefer that you work as a team with one or two other professional Java programmers, but this is entirely your decision. I give weight to this, however, when deciding on a target language translation team. I also am looking for professionals working for Sun, IBM, or one of the other major corporate players behind Java. It's a huge job. As a printed book, there really are close to 2,000 pages of text, not to mention volumes 3 & 4, which were mothballed years ago. As we progress into those volumes over the next couple of years, I will do less and less of the original writing. Changes will be constant. This is not static text. This is a potentially life-changing decision for you. It can have that much impact. Trust me; I know. Be sure you are ready for something like this, especially if you mean to take it on by yourself.

NO WORK ON COMPETING PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

Translation team members cannot be involved in the development of competing programming languages, either as an employee or volunteer. Until such time as a Board of Directors is in place, I decide what is or is not competitive based on a survey of their publicly available documentation (primarily their website). I will only respond to this as it is brought to my attention, so if you are working on another computer programming language in any capacity whatsoever please let me know in advance so that we can determine if there is a possible conflict of interests. This is a question of ethical behavior. All professions studiously avoid such conflicts of interest. It is expected business practice at this point. Languages having so far been defined as competitive include .Net and Groovy.

BENCHMARK PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

Unless otherwise agreed to in writing, translation teams must be online within one month of conclusion of either a temporary verbal/email agreement or a signed legal agreement. OTHER BENCHMARKS TO FOLLOW.

LOSS OF LICENSE

Please do not think I will stand idly by and watch as one of the translation teams turn their license to display my work into a personal website bent on vain glory. I am not doing that, so you can imagine how frustrating it would be for me to see someone else use my work to promote themselves when our stated mission is to educate and learn. CONTINUAL, FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF THE RULES THAT APPLY TO EVERYONE MAY RESULT IN THE LOSS OF YOUR LICENSE TO DISPLAY THE DERIVATIVE WORK AND YOUR TRANSLATION RIGHTS (IF NOT YOUR TRANSLATION WORK) BEING GIVEN TO ANOTHER TRANSLATION TEAM. The contract shall stipulate that I have the authority to do this in disputed cases that must go to court, until such time as the courts can settle the matter.

GOVERNING JURISDICTION

THE GOVERNING JURISDICTION SHALL BE A MAJOR CITY IN THE UNITED STATES, MOST LIKELY IN CALIFORNIA.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

As soon as we hit critical mass, I will begin to incorporate and ownership of the English flagship as well as The JavaSpec.org Network shall be legally transferred to the Board of Directors at the earliest possible date. That Board of Directors shall be comprised of myself, a legal partner and team members from the most successful translations.

SURVIVAL OF THE NETWORK

IN THE INTEREST OF THE GENERAL WELFARE OF THE JAVA COMMUNITY AT LARGE AND TO PROTECT THE WORK OF THE TRANSLATION TEAMS, I HEREBY DECLARE THAT TRANSLATION RIGHTS SHALL NEVER BE WITHDRAWN ONCE I BIND MYSELF TO A TRANSLATION TEAM IN WRITING, SO LONG AS THEY MEET THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS AS STATED ON THIS PAGE AND ADHERE TO THE SAME CONTRACTUAL RULES AS APPLY TO ALL TRANSLATION TEAMS. In other words, I am saying that I do not have the legal right to take back my gift of the translation rights from a translation team that has not misrepresented itself to me and plays by the same rules as everyone else. Print rights are an entirely different matter. They are governed solely by signed contracts, and until such contracts are signed remain in my full ownership. Until such time as an agreement is reached with Marie Rosé of GrayFalcon Graphics, all translation teams are legally bound to respect her copyrights for the “Warrior” portrait. In the event of my untimely death (which is now imaginable...I sleep with an axe next to my bed), I hereby proclaim to all that ownership of this network is to be transferred to Sun Microsystems, inventors of the Java technology, to do with as they please and as my way of saying thank you to their management team and legal staff for letting me exist at all as JavaSpec.org, a domain name that includes your registered trademark. Thank you. I worked hard for this opportunity. Dr. Gafter has a good nose.

