zsh tips for "UNIX Power Tools"

[Jerry Peek <jpeek@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi.  I'm an occasional (*too* occasional, I'm afraid!) zsh user.
I'm also the first author of O'Reilly's "UNIX Power Tools" book
(http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/upt2/).  I'm just starting to work
on a third edition, due out (if all goes okay) sometime this fall.
I'd like to include basic coverage of zsh and cool zsh tips.

Before I get you all too excited ;-) here, I should say that UPT
probably won't be able to cover all zsh features: there are just too
many, and zsh still isn't as "mainstream" a shell as, say, bash.
We've gotta cover what readers are using!  And the book can't grow
too much; it's already pretty big.  But I do want to expose people
to other great tools, and zsh is sure one of those!  No idea yet how
many tips I can squeeze in, either: the outline isn't done.  Still,
I'm working zsh features into articles that describe other shells.

I don't know how active this list is, and I'm sorry if I jumped into
the wrong place.  But I'm actively working on the outline now, and I
just realized that you folks might be a great resource.  If you haven't
seen "UNIX Power Tools," it's basically a big collection of user tips.
I'm hoping that any of you who have some favorite zsh tips might have a
minute or two to send me a quick email with a description of the tip.
Also, I'm sure there must be some sites with collections of good zsh
tips (besides http://sunsite.auc.dk/zsh/, which I know about, of
course); if you have pointers, I'd be glad to get them.  I have the FAQ,
and I'll be going through the latest version as I work.  Still, as you
know if you've read UPT, some of the best tips may be things that aren't
"frequently asked."  So I thought you might have some cool ones to add.

I just joined the zsh-users list now -- but if it's too active, I may
have to unsubscribe because I get such a flood of email already.  So,
if you send a reply to the list, I'd appreciate a cc: jpeek@xxxxxxxxxx

About compensation for your help:  O'Reilly & Associates have always
been big supporters of the open software community, and IMO they bend
over backwards to be fair.  The rules for compensating contributors
haven't been finalized yet.  What happened on the first couple of
editions was that we thank everyone, in print, for their contributions.
More-major contributors will probably get a free copy of the book...
and likely some money for *major* help (but there's probably not room
in UPT for that kind of help with zsh).  If you're concerned about
this before you contribute anything, I can try to help -- but I'm not
an O'Reilly employee (just an author under contract) so I can't give
official answers.  One more bit of administrivia: if you contribute
something that *you* wrote (vs. a pointer to tips elsewhere) we'll
need you to fill in a short permission/tracking form; please see
http://www.oreilly.com/oreilly/author/permission/source.html .

Thanks a lot.  I'm looking forward to finally getting zsh in UPT!

Jerry
-- 
Jerry Peek, jpeek@xxxxxxxxx, http://www.jpeek.com/