Here's a copy of the posting I made in response in the DP forums.
I'd be surprised if anyone can identify a single ebook produced elsewhere
that can compare favorably with one of ours that has received the full-course
treatment. Anyone suggesting that an inferior version would influence DP's
commitment to completing an excellent one doesn't understand what we're
about. Especially not a preview version of our own. I would expect it would
be much more likely to encourage others to come join us.
An example: the Encyclopedia Britannica project that was available on PG
when I joined DP (and still is, by the way,) was unquestionably inferior to
what we currently produce after just two Rounds of proofing; yet was still
impressive enough to catch my interest, first helping proof/format, then as
project manager for Encyclopedia Britannica.
Despite the fact that there are several inferior EB versions available on the
internet, I have if anything noticed a recent upswing in the relative number
of new people working on EB in the early rounds. I hope putting their work
out for others to see will help attract more. I would also expect it might
encourage some of those we have to progress into the further rounds,
where work grinds quickly to a halt. It certainly would be an encouragement
to provide earlier posting; based on current production rates, most of them
wouldn't see their work released in their own lifetimes.
- Don