pfSense Book Naming Contest
As some of you are aware, I’m writing a book on pfSense to be published by Reed Media. It’s been a work in progress for several months and will be completed in the next 5-6 weeks. After technical review and editing, that means it will be available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. around late August to early September.
I posted a work in progress table of contents to the mailing list.That’s just the top level, it drills down quite a bit from there. I’m estimating the final page count at roughly 300-400 pages.
There currently is no set title. Of the ones my editor Jeremy Reed and I have thought of, my favorite is The Definitive Guide to pfSense. I’m not set on anything though and am looking for suggestions from the community.
Leave a comment here with your ideas. I will send a complimentary signed copy of the book to the person who chooses the title that will be used, including shipping to anywhere in the world. Please leave a legit email address (it’s only visible to admins) so I can contact you. If we go with The Definitive Guide to pfSense, I will pick someone at random from those who leave comments here and send them the free copy. So if you like that title, feel free to leave a comment saying so.
Tags: book
June 21st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
pfSense, the alternative enterprise firewall or pfsense indepth
June 21st, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Very cool to see a book come out! I’ve been thinking of different names for a little while now and I tend to think what you came up with is pretty good.
June 22nd, 2008 at 12:22 am
I agree that “The Definitive Guide…” sounds pretty great.
Some other possibilities could include:
- Saving Dollars and pfSense: Discovering the Open Source Firewall
- Making Sense of pfSense
- Understanding pfSense
- pfSense: the Other Firewall
- pfSense: the Open Source Firewall
- Exploring pfSense
- pfSense in Detail
- All about pfSense
- Working with pfSense
- A Guide to Configuring pfSense
- Using pfSense at Home or in the Workplace
Good luck!
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:41 am
Sounds very nice that a book about pfSense would be available soon.
My suggestion: Building Internet Firewalls with pfSense
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:43 am
Just “pfSense”.
Thanks again for this great product.
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:49 am
First of all – Great idea
400 pages? – Respect… I think I haven’t read that many pages combined my entire life, I can’t even begin to think what effort it would take to write them…
My idea:
pfSense – (don’t) give me your money
June 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 am
The Networking World According To pfSense
June 22nd, 2008 at 6:47 am
Cory made some nice suggestions, so I’m left with one title.
pfSense A firewall with focus on your needs
For a front/back pages there could be statements.
- Should security be for everyone?
- Ever mist a feature?
etc
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:50 am
Well done (as always) !! Nice to hear about an upcoming book on pfSense.
Some of my thoughts:
pfSense – THE ultimate how-to for network security hardening
pfSense – As secure as open
pfSense – Sysadmin’s ultimate security swissarmyknife
Or:
pfSense – What else ? (c) G.Clooney
In bed with pfSense
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:11 am
Wow, the t.o.c sounds interesting!
I would suggest:
- How to get the most from your pfSense Firewall
- pfSense demystified
Also because of what I read on the toc the book explains more general concept that are not pfSense specific… so:
- How does a firewall works? Understanding pfSense.
-
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:20 am
pfSense for Dummies and beyond…
June 22nd, 2008 at 11:25 am
A book? Awesome! I can’t wait to buy a copy
As for titles….
pfSense Unleashed
pfSense for Dummies
pfSense – my firewall can beat up your firewall
June 22nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Free copy or not, i can’t wait for this book!
The Definitive Guide…
The Ultimate Guide..
Or
The official guide to PFSense (Because it will be)
June 22nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I was going to suggest ‘Making Sense of pfSense’ but Cory Lievers beat me to it.
Networking with pfSense (subtitle: Or: How to make a $199 PC a $5000 router)
Sensible routing with pfSense
Complete guide to PfSense
Installing and Running pfSense
June 22nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
PFSENSE for Dummies!
or
PFSENSE Firewall All-in-ONE Reference.
or
PFSENSE 1.3 Firewalling Techniques.
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
What about: “Hitchhiker’s Guide To pfSense”
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I’d suggest “pfsense Makes Networking Easier” because it does. All the best for the book (and pfsense, of course).
June 22nd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I’m french and i want to know if you are going to translate it to french; If not do you agree that I do it for free? I really want to learn on this fantastic open sources firewall and a traduction of a book like that could help me a lot!
June 22nd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Thanks everyone for your suggestions! Keep ‘em coming. If you would like to +1 someone else’s response, feel free to do so.
