Milestones: The Story of WordPress was been largely finished in early 2015. Siobhan McKeown did an excellent job researching and writing a thorough history of the WordPress project to date, but the book languished on Github without direct attention for much of the year, after she departed Audrey to work on her own again.
It was unfortunate, because she did a great job. Yet, only now is there an eBook format finally available. Matt announced its availability at the State of the Word. You should absolutely read this book. Just go download it and put it on your Kindle or other device, and read it. It’s enlightening, thorough, and helpful.
Matt thankfully at least mentioned Siobhan, but credited a group effort to the project. That’s really not a fair characterization, as it was really her and her editor, Krista Stevens that did the vast majority of the work, and they should receive the credit fully. Though Matt plans to make the book a continuing project, and promised to have it updated over time.
There are also things in that book that you won’t find anywhere else in the ecosystem. I have been waiting until the book is available to have Siobhan on the Draft podcast, so expect that in the coming weeks as well.
Siobhan is now working on another book with the working title Life Lived Remotely, “about how the internet has changed our day-to-day experience of work, about the way that technology has become totally embedded in our lives, and the implications this has for our relationships with others, both online and offline, and with ourselves.” I’m excited for everything she has going on (she’s also planning events, like A Day of REST) and look forward to seeing more of her work make it out to the open.