 

Annual Translators Ball

The ITechWrite.org Family of Educational Networks and The JavaSpec.org Network are seeking professional Java programmers with at least two years in the field to translate our work. We are giving away translation rights to qualified applicants. You need only to set up a Mediawiki server in your country, which of course means you must also know something about maintaining a server, at the very least a shared server. The English Flagship is currently being hosted on a shared server that cost only $7 a month. We can upgrade the machines later. Right now we just need to get networked so the feedback loop starts. All of the software we use (LAMP, Mediawiki) is free. Renting a server is your only cost to become a member of an international team of Java programmers who are trying to do something really different, which is to take the Bruce Eckel model of computer book publishing to an entirely new level, forming the first Association of Independent Computer Book Authors (AICBA) with a focus on delivering better, more culturally aware translations to computer programmers worldwide using an innovative new (intellectual) networking (of the minds) idea. It's a Borg collective thing, only our drones get to do the Tango once a year in front of all of their co-workers.You keep all advertisement revenue and could earn a lot of money printing your translation. This is a business opportunity for bilingual professional Java programmers with at least two years in the field (or perhaps an entire JUG or the IT college of a large university who want to sponsor the work). Even marginally good (and daring), traditional folk dancers a plus, as is working for Sun, IBM, or one of the other corporate giants behind Java, but right now it’s happening on a first come first get the job basis for anyone who can set up their server and who meets the minimum requirement of at least two years in the field, translating into your native tongue (no second languages please. It would be a violation of the contract). There are potentially lucrative languages still in play, such as French and Spanish. The Spanish server will be located in South America. Read all about this potential new direction in your life on this page, the Translator Agreement. Please at least read how extensively this new publishing model allows for Local Personality and Cultural Differences unlike anything you have ever read about before. You are a co-author and speak in the first person, earn 90% of the royalties off the printed copies of your translation, design the book cover yourself, title the book, write your own preface, etc. All the fun stuff without the headache of having to write the original content. All you have to do is translate and infuse it with local color (you).

If “something wonderful” should happen and the The JavaSpec.org Network reaches critical mass, the Board of Directors can invite a member from each of the translation teams and English mirrors (Great Brittan, Australia and India) to the annual board meeting and have a really big party at a different place each year to get to know each other and celebrate the success of the network. So please think about it. If you join our team now while so many languages (including French and Spanish) have yet to be translated, it may include (Java) lifelong *free* tickets (including transportation for board members) to the Annual JavaSpec.org Board Meeting and Translators Ball (short name, The Annual Translators Ball) where most everyone is sure to be from a different country but speak at least some English. The playlist will be selected by translation team members in advance of the ball so that everyone knows what to expect. It will necessarily be recorded, which saves on overhead. The playlist will emphasize cultural diversity, with pre-selected, “show case” dancers for some numbers. (We can hit the clubs of the host city later as smaller groups. I’m on a roll now.) I wonder who I should pick to be the King and Queen of the First Annual Translators Ball? Hmmm? I bet it’s a Russian. (Hold on, I stepped in something, oh...for those of you poor lost souls who are seriously concerned, this German will be leaving his axe at home.) This will be a dressed-to-the-hilt occasion for everyone with formal introductions as each individual, couple, or family arrives at the door. No names tags, please. I’m a hopeless romantic, no? All it takes is one or two professional Java programmers from each of the major languages, and we are unstoppable.

Who will be Mr. & Mrs. France? Mr. & Mrs. Italy (special guests), Mrs. & Mrs. Greece? Mr. and Mrs. Brazil? I'm going to personally pay for the plane ticket to the First Annual Translators Ball for whoever translates into Spanish.

