[FM Discuss] taking fm too formally

[adam hyde]

hi,

in the last weeks i have fielded some interesting requests for manuals
in FM. It seems to me people are taking FM more and more seriously,
almost to a fault.

for example, i have been sent entire outlines for manuals and asked if
FM would host a manual on the subject (these outlines have been on the
topic of free software so my answer would always be yes). i have also,
recently, had to discuss why writers in a (very interesting) project
would not proceed until I changed the copyright notices for every
chapter before its written (I had already agreed to change the
copyright, but saw no urgency to change the notices since the manual had
not been started).

i have also had some emails asking why chapter x in a manual does not
include any information on their software.

it occurs to me that these requests are taking FM too formally.

i note this emerging phenomenon here as i am sure we will see more of
this kind of attitude and i find it very interesting. i also dont want
to encourage this kind of interaction with FM as i want to avoid the
trap that wikipedia has fallen into - in many ways wikipedia is too
formal and unfriendly because of policies and defined processes of
interaction etc etc etc

also, just in case anyone is wondering - i dont like formality of this
kind. i prefer if someone just writes and says 'i want a manual on [free
software]'. then i set it up. if you want to add a chapter, add it 


:)

adam



-- 
Adam Hyde
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Email : adam at flossmanuals.net
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