I’m also looking for a sub-title that can be somewhat longer, and give a more thorough description, so suggestions there are welcome as well.
freetomfr: Good question, I’ll talk to my publisher about translations.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:18 pm
_p_er_f_ect _s_sense for your router/gateway/VPN needs
pfSense … business-class routing from a cheap PC
(characters enclosed by underscores in exaggerated type … i.e., styled so you get a visual impact of the word “pfSense”)
… or maybe these are better as sub-title candidates or simply as “sound bytes”/slogans to help ensure an eye-catching cover.
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Sounds great! I’ll definitely be buying this seeing as it seems like a full-feature guide on using pfSense.
My suggestions:
-The Essential Guide to pfSense
-pfSense – The Complete Guide – Make sense of your router!
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:54 pm
The Definitive Guide to pfSense: Open Security
FreeBSD is in an amazing place right now and pfSense on top makes for an incredible deployment. I love the project and can’t wait for the book. The table of contents looks so legit.
Does the multi wan section address the differences between 1.2 and 1.3 possible approaches to multi wan configuration?
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 pm
pfSense – Industrial strength firewall for everyone
June 22nd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Johnny C: No, it won’t cover anything specific to 1.3 because so much is still up in the air with that release and still will be by the time it goes to press. Almost everything will still be applicable to 1.3, but there will not be in depth 1.3 coverage because it’s too early in its development cycle to know for sure what the final release is going to contain and how it will function. Updated information will be available in the future, once 1.3 is much closer to release than it is now.
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:28 am
Packet Filtering – pfSense Style.
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:58 am
pfSense – The simplest way to an enterprise firewall
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:11 am
“Mastering PfSense”
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:42 am
I like Bryan’s suggestion +1,
Making PerFectSENSE
Also if I +1 Bryan and he wins, do I get a book too?
)
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:01 am
Do you have pfSense?
Common pfSense
Get some pfSense
pfSense Made Easy
pfSense … Rethink Your Firewall
pfSense … The Little Firewall That Could
Help with pfSense
Firewall on a Budget
pfSense … Enterprise Class Firewall
Enterprise Firewalls with pfSense
Do you pfSense?
How much pfSense does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
pfSense … The Missing Manual
How about some pfSense?
pfSense for the Enterprise
Guide to understanding pfSense
pfSense … Best of Breed Firewall
Make friends with pfSense
Firewalls on the cheap with pfSense
Arm yourself with pfSense
Protect yourself with pfSense
Hide behind pfSense
Got pfSense?
Sold on pfSense
pfSense … the sensible choice (for firewalls)
When you need an enterprise firewall on a shrinking budget.
When security matters.
When your network needs the best.
When only the best will do.
Champagne firewall on a beer budget
Protect your position with pfSense
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:45 am
Exciting news… I will definitely keep my eyes open for this book. Here are a few title suggestions that I came up with. For each, the main title is the first line, then the second line is the subtitle:
The 60-Minute Firewall
Secure Your Network on Your Lunch Hour With pfSense
(Alternate form of above — I can’t decide which I like better.)
pfSense: The 60-Minute Firewall
Secure Your Network on Your Lunch Hour
Firewall Simplicity
Secure Your Business or Home Network With pfSense
Making Sense of Firewalls
A Simple Guide to Using pfSense
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:04 am
I think that “The Definitive Guide to pfSense” is the best, next i would say is “making sense of pfSense”
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:58 am
How about “The pfSense Bible”? It has a minor air of mysticism as does pfSense at times…
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Can’t wait to buy the book! I agree, definitive guide is professional and to the point.
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
pfSense? Yeah!
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I should do:
– pfSense -
The Sense of Packet Filtering
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Titles like “Making Sense of pfSense” give the impression that it’s difficult to make sense without the book. I’d go with a title more like the suggestions pfSense – In-Depth and The Essential Guide to pfSense
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
p (erfect) f (irewall) sense
Exactly written like this
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
pfSense – An open source solution for your routing and firewall needs
pfSense – A small, yet feature-rich firewall and routing platform
pfSense – Making sense of routing and firewalling
pfSense – Firewalling and routing made easy
pfSense – Demystifying setting up and administering routers and firewalls
pfSense – Setting up your own firewall and router
pfSense – Setting up and administering routers and firewalls.
From home networks to large corporate networks
pfSense – A powerful, flexible firewalling and routing platform
pfSense – A powerful, flexible firewalling and routing platform. For home and business solutions
pfSense – Routing and firewall solutions for home and business
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
[...] Buechler, one of the pfSense Core Team members, has been working for several months on a pfSense Handbook which will be completed in the next 5-6 weeks and for sale from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. [...]
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm
pf It just makes sense
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
pfSense – The complete authoritative guide. (So easy, a caveman could do it.)
