Subject: Linux-Activists - Channel DOC digest. 93-0-21-0:23
From: "Linux Activists" <[email-masked]>
To: "Linux-Activists" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 05:55:39 +0200

Topics:
	 Re: Is there any demand for intro to linux files?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Matt Welsh <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Is there any demand for intro to linux files?
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 00:42:03 +0200

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Mad Dog) writes:
>I am considering starting to work on some new users guides for linux mainly
>to consolidate the heaps of notes on unix that are lying around here into  
>some usable form.  Is there anyone out there in linux land with any interest
>in such a beast.  These guides would deal with how to use a linux system 
>to accomplish tasks and not as any sort of documentation for the os itself.
>Rather, they would be more like a set of copylefted unix books focusing on 
>linux instead of bsd or sys V.

The Linux Documentation Project is already working on the canonical set
of Linux documentation which will cover all of these aspects. If you're
interested in helping, please join the DOC channel of the Linux-activists
mailing list. I'm already working on the Linux Installation, Setup, and
Getting Started guide. Some extra info is printed below.

Thanks,
mdw

Hello everyone. This note is going out to keep you all 'up-to-date' on the
doings of the DOC channel, since we've been pretty quiet recently. 

Essentially, we're all off hiding in our respective corners, trying to
churn something out. I imagine that it may be a while before we have anything
complete and proofread enough to 'distribute'. However, here's the status
of the 'Doc Project' as it now stands:

The main project is the 4 manuals. These will be the Installation/Setup/Getting
Started manual (coordinated by myself), the User's Manual (coordinated by
Larry Greenfield), the System Administrator's Guide (coordinated by Lars
Wirzenius), and the Kernel Hacker's Guide (Michael K. Johnson?). What we're
aiming for is to write and maintain the canonical set of Linux documents--
books that are well-written, well-formatted, and well-edited, and complete.
Since the Linux world is getting ready to expand far beyond the horizon of
the net (where anyone can get help via news or e-mail) with the advent of
CD-ROM releases and so on, I think we need good, complete manuals, and soon.

We've all pretty much agreed to format the manuals in LaTeX, using the
standards sent out by Michael K. Johnson. He's produced a LaTeX style format
that should be used for the manuals, and written a conventions page that
details how to use the macros. It's very simple, and they should be adhered
to if possible. LaTeX/TeX under Linux supports them quite well, if you don't
have access to LaTeX elsewhere. :) 

Filters are being written to convert the LaTeX source to texinfo format. 
Don't worry: These manuals will be available in one form or another in 
online format.

Man pages and other documentation are also being discussed on this channel.
We'll talk more about that later, I suppose...

I don't know about the status of all of these manuals. Lars Wirzenius 
([email-masked]) is 'in charge' of this Doc project as far as 
coordinating everyone, making sure the manuals all fit together, don't have
conflicting information, and so on. Once we have something written, we'll
probably send it out over this channel and have everyone give feedback,
revisions, proofreading notes, and so on. Lars will also make sure the
manuals don't conflict in any way. 

Lars sent out an overall outline of the project a few weeks ago. Maybe you
should send it out again? For my part of the project (the Install/Setup
Manual), I plan to post an outline sometime soon. I will need writers-- 
I have deferred some of you who've volunteered because I still need to get
the structure of the book worked out. Once that's done, I'll send out an
outline and ask for people to volunteer for sections that I'm not writing 
myself. Then we'll "get crackin'". I plan to work heavily on the manual 
during the winter break. 

The Install/Setup manual will be the be-all-end-all of Linux installation
and getting started documents, as much as such a thing can exist in the 
Linux world. It won't replace documents like the FAQ (which are composed of
many somewhat unrelated important pieces of information). The intended
audience is both for the complete UNIX newbie, as well as for seasoned
UNIX hacks who have just never installed Linux before. It will be VERY 
complete, and I plan to maintain it, and keep up with changes in the Linux
world. A very general outline will look something like:
  -- Introduction (What is UNIX? What is Linux?)
  -- How do I get Linux (intro to the various releases, how to get them
     from various sources)?
  -- How do I install Linux (parallel of above; cover installation for
     each release)?
  -- Setting up the system; beginner's tutorial in UNIX
  -- Beginner's Tutorial in System Administration (just the basics, may
     serve as an intro to the System Admin guide... written by Lars).
  -- How to upgrade/install new software, libs, GCC, kernel, and so on.
     (*** This is technically 'Installation', but I imagine we should put this
     in the system admin guide, no?).
  -- Common problems, troubleshooting, and so on.
  -- Appendices: other UNIX books to check out, introduction to FTP (for those
     who will get Linux over the net), other rudimentary info.

A lot of this will be obvious to people who have worked with UNIX before, and
more 'advanced' topics will be seperated from the beginner's stuff. I don't
want UNIX gurus skipping through the entire manual, however. I may provide,
as an appendix, some kind of summary for those familiar with UNIX and the net
(for those who can read a 3-5 page doc on where to get Linux and how to 
install it). This may be implemented as a seperate short document, 
putting most of the info from section III of the FAQ into a more readable
format. You may have noticed that my instructions on how to install Linux
in the FAQ are rather sketchy: "To get Linux, FTP the images, rawrite them
to disks, and boot the boot disk. Voila!" I need to flesh this out a little
in another kind of document... things to be covered include making filesystems
and partitions, making a kernel floppy, etc... anything that a UNIX hack can
already do, but needs specific instructions on how to do under Linux. 

The intended audience for the System Admin guide and User's Guide should
probably be more towards those who have done at least a little work with
UNIX before. I don't know if the writers of those manuals want to cover 
all of the basics or if they only want to talk about the Linux-specifics. 
They could probably compromise: write a good introduction, give some basic
information, then point to other well-written UNIX books for further starter's
hints, allowing the rest of the manual to be geared towards a detailed guide.

In short, if you want to write for the Linux Doc Project [tm], wait for
one of us to post an outline of what we're working on. Or, get in touch
with any of us directly. My address is [email-masked]. Other addresses of
note are:

	Lars Wirzenius: [email-masked]
	Larry Greenfield: [email-masked]
	Michael Johnson: [email-masked]

Apologies to those I have missed, who have expressed an interest in
coordinating something. Please correct me. 

I'll be posting a 'sign-up sheet' soon for the Install manual, once I
get the full outline done. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or
comments on the above! 

I apologize that this is so long. In the time it took to write this, I could
have finished a chapter or two. Please make comments or suggestions, if you
made it all the way through. Thanks!
-- 
Matt Welsh     [email-masked]     Cornell Theory Center
  "Donuts. Is there anything they can't do?" 

------------------------------

End of DOC Digest
*****************
-------