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    And even from a totally economic/selfish standpoint, you can probably obtain much more benefit from the prestige given by your book being widely used (and it's possible effects on your career) than you would earn from publishing it. Commented Jul 8, 2017 at 12:05
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    In addition to the reasons given in this answer, I can think of a few other reasons why I've gone this route with my own books. (1) I feel that the textbook market is extremely exploitative toward students. (2) My license is compatible with Wikipedia's, so I can use images from WP and Wikimedia Commons. (3) I can express my own point of view and didactic approach, rather than having to conform to a publisher's expectations about what is marketable. (4) I'm ideologically in tune with open source and free information. (5) There are ethical problems with requiring my students to pay for my book.
    – user1482
    Commented Jul 8, 2017 at 16:47
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    @Ben Crowell Images in Wikipedia have a different license than Wikipedia text. You can use them even if your license is not open, as long as you properly attribute the image and publish it under the right license (details may vary according to each image license).
    – Pere
    Commented Jul 8, 2017 at 17:03
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    (Thanks for the link to your materials, and making them available! It looks like great stuff and appreciate it very much!)
    – BruceWayne
    Commented Jul 8, 2017 at 18:55
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    As soon as I saw the name Jeff I immediately knew the link is linking to algorithms.wtf :) Although I didn't take CS374 with you, your name still appeared everything in the lecture notes. Commented Jul 9, 2017 at 19:34