 

Server Requirements

• JavaSpec.org Logo: Pending copyright approval of our logo from Marie Rosé of GrayFalcon Graphics, all translation servers shall have the option of flying the flag of the Warrior (both as logo and favicon). This flag (logo) meant a lot to me, but I think it would be too offensive for some peoples and cultures. As soon as Marie and I can sign an agreement, I am fully committed to keeping this flag (logo) flying above the English Flagship (where it belongs in this analogy). I mean to offend no other peoples and cultures by doing so. The Warrior logo is a personal thing with me, not national or cultural. The art found the man. (There, I just finally came right out and said it myself.) Translation teams are free to make their own logo and favicon, but the former must include "JavaSpec.org" in legible print, as does mine. Based on the strength of this decision alone, I should think my commitment to cultural diversity should never again be in question. As I said in the email that announced this decision to the first three translation teams, “In the end, I care only that you send me errata and other technical improvements.” May I suggest, however, as commander of this imaginary fleet (still under construction), that for the sake of at least maintaining a theme, you consider a traditional warrior image from your own culture. I like it. It’s very Star Trek. Beam me some traffic, Scotty. After the fleet has decimated the old publishing models (our not so evil foe), we’ll do intellectual battle, seeing which ship (peoples or culture) can make the most significant technical edits and claim their prize of a share in the English book sales. No live torpedoes, please. We’re going to need all of our ships after losing the Klingons. This monkey has final approval over logos and favicons, but only if they are found to be arguably offensive to other peoples.
• The domain name: Domain names will be ISO 3166 two-letter country codes followed by JavaSpec.org (e.g. http://cn.javaspec.org).
• Server Location: The servers will be located in their target countries. For a select few of you, this means renting a server in you country of origin. It also means you must know how to install Mediawiki and generally maintain a server. Shared servers are okay. That is your business. I will expect everyone to help if you need it. There is sure to be plenty of server expertise between us.
• MediaWiki: All translations will be in Mediawiki, release 1.12 or later. This will frustrate some of you, but I must allow for the possibility of a single, international strength server with all translations down the road. Please do not engage me on this. I love Mediawiki. More importantly, I am up and running on Mediawiki, and have way too much to do to consider alternatives at this time. If there is a compelling reason to switch down the road, we will switch as a team.
• Short URLs: All installations must use short URLs. Ask for help if you need it. This is very important to your success. The /wiki/ directory is a virtual directory that exists only in the .htaccess rewrite rules. Done properly, your MediaWiki files should be installed in a directory named /w/ and all URLs for indexed pages should begin http://xx.javaspec.org/wiki/... Exactly how to do this depends on your server. This is a really good time to slow down and get things right. Once you have successfully installed Mediawiki, you will find it to be extremely easy to use and maintain, but you must get this part right. I will help you.
• robots.txt: You are free to do what you want here, but please look at mine. You need to get this right before you are indexed by Google, and I have learned a lot of hard lessons already
• sitemap.xml: You must have a sitemap.xml file for Google to read because Mediawiki websites are dynamically generated content. I will not mandate the use of GSiteCrawler, but this is one of the most remarkably well designed pieces of software I have ever encountered. The interface is a study in intuitive interface design and should be included in all college courses on the subject. You will never have to read a single help document in order to use this thing the first time. McAfee’s SiteAdvisor has yellow flagged the GSiteCrawler website, inappropriately I think, because the discussion forum is very active. (Consequently, if you put yourself on the email list you will get a lot of emails. I was on the list for a couple of weeks. You really do not need to be on this list.) GSiteCrawler runs automatically from my house at 5:00 PM every day and I hardly ever have to think about my sitemap.xml file.
• Public Development: I would prefer that you do the translation online, more or less, posting each new section as it is translated, so that you begin to build an audience as soon as possible. But this is your decision. I will not meddle in the translations at such a level of detail.

 

Copyright Protection

• Copyright Application: Local teams are responsible for applying for copyrights in a timely manner. You cannot wait on this. In the United States, for example, it is critical to apply for copyrights in the first three months after initial publication. Otherwise your forfeit attorneys fees in a legal battle, which are critical to any successful prosecution. Please do not underestimate the importance of this. Your work is a Derivative of mine, and as such is protected under U.S. copyright laws. Nevertheless, I strongly encourage you to begin now to find your national government website for making copyright application and save yourself the cost of paying an attorney to fill out the one or two page form. In the U.S. at least, it is a very simple process, but one of infinite importance if you are serious about protecting your copyrights. To the extent possible, I want local copyright protection.
• Copyright Infringement: Translation teams have a responsibility to keep an eye out for copyright infringement of their translation.
• Copyright Enforcement: Should the need arise, local translation teams shall have the responsibility of coordinating legal action against copyright infringers. However I will be largely responsible for shouldering the costs of bringing such legal action.

