[FM Discuss] FM upstream to Sugar Labs

[Walter Bender]

I'll try to help get the word out to the volunteer community. On a
more mundane level, Is there a description of the preferred workflow?
Is there some sort of trac system for handling
requests/bugs/priorities etc?

-walter

On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 10:59 PM, Anne Gentle <annegentle at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi again all,
>
> I'm frankly excited to hear Sugar Labs' enthusiasm about doc. It really has
> taken a community effort and knowing that doc could see some synergy with
> def effort is great.
>
> I have ideas for getting more energy behind some of the separate doc
> deliverables we could target, and have already sent out a couple of emails,
> especially in pursuit of a Turtle Art "manual" that a Houstonite put
> together, and I think she'd be willing to post it on FM.
>
> So, an approach would be similar to what we've done before - when we have a
> well-defined task analysis and outline for a manual, we start recruiting
> writers for it. If writers volunteer, we can have specifics for them to work
> on.
>
> As for tracking doc bugs and requests, I'd love to have doc requests
> prioritized just like software bug are prioritized. That approach would let
> us figure out how to "staff" the different projects and also would work well
> towards a Book Sprint. Adam, I have a writer her in Austin who was just
> asking about that on her blog, and maybe we could get her and one other
> interested person to write for a burst of time if we have a prioritized set
> of docs to work on.
>
> Um, let's see, does that cover the spirit of the questions and approach? I
> hope I'm not missing anything or misrepresenting a typical approach.
>
> I'd be happy to coordinate with volunteer writers you send my way - I
> already have templatized email responses from OLPC work that I can revise
> for those who want to volunteer for OLPC/Sugar docs on FM.
>
> Thanks,
> Anne Gentle
> e:annegentle at gmail.com
> b:www.justwriteclick.com
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:11:53 -0500
> From: David Farning <dfarning at sugarlabs.org>
> Subject: [FM Discuss] FM upstream to Sugar Labs
> To: discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
> Message-ID: <1214352713.32315.91.camel at dfarning.desktop.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> I spent a good part of today thinking about how FM and SL could
> collaborate in a way that was beneficial to both of us.
>
> I keep coming back to the upstream/downstream relationship between
> software packages.  When I write a program in c, I don't rewrite the
> compiler.  I use gcc.  It makes no sense spending the time required to
> learn compiler theory and hack away on my own.  The gcc project has
> already assembled the expertise and processes to do a better job than I
> ever could.
>
> I am thinking about using FM documentation in the same manner.  Sugar
> Labs has nowhere near the time or manpower to create documentation as
> effectively as FM.
>
> I hope that I did not appear as if I had a laundry list of things I
> would like FM to do for me.  Rather, ?I would like to:
>
> 1.  Ask your permission to use your documentation as our primary user
> documentation.
>
> 2.  Request that we work together to create the 'canonical' Sugar and
> Activities documentation.
>
> 3.  Express that we are not expecting you to write our manual.  Instead,
> we are using your manual about our product.
>
> In return we will:
>
> 1. Always keep the documentation open.
>
> 2.  Send patches back upstream if we find bugs or ways to improve the
> manual.  (Sending patches and finding bugs is not the right terminology,
> but you get the idea.)
>
> 3.  Direct potential documentation writers to you to help build your
> community.
>
> Thanks
> Dfarning
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:32:59 +0200
> From: adam hyde <adam at flossmanuals.net>
> Subject: Re: [FM Discuss] FM upstream to Sugar Labs
> To: discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
> Message-ID: <1214357579.7274.21.camel
> @resetera>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> hi,
>
>
>>
>> I am thinking about using FM documentation in the same manner.  Sugar
>> Labs has nowhere near the time or manpower to create documentation as
>> effectively as FM.
>
> It sounds good to me, except you should note that FM is in some ways a
> collection of communities. The OLPC manual is headed up by Anne and
> several others have also worked on it. In this sense you could imagine
> FM to be a smaller friendlier version of source forge. There is a
> platform established for making manuals - but each manual must work out
> its own way of getting contributions. For this reason I think Anne is
> the FM touchstone on OLPC/Sugar manuals as she has already started this
> process.
>
>> 1.  Ask your permission to use your documentation as our primary user
>> documentation.
>>
>
> All docs are GPL. So you are free to do with them as you like. Thats
> actually the point but its very nice of you to ask :)
>
>> 2.  Request that we work together to create the 'canonical' Sugar and
>> Activities documentation.
>
> sounds good to me. We should perhaps discuss how to bring others into
> the project. Some on the FM list maybe interested but there are also
> other strategies. Anne and I had considered applying for a small amount
> of money to have a Book Sprint on Sugar...I think this could be a very
> effective way of not just producing material but getting everyone
> heading in the same direction.
>
>>
>> 3.  Express that we are not expecting you to write our manual.  Instead,
>> we are using your manual about our product.
>> In return we will:
>>
>> 1. Always keep the documentation open.
>>
>> 2.  Send patches back upstream if we find bugs or ways to improve the
>> manual.  (Sending patches and finding bugs is not the right terminology,
>> but you get the idea.)
>>
>> 3.  Direct potential documentation writers to you to help build your
>> community.
>
>
> I think its worth getting Annes thoughts on the above :)
>
> adam
>
>
>>
>> Thanks
>> Dfarning
>>
>>
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> --
> Adam Hyde
> FLOSS Manuals
>
> http://www.flossmanuals.net
> + 31 6 2808 7108
>