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:35 pm
My suggesionon a theme of security and a tweak on the Inside Out theme:
pfsense: Inside Out and Outside Out
Millsey
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:49 pm
pfSense – The Art of the Firewall.
The only problem I see with a “definitive guide” is that it won’t describe what pfSense is. If you can make a good enough tagline, then that would work.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Sensible pfSense – _
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Imagine I’m at Borders because I want to find out about firewalls. How does “pfSense: The Definitive Guide” do anything for me? I probably skip over the book entirely because I don’t know what pfSense is.
Now, consider something along the lines of:
Rapid Firewall Deployment with pfSense
– A Free, Robust Firewall with Web Administration -
That tells me it’s easy, I can do it, and it’s not going to cost me something besides the $40 you deserve for the book.
OK, I’ll buy it.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:59 pm
My suggestions:
-Pfsense inside out .
-Pfsense I/O
-From 0 to Pfsense.
-Pfsense red pages
-Pfsense how to
-Pfsense user guide
-Pfsense deploy guide
Keep up with the good work
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:47 pm
The pfSense Way
Becoming a pfSensei
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Zero to hero with pfSense
June 24th, 2008 at 3:38 am
Very good idea with the writing of a book !
We appreciate very much your work !
My suggestions for the title of the book :
pfSense : The Easy and Free Way to Give Value to Your Server
pfSense : The Complete Guide to the Ultimate Firewall
pfSense : How to Get the Most Out of Your Server
or
How to Get the Most Out of Your Server – pfSense Explained
June 24th, 2008 at 4:46 am
man pfsense
June 24th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Unpacking pfSense: A Definitive Guide
Networking’s Sixth Sense: pfSense
-A Network Administrator’s Sixth Sense: pfSense
-(some variation linking the sixth sense as pfSense pun)
The 3 S’s Of pfSense: Security, Stability, Scalability
Yeah, it was hard to keep fun and sarcasm out of these responses. Oh well. Hope you like them or they inspire something better.
June 24th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Sounds like a great book. I prefer short and simple titles
– Make pfSense
– pf[make]Sense
– pfSensing
– Picking up the Sense
June 24th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I came on this one, a variation on my earlier one:
- pfSense -
The Sensible way of Packet Filtering
June 24th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
pfsense – open source to the business
June 24th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
It just makes pfSense!
June 24th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Securing Business with pfSense
June 25th, 2008 at 12:52 am
pfSense: Open Source Enterprise Firewall
(to boldly go where no firewall has gone before)
June 25th, 2008 at 1:49 am
As far as I know is the first book of pfSense so :
pfSense “The Book”
simple…:)
June 25th, 2008 at 3:32 am
“Great Walls of Fire”
June 25th, 2008 at 8:11 am
The complete reference to pfSense
June 25th, 2008 at 8:34 am
How about
‘Sensible Packet Filtering’
June 25th, 2008 at 9:32 am
I pfSense! Do you?
June 25th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Networking: pfSense style
June 25th, 2008 at 10:49 am
PfSense Dissected
PfSense inner workings
June 25th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Inside pfSense: Redefining the Firewall
June 26th, 2008 at 2:26 am
pfSense – Mastering The OSS Enterprise Grade Firewall
For Private – SOHO – Enterprises – Everyone Can Do!
June 26th, 2008 at 7:50 am
The Definitive Guide to pfSense looks OK as a balanced name
I would be glad to see a name, which shows how outstandingly good the pfSense is, i.e. something simple, non-obtrusive, but remarkable on the bookshelf
For me the word, which best describes the pfSense is – Comprehensive
- Comprehensive Guide to pfSense
- pfSense based Network – The Comprehensive Way
- A Comprehensive Way to Think About IT (with a rubber-stamp [pfSence] around)
June 26th, 2008 at 8:27 am
The pfSense Guide
The Complete Guide to pfSense
pfSense Revealed
pfSense – My Network, Now!
pf + sense = Net Value, No Glue
Get back – pfSense @ once!
pfSense? Buy This Book!
pfSense – firewall yourself!
pfSense in-the-know
pfSense on a need-to-know basis
pfSense – Guardian Guide
pfSense – Building The Great Wall
Understanding pfSense
Get Into pfSense
The Admin’s Guide To pfSense
pfSense – Zero-Offer Networking Attained
Good Times – pfSense Preferred
pffft! Sense The Net…
Com-bo/ok – pf & Sense Com-bi/ned
pfSense – Net Value, No Loss – Negate the No-Net
pfSense – Pushing Packets by the Pound
pfSense – Period!