 

The Network Point of Presence

Given this new publishing model, there are serious issues with widely spoken languages such as English. Such a server residing only in the U.S. becomes a problem for other countries in which English is either the native tongue or the common technical language (as is the case in India, for example). The same argument applies to other widely spoken languages. This has been a major stumbling block to my success in the past. Therefore, every country has a right to its own JavaSpec.org server, except when there is a contiguous border with the country of the host translation team or the proximity of the target country is such that the owners of the host translation server object to the need for a second server. If the language spoken in your country has already been translated, then you may contact the host translation team and ask for permission to mirror the original.

• Dialects: Dialects which are the predominant language of a country are to be considered separate languages. I control this by signing or not signing a translation team, but on this matter I will tend to favor the new dialect, not the existing translation team.
• Mirror Self-Sufficiency: Mirrors must be both financially and technically self-sufficient. You will receive no share of the advertising revenue generated by your mirror, unless this is the desire of the host translation team. Mirror administrators answer to the translation team they mirror. The overseeing translation team has no responsibility for your mirror. They may or may not elect to help get you set up and keep you up and running when technical problems are encountered. Please do not offer to mirror unless you are already technically proficient at mirroring.
• Mirror Intellectual Property Rights: Mirrors have NO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.
• Exceptions: THIS RULE DOES NOT APPLY TO THE ENGLISH FLAGSHIP. However, I would welcome mirrors in India, England, and Australia.
• Arbitration: If arbitration with mirrors becomes an issue, I am the arbitrator, and my decision shall be legally binding. Rest assured, such decisions shall favor the translation team

 

Allowing for Local Personality & Cultural Differences

• Main, About JavaSpec.org and Make a Donation Pages: These are the only significant, non-technical pages and the translation teams have full control over them to allow for all the local personality you can fit into them, with the provision that there always be Main Page linkage back to the flagship English server. These are your people. You speak to them. I do not mandate content for these three pages, except to allow for the possibility of implementing a mechanism for spreading messages throughout the network on the Main Page. The footprint of such a mechanism shall be small, and it's location at your discretion. THIS EXPLICITLY DOES NOT GIVE TRANSLATION TEAMS TO AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT DONATIONS OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER OTHER THAN THOSE AGREED TO IN THIS DOCUMENT AND THAT ARE DIRECTED INTO AN ACCOUNT OVER WHICH I HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL. It only gives you the freedom to design the Make a Donation page as your wish, including the appeal for donations, of which you keep 25%. My bet is you can do a better job than me of getting people to make donations, but there will be centrally orchestrated donation drives to support legal fees and possibly other overhead, such as the Annual Translator Ball.
• Use of First Person Voice: This is an extraordinary offer to translators. I am saying you may speak in the first person, which always implies the work is your own. It is. You are a co-author and I am giving you the right to speak as one.
• Banners: Make your own banner, but use it consistently as I do mine. I will give you the code to eliminate the MediaWiki page name from the top of the "points of entry" pages if you would like to do the same. I don't like seeing the page names on those pages.
• Navigation Pane: The points of entry in the navigation pane shall be the same for all translations. No additions or subtractions. This will no doubt upset some translation teams who want to make JavaSpec.org into something more than it is. I am willing to hear arguments against this requirement, but my focus will be on where you are going. It must be something that makes sense for everyone. This is a scope issue. I do not want JavaSpec.org competing with JUGs, blogs, or the websites of the best and brightest. Enforcing common points of entry avoids much of this. The only exception to this rule that navigation design must copied is this Translator Agreement. You are required neither to link to nor translate this document. It only makes sense on the English Flagship. The editor tools are another matter. They are your business. You are free to copy all of my stuff as a starting point for the translation. You do not have to use the typewriter fonts for chapter names in the points of entry pages such as the TOC. Handle this however you want.

