So now that we’ve forced our technology of web applications upon the world with Ruby on Rails, we decided to get opinionated about everything else involved too. Getting Real, the book is a 171-paged PDF that sells for $19 and tries to explain the guiding principles behind Basecamp, Backpack, Writeboard, Ta-da List, and Campfire. The why’s and the how’s.

If you’re doing web application work for yourself or others, there should at least be a handful of essays that gives you a bright idea or the motivation to make a change. And we’re giving away four of the 91 essays for you to sample first. Yay, free stuff!