pfSense – This Time You’re In Charge
The Book On pfSense
400 Pages – 1 Firewall
Yes Sir! You Can Boogie Too – Dancing With pfSense
pfSense – This Time It’s Serious…
Ponderings on pfSense – Paying Your Dues
Homer on pfSense – DoughNETs Revealed
Homer on pfSense – DoughNET version – Closing the Hole
pfSense – a Chris-Cast
Block The Baddies – pfSense – Back-to-Back
Binding With pfSense – Bound Version
pfSense – Feet, Firewalking and Forwarding
The Zen Guide To pfSense – Zensing The Zenseless
pfSense – Door-To-Door
pfSense – Stand and Deliver
pfSense – Wall-To-Wall Solutions For The Weary
pfSense – Server Spicing – Securely Served
Go pfSense – Guide to The Goodies
*cough*
June 26th, 2008 at 11:33 am
pfSense – Protect your network
pfSense – Got something to protect?
pfSense – When security matters
pfSense – A cheap way to high security
Building a high wall with pfSense
Protect your network with pfSense
How to protect your network with pfSense
Keep your integrity, use pfSense
June 26th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Make Sense of pfSense: an In-depth Guide to Securing your Network
June 26th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
oh dang….I didn’t realize that was already mentioned. Ehh, whatever. I’ll most likely be buying this book. And I strongly agree with Mr. Bill McGonigle. It needs to mention that pfSense is a firewall right there in the title. I didn’t know what it was until today when I stumbled upon it while looking at another opensource firewall.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
PFSENSE of OWN
June 26th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
The definitive guide to pfSense,
the best Firewall money can’t buy
June 27th, 2008 at 4:22 am
pfSense – An Extraordinary Firewall
Own A Completed Firewall! – pfSense
Know The Greatest Firewall – pfSense
June 27th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Build Your Own: The pfSense Firewall
Finding pfSense: A firewall adventure
Firewall yourself with pfSense: on-guard & in-depth
Protect yourself: Firewalling with pfSense
June 27th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Hello all,
here comes my poor contribution:
The Real PFSense CookBook
My best regards.
Vandart.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:44 am
On pfSense – Advancing the Firewall
Balls To The Firewall – pfSense Inspected
Commence Liftoff – pfSense Firewalling and Beyond
Introducing pfSense – Your Friendly Firewall
No Entry – guarding your network with the pfSense firewall
Lap of Luxury – Latter-day Sensing with the pfSense Firewall
Honey and Pot – grow your own firewall with pfSense
June 30th, 2008 at 6:58 am
I like your current title but with a slight change. ‘A’ instead of ‘The’.
“A Definitive Guide To pfSense”
Either way, thanks for writing a book about pfSense.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:23 am
pfSense – Learn ABC of network security
pfSense – One firewall from home to business
pfSense – Admins dream come true
pfSense – Who says firewalls r expensive
it would be great to have the book so atleast i can learn how to configure a firewall to its full efficiency
June 30th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Even if english is not my mother tongue, is here a possible title:
‘PfSense: A State of the Art OpenSource Firewall’
June 30th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I like “The Definitive Guide to pfSense”
or maybe “pfSense in a BASH Shell”
June 30th, 2008 at 11:31 am
pfSense – 42
June 30th, 2008 at 11:34 am
pfSense – 42
June 30th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
pfSense & Sensibility
July 1st, 2008 at 8:39 am
I think the best feature the engineering team creating pfSense have built is not its zero cost, so I wouldn’t make example of that in its title. There are far more worthy aspects of pfSense to shout about and I think it diminishes engineers’ hard work at creating features to focus so much on the cost.
Also, pfSense is free in a number of ways and so focusing solely on its financial freedom skews the point of its multiple principles of freedom.
My name suggestions:
The pfSense Firewall Appliance Book
The pfSense Firewall Appliance
Firewalling Large and Small With pfSense
Firewalling With pfSense
July 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am
The Definitive Guide to pfSense.
Le guide pour pfSense
pfSense : your dream
pfSense, en profondeur…
plongez dans pfSense
dive into the fire…wall : pfSense
pfSense by night
my favorite is the last
July 1st, 2008 at 11:37 am
Main title: pfSense – open source firewall and router at its best
Subtitle: A complete guide to pfSense
July 1st, 2008 at 11:43 am
pfSense – THE open source firewall and router
Resembles strongly one of the suggestions by Cory Lievers. I’d like to see some emphasis on the word router as well, since pfSense does both firewalling and routing.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:46 am
Open source firewall and router? pfSense!
