About Matthew Helmke

Matthew Helmke is a husband, a father of three, and a writer. He has written magazine articles, contributed to several books, and even written and published his own books. This site is focused on that writing, highlights of which are listed below and on subsequent pages.

Matthew is also a musician who plays the guitar and the bass, has played as a studio musician for other artists, and hopes someday to record some of his own music. He is an avid and voracious reader, speaks several languages, has worked as an information consultant on topics including culture, language, religion and computers, and spent several years running a small business in North Africa. Matthew does a little bit of work as a website designer and administrator, is a part of the Ubuntu Linux community, is a free and open source software enthusiast, and has an informal blog at matthewhelmke.net. He is currently enrolled in a master's degree program at the University of Arizona.

Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition

Matthew helped write Ubuntu Unleashed 2010 Edition. This book is intended for intermediate to advanced users, as opposed to his work on The Official Ubuntu Book, which is aimed at being an introduction of Ubuntu to people new to Linux.

VMware Cookbook

VMware Book cover

This is the first edition of a new book about VMware, cowritten with Ryan Troy.

ISBN-13: 978-0596157258
Link to the Amazon.com page for the book.

Dove & Snake, issue 2 {Nobody Wants to be a Sucker}

Matthew has a friend, Scott Appleman, who has started a cool little indie zine called Dove & Snake.

Matthew (gladly) let Scott and the D&S crew reprint a chapter from his most recent self-published, Creative Commons licensed book Nowhere Else to Turn in their most recent edition.

The Official Ubuntu Server Book

Matthew had the privilege of helping out with one chapter in The Official Ubuntu Server Book--he didn't do enough to earn an author's credit or get a mention on the cover or anything, but Kyle Rankin was kind enough to mention him in the Acknowledgements on page xxiii. Matthew would like to thank Kyle and Mako for the chance to contribute. It truly is a wonderful book.

Check out the Amazon page for the book. If you run Ubuntu on your server or are considering doing so, you are likely to find the book both interesting and useful.

Linux Identity's Ubuntu 9.04

Matthew has several articles appearing in the Ubuntu 9.04 edition of Linux Identity.

Linux Identity's The Best of Linux

Matthew had an earlier article reproduced in the Best of Linux edition of Linux Identity.

The Official Ubuntu Book, Fourth Edition

Ubuntu Book cover

This is the fourth edition of a wonderful book about an excellent computer operating system, Ubuntu.

For this edition, Matthew had the privilege of editing and updating chapters 1-4, 7, 11 and the appendices and provided assistance checking the full manuscript, including the final proof, against the final release version of the software covered. He also was the lead contact during the copy edit, index, and final proof and author query stages.

ISBN-13: 978-0137021208
Link to the Amazon.com page for the book.

Linux Identity's Linux Starter Kit

Matthew has several articles appearing in the Linux Starter Kit edition of Linux Identity.

Nowhere Else to Turn

There are things that happen in the world that are difficult and sometimes impossible to explain. At times, we are confronted with circumstances or situations over which we have no control. How we deal with those situations reveals much about our strongest beliefs, our dreams, and our fears. This collection of short stories explores specific instances of involvement with or belief in the supernatural in one North African country. The tales, all claiming to be true, were collected over several years while the author was living in Morocco.

# ISBN-13: 978-0615264196
The book is available from Amazon, all around the world.

And is also available at:

Creative Commons LicenseThis book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License and as a result is also available as a free download in PDF format (but without the cover art) from the Internet Archive.

Ubuntu Pocket Guide

Matthew was one of the tech reviewers for Keir Thomas's Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference. The book is available as a free download from the official website, where you will also find a link to the Amazon.com page if you wish to purchase a paper copy.

ISBN-13: 978-1440478291
Amazon link

Linux Identity's Ubuntu 8.10

Matthew has several articles he wrote, and one he co-wrote with a friend, Ryan Troy, in the Ubuntu 8.10 edition of Linux Identity. He also wrote the editorial at the beginning of the issue.

Linux+ magazine, 4/2008 edition

Linux+ Magazine cover

Matthew has an article he co-wrote with a friend, Ryan Troy, in this edition of Linux+ Magazine.

Linux+ magazine, 3/2008 edition

Linux+ Magazine cover

Matthew has an article he co-wrote with a friend, Ryan Troy, in this edition of Linux+ Magazine.

The Official Ubuntu Book, Third Edition, special Barnes & Noble custom edition

Ubuntu Book cover

This is the third edition of a wonderful book about an excellent computer operating system, Ubuntu. The book itself will be for sale from multiple vendors.

The Barnes & Noble Custom Edition contains an extra chapter on the half-million strong Ubuntu Forums written by forums administrator Matthew Helmke. It gives a tour of the forums and its people, processes, and rules for getting assistance with your Ubuntu installation.

ISBN-13: 978-0137151028
Link to the Barnes & Noble special edition of the book.

Humor and Moroccan Culture

This project started as a language learning experiment. Matthew Helmke was sitting in a cafe with a Moroccan having a discussion in Moroccan Arabic. The friend told a joke and it was quickly discovered that vocabulary alone would not ensure an understanding of humor. This prompted a question, "What did I miss?" In this book, Matthew Helmke explores the hidden aspects of Moroccan culture. These are the things that Moroccans know inherently, without being taught. The result is an intriguing look through the eyes of an American trying to make sense of Moroccan culture.

# ISBN-13: 978-0615142845
The book is available from Amazon, all around the world.

And is also available at:

Creative Commons License
This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 License and as a result is also available as a free download in PDF format (but without the cover art) from the Internet Archive.

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