 

Finance

I have lived too long now to let go of the purse strings. Not this time. Sorry, I will not budge on this because I am the only person I can fully trust to be fair and equitable. You will learn over time to trust me in this regard. I wish advertisements paid more, too. I am a very poor person, poorer even than most of you from what the Americans so arrogantly call "third-world" countries. I have been poor a very long time now, and I mean for that to change. Profit will come through volume, if we succeed. But I cannot allow revenue generating schemes on the translation servers over which I do not have complete control.

• Ads: All ads will be from the same account. For now, that means you will be contractually obligated to run Gooooooogle Ads. The add locations must be consistent with the English flagship. I run the maximum number of ads per page that Google allows.
• Ad Revenue: You will retain all ad revenue for your server up to a point, and that point will generously exceed your costs. Only when ad revenue reaches a point that your are earning considerably more than fairly compensates you for all your work, will I ask that it be shared, and my percentage will never exceed 50% of only those amounts above the base. For some, if not most languages, I do not expect revenue to ever reach that point, which means you will be keeping 100% of your advertisement revenue.
• Donations: All donations shall be channeled to a single account, from which the host language translation team shall receive 25% of the total donation. The other 75% percent shall go to the Board of Directors (primarily to pay for legal expenses, but travel and lodging expenses for annual meetings shall be reimbursed to Board members and their families. My only income shall be from book sales and advertisements on the English Flagship. Until such time as the Board becomes extant as a legal entity, I shall keep their percentage. After that, I shall receive no pat of the donations.
• Accountability: I am an honest person. You will have direct, login access to accounting information, whenever possible.
• A little Extra Incentive: This offer in intended to encourage you to play by the rules and pass along technical improvements. The top three translation teams (including possibly at most one of the English mirror teams) for the languages making the most contributions (significant technical edits) to the work shall generously share in 50% of the royalties (proportionately distributed based on the total number of significant contributions from each of the top-three translation teams and I will send you copies of my royalties statements, which permission I shall have) from any English printings, based on total per-language contributions on the day I announce any new English printing. Note that this is also an incentive to get up and running as soon as possible so that you can get a feedback loop started. If finding mistakes becomes an Easter egg hunt, I can assure you there are plenty of eggs in this field, but that will change fast, if we are successful. Anonymous contributions emailed directly to me always count towards the U.S. I will not bother these contributors by asking them what language they speak or what country they are from, when in fact it is usually the U.S.
• English Mirror Teams: NEW The same offer discussed in the previous bulletted item (to share profits from the sale of English books based on technical feedback) is extended to English mirrors in Great Brittan (which shall include all significant technical edits from the whole island, regardless of which country hosts the mirror), down under (which includes both Australia and New Zealand, but the mirror shall be in the former) and India. However, there shall never be more than one English mirror team included in the top three, which means the English mirrors compete amongst themselves for that slot. You have the potential here of earning up to 50% of the royalties from worldwide English book sales, but it does not apply until your mirror is up and running. Until then, significant technical edits from these countries shall be tracked separately (as are all significant technical edits), but shall not count towards placing the eventual mirror team in the top three.
• Book Sales: This is where you make your real money. I’ll stay out of your hair. You send me 10% of your royalties on the day the check arrives, and treat me as fairly as I have treated you.

 

The Technical Consistency & Scope of the Work

We must keep the translations in sync. We move in tandem, as a team, when it comes to technical improvements to the work. This is a critical strategy on which I must count on you as partners if this work is going to succeed.