July 1st, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Routing out the firewall – The pfSense Iron
The Route(r) to pfSense – Firewalling and Routing made Simple
Route(r) 66 – Keep the Blues on the Outside – pfSense firewalling explained
pfSense – Router and Firewall – Here’s How…
Take a Better Route(r): The pfSense Firewall/Router Book
pfSense – Firewall/Router Extraordinaire – HowToDoIT
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:16 am
How about: Sensible firewalls with pfSense
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:15 am
pfSense – MAKE PerFect SENSE
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
how about “The Sense of Firewall”
July 4th, 2008 at 4:37 am
I like this one “pfSense, the alternative enterprise firewall”
July 4th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Hi,
If you look for a subtitle, what about:
“From web caching to VPN configuration: a simple solution for all your complex needs”
Of course you can change it the way you want or add some text
(From web caching to firewalling: a simple opensource solution for all your complexe needs in your network infrastructure)
July 4th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Secure @ Home / Routing out the Net: pfSense – the adventure continues…
The pfSense Firewall/Router – Guide & Reference
Overcome the distance – Close encounter with the pfSense Firewall/Router
Pure Fun with Sense – pfSense Firewalling/Routing for your entertainment
Come again? It’s pfSense! – Securing the Net the Right Way(c)
FOSS Firewalling / Real Routing – pfSense-In-A-Book
Protocol Forwarding Secure Enterprise Node Surfing Enabler –> The Book
Pure Foss SENSor Evocation – Putting your Firewall/Router to work
July 4th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Excellent! I cannot wait for it to be released.
Title ideas:
pfSense: Protecting Your World
(Catch Phrase:) The Definitive Guide to pfSense
Protecting Your World with pfSense
The Definitive Guide to pfSense
Secure Your World
Building Firewalls with pfSense
July 5th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Firewalling – the pfSense way/style
July 7th, 2008 at 4:27 am
PFSense Black Book
July 8th, 2008 at 9:29 am
hi,
i love pfsense and would like to threw my one in:
pfSense – were OpenSource meets the Enterprise
best regards from austria
johannes
July 8th, 2008 at 9:31 am
sry, i just had one hour of sleep this night, i´d like to throw my one in here:
PfSense, where Opensource meets the enterprise
(hope the spelling is better now – will go to sleep immediatelly)
July 8th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I really like “Common pfSense”
But a subtitle like – “Enterprise firewall/router on a small business budget.”
I think it needs a title that grabs the attention of people who are buying $25,000 dollar routers, and get them to use pfSense, and maybe donate some of that saved money to the project.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I am looking forward to the release of this book!
pfSense – All in One Open Source Firewall Solution – Users Guide
July 10th, 2008 at 1:56 am
While there are many great suggestions here, I like your original title the best. “The Definitive Guide to pfSense” is short, sweet, and to the point.
July 11th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Hi Chris
Will the book only be available in hard copy or will there be an electronic version available for purchase & download?
Regards,
Belthazar
July 14th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Can you give us any further details as to final publication date?
Wes
July 14th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
There will be an electronic version available for purchase.
Publication date still unknown, unfortunately with the 1.2.1 and 1.3 snapshot releases recently I’ve been swamped with other things and it hasn’t progressed as much as I would have liked. I’m still committed to getting it out as quickly as possible, but won’t sacrifice quality for speed. I’ll put up a new blog post when I have more info on timelines.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:15 am
Morning Chris
Great news thank you.
All of the best.
Regards,
July 20th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I wud luv to get a copy of this book soon. I ve done lot with pfsense and wanna see every possibility of pfsense
August 4th, 2008 at 12:31 am
I’d go with “The Definitive Guide to pfSense” as well. It sounds professional. It’s hard to be taken seriously when you’re reading a book called ‘Firewalls for Nimrods’ or a similar title. Also, people may point to this book when making a claim for the viability of pfSense in the work place. Do you really want to mention a book with a silly name to your manager or co-worker?
Additionally, you may want to include a subtitle that describes pfSense as an open source, enterprise quality firewall. So for instance I’d go with something like:
The Definitive Guide to pfSense: an enterprise, open source firewall
Incidentally, could you post an update about the book’s progress? I’m eagerly awaiting it’s release.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:54 am
I’ll have an update posted when I have a pretty good idea when it’ll be finished. My early time table was too optimistic with 1.2.1, 1.3 and everything else going on of late. July blew by without much progress when I expected to make significant progress.
I’m hopeful August will allow more time for writing. I have much of it together, but need to spend a lot of time filling in some gaps and clarifying some things.