Acknowledgments

I'd like to thank Richard Stallman for providing a vision and the belief that it can come true. Of course, without Paul Smith, GNU make would not exist in its current form today. Thank you.

I'd like to thank my editor, Andy Oram, for his unflagging support and enthusiasm.

Cimarron Software deserves my thanks for providing an environment that encouraged me to begin this project. Realm Systems also deserves thanks for providing an environment that encouraged me to finish the project. In particular, I'd like to thank Doug Adamson, Cathy Anderson, and Peter Bookman.

Thanks to my reviewers, Simon Gerraty, John Macdonald, and Paul Smith, who provided many insightful comments and corrected many embarrassing errors.

The following people deserve thanks for valuable contributions to this work: Steve Bayer, Richard Bogart, Beth Cobb, Julie Daily, David Johnson, Andrew Morton, Richard Pimentel, Brian Stevens, and Linus Torvalds. Many thanks to the cabal that provided a safe haven in stormy seas: Christine Delaney, Tony Di Sera, John Major, and Daniel Reading.

Finally, my profound gratitude and love goes to my wife, Maggie Kasten, and our children, William and James, for their support, encouragement, and love during the last sixteen months. Thank you for sharing this with me.