Thanks to Andy Oram, my editor, for his guidance and editing, and for helping me to be the person fortunate enough to write this book yet again. I very much want to thank him and his family (his wife, Judy Lebow, and their children, Sonia and Sam) for taking me into their home for six weeks after my home town of New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. I shall always appreciate their generosity.
Thanks also to Rick Rezinas, Judith Myerson, Bogdan Kecman, and others for reviewing the manuscript for technical accuracy. Their assistance was greatly appreciated. Thanks also to Isabel Kunkel (the assistant editor for the book) for her role in chasing me down to get chapters written and turned in. Special thanks to Kathryn Barrett (publicist for O’Reilly) for her moral support and advice over the past few years.
For the last three years I have been working at MySQL Inc. as the editor of its Knowledge Base. In that time I’ve learned a great deal more about MySQL software, and made many friends. It’s a fabulous company and a caring community. When the hurricane chased me out of New Orleans in the summer of 2005, many of the people at MySQL assisted me in my recovery with funds they personally contributed, as well as emotional and moral support. Their assistance helped me establish a new home for myself and deal with the problems I encountered after the loss of my old home and community. And, of course, many of them helped with information and advice related to the writing of this book. From MySQL, I’d especially like to thank Ulf Sandberg (senior vice president) for always being supportive of me, and Rusty Osborne (my friend of 10 years and coworker in the KB) for her help and for continuing to listen to me through it all.