• Edit Privileges: You have complete discretion over how open is your MediaWiki implementation. If you want to give anonymous users update privileges, that's your business. Right now, I have the screws turned down on my installation while I am working on the conversion. Later, I will allow email-confirmed users to edit and create Talk (discussion) pages, but only recognized technical editors will ever have direct access to the English flagship. Contrary to what I am saying elsewhere on this website, I have recently decided that copy editors will not be given update capability. It is too easy for them to just tell me what is wrong. I can make the correction myself and avoid an entire class of potential trouble. Your installation can stayed locked down forever as far as I am concerned, or you can go in the completely opposite direction and open it up so that everyone can make contributions. What you must do is put into place some mechanism for assuring that changes are sent to me so that I can evaluate them for the rest of the team. This is an important part of your most critical responsibility to the group, which is to pass along improvements to the text.
• Sections: Section names must be the same as the English flagship. Nor can you add or delete sections without my prior consent. This is how I control the scope of the work, which must always remain Java fundamentals. Hence, this rule is absolute, and breaks the contract. If you want to change the organization of the book, it must be approved by me and implemented across all translations. Be aware, however, I mothballed Volumes 3 & 4 while working for Addison-Wesley. In other words, these 12 chapters alone do not cover the full scope of the work. There’s lots of other stuff we can add down the road (e.g. class loading, synchronization basics, etc.).
• Figures: We share images, though each translation will have local copies. Send improvements and I'll change them for everyone.
• Tables: Translation only.

 

Book Sales

PRINT RIGHTS ARE GOVERNED BY SIGNED CONTRACTS ONLY, AND UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A CONTRACT IS SIGNED REMAIN IN MY FULL POSSESSION TO DISPOSE OF AS I PLEASE. THIS IS THE ONLY MECHANISM I HAVE FOR DISCOURAGING WAYWARD INSTALLATIONS IN THE FIRST ROUNDS OF TRANSLATION TEAMS TO GO ONLINE BEFORE I HAVE LEGAL COUNCIL.

This job is not just about translating, which is why you are a professional Java programmer with at least two years of experience in the field. You are also a business partner. I expect you to eventually market your translation as a hard copy book, though I understand this will not always be possible.

• AICBA Imprint: Pending copyright approval of our logo and favicon from Marie Rosé of GrayFalcon Graphics, wherever possible you will be obligated to use the AICBA imprint (see the logo on the main page). This will mean negotiating with book packaging companies directly, not mainstream computer book publishers. Exceptions to this rule will be made on a language-by-language basis. Please, though, give it some thought. I will report on my progress towards a printed book and share the lessons learned by others on the team.
• Book Title & Cover Design: Translation teams may find their own suitable title and cover design. However, The JavaSpec.org Network (with only "The" and "Network" translated) shall be prominently displayed in legible print somewhere on the cover and binding of all printed translations.
• The Preface: The Preface is yours. I am not egocentric. These are your people. You speak to them. I will entitle mine "The English Preface" and you can translate it or not. I really don't care.
• Index: You do not have to write an index. Instruct your readers to search the book online. Indices require more thought than the actual writing of the text, if done properly. It is an insane waste of talent when online searches are readily available. Nevertheless, if you are inclined to include an index in your translation, this is, of course, your option.
• No borders on book sales: There shall be no borders on book sales. All translations may be sold on the open world market, including Internet sales.
• When to Print: Any time after the first 12 chapters have been converted and updated to the current Java release, you may elect to go to print. I will give $1,000 to the first translation team to send me a printed book. Please do not expect this to be until the end of this year, though. I am going to have to perform at a level I have not in years, and that includes taking on Generics in Chapter 6 (which is why I am converting it last) while managing this team. I was going to try to pass off this responsibility, but the person (Bond, James) who left this note on Java Ranch wants me to do it, though he or she remains strangely anonymous.

 

Idiocy Disclaimer & Marketing Strategy

Please don’t ever think I’m stupid for giving away my translation rights. If you succeed in your language, I will eventually profit from the sale of printed books. Until then, I have my own reasons for doing this. It is part of a Blue Ocean marketing strategy I have worked out in great detail with Dr. Marjorie Fox of Russellville, Arkansas (my home town), a Tulane-educated marketing PhD. You are part of a large, international team now, and our strategy will become apparent to you in the next couple of years.