[FM Discuss] FLOSS Manual for FSlint

adam adam at xs4all.nl
Wed Jun 23 01:15:21 PDT 2010 

publish it i rekin!

congrats Chris :))


adam



On Wed, 2010-06-23 at 18:11 +1200, John Curwood wrote:
> Hi Chris,
> 
> If you want to see to some of the suggestions that Edward written then
> let me know once you have finished and I will publish FSlint for you. If
> you think the manual is ready for publishing with out the additions then
> let me know and I'll publish it now.  Remember You can always publish
> what you have now and keep making modifications in the write section and
> republish once those are finished.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> John
> 
> On Tue, 2010-06-22 at 22:29 -0400, Edward Cherlin wrote:
> > Sounds quite promising.
> > 
> > On installation: I hope that we can separate installation into package
> > installation (apt or yum) and configuration. Within the configuration
> > section, will it be the same on all Linux distros? What are the use
> > cases? If there aren't too many cases, can you write a procedure for
> > each, or break the process down into short, common procedures and give
> > a list for each case? I see FSlint described as a toolkit. Can we
> > discuss it in terms of individual tools?
> > 
> > Do you have a glossary? Are there many terms not familiar to the
> > novice?  Are some terms used differently in FSlint than elsewhere? Are
> > terms defined on first use? If you cut and paste those definitions
> > into a Glossary draft, I can take a look at it and do an editing pass.
> > 
> > These questions apply to many other kinds of software.
> > 
> > On Sun, Jun 20, 2010 at 10:48, Chris Stackpole <c.stackpole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > > Hash: SHA1
> > >
> > > Thanks for the feedback John and Adam!
> > >
> > > I have indeed been working on many of John's points. One of them being
> > > to have someone who is a fairly inexperienced user to read through it.
> > > This has been extremely helpful in flushing it out a bit more. We have
> > > finished the first couple of chapters together and with any luck we will
> > > finish the rest either today or tomorrow.
> > >
> > > The reason why I was hesitant on adding a install section is that
> > > because it changes as more distros pick it up and add it to their
> > > repo's. The homepage of FSlint keeps an up-to-date how-to on
> > > installation for many different distros. What I did was I added a
> > > paragraph about this in the intro with a link to the homepage where the
> > > reader could find the different methods. I am more then willing to
> > > listen to advice and will create a short install section if that is
> > > preferred.
> > >
> > > It is good advice to contact the developer. I will also send them an
> > > email later today. They could provide some really good feedback as well.
> > >
> > > Thank you for the help!
> > >
> > > Chris Stackpole
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > adam wrote:
> > >> i took a quick look also at the manual. i didnt know about fslint and so
> > >> many thanks for the very good intro to the software (which just goes to
> > >> show that having a manual in itself is important for promoting a
> > >> software - the first step to getting a software used)
> > >>
> > >> I think Johns recommendations were good ones and I see you have taken up
> > >> some of those. A section on installing, even just to say "its too much
> > >> to cover here" would be useful as well as a complete list of what
> > >> versions of Linux it runs on
> > >>
> > >> but other than that it looks good...i will read through the manual more
> > >> thoroughly while i learn about the software :)
> > >>
> > >> (if the developers of the project dont know you have done this you could
> > >> write to them and see if they would link to it from their project page
> > >> and/or check the content)
> > >>
> > >> :)
> > >>
> > >> adam
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On Fri, 2010-06-18 at 06:57 +1200, John Curwood wrote:
> > >>> Hi Chris,
> > >>>
> > >>> Sorry for the delay in replying, the manual is shaping up very nicely,
> > >>> you are doing a great job for your first documentation effort.  I had
> > >>> not herd of FSlint before you asked to create a manual for it, but I
> > >>> think I will have to get a copy.
> > >>>
> > >>> In terms of pointers here are a few Ideas I have:
> > >>>
> > >>> When it comes to writing style, you need a clear idea of the intended
> > >>> audience for your manual (are they complete novices or are they
> > >>> technically adept and just need a few pointers).  It sounds like you are
> > >>> leaning more towards the novice end of the scale so to help get a feel
> > >>> for how it would read get someone you know who falls into that category
> > >>> to read the manual and see how much they understand or get out of it and
> > >>> make a note of their comments for helping to target that audience.
> > >>>
> > >>> They way I would set up each chapter is at the start give a small talk
> > >>> about the tool covered in that chapter and why you would use it before
> > >>> going into the graphical Interface and command line sections.
> > >>>
> > >>> For examples of entries in the command line I would use the 'Formatted'
> > >>> style in the editor to separate it from the standard text.
> > >>>
> > >>> I would probably include a chapter on downloading and installing on
> > >>> different systems (e.g. debian, ubuntu, fetora, etc), especially if the
> > >>> manual is aimed towards the novice user.
> > >>>
> > >>> And Finally if you click on the 'Arange Manual Index' link on the FSlint
> > >>> web home page, you can split the manual up into sections using the 'Add
> > >>> Section' button.  My personal taste would be to split the manual into 3
> > >>> sections:
> > >>> 1- Introduction.  This would include the introduction chapter, the
> > >>> Installation chapter (if you decide to add one) and maybe the common
> > >>> interface items chapter.
> > >>> 2- Using FSlint.  This would include everything from the Duplicates
> > >>> Chapter down to the Redundant White Spaces Chapter.
> > >>> 3- Appendix.  This would include Other Command Line Tools and the
> > >>> Credits Chapter.
> > >>>
> > >>> At the end of the day, most of these comments are more personal
> > >>> taste/style rather than actual criticisms so feel free to use them or
> > >>> not. :-)
> > >>>
> > >>> Keep up the Great Work!
> > >>>
> > >>> cheers,
> > >>>
> > >>> John
> > >>>
> > >>> On Mon, 2010-06-14 at 18:22 -0500, Chris Stackpole wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Good afternoon,
> > >>
> > >> I am working on my first FLOSS manual and while it is not yet ready to
> > >> be released I am at the point where I would like some feedback. I do not
> > >> consider myself a writer, however, I was inspired to give writing a
> > >> manual a try after the demonstrations at the Texas Linux Fest.
> > >>
> > >> FSlint is not a large program and I am not connected to the developers.
> > >> I just use this software a lot and figured I would try my first manual
> > >> on something I knew rather well.
> > >>
> > >> There is one thing that is bothering me about what I have posted so far.
> > >> I tend to want specific instructions and precise details. So that is
> > >> what I wrote. I wrote what I would like to see reading about this
> > >> software and I posted screenshots that I thought were useful and
> > >> relevant. However, I think I may be too concise in my wording and may
> > >> have over done the screenshots. There are a few chapters that are a tad
> > >> short.
> > >>
> > >> I would really appreciate any feedback anyone may have for me. I am
> > >> fully aware I have a ways to go and I would love a few pointers in the
> > >> right direction. I do not mind criticism as long as I also know why and
> > >> what I may do to improve the situation.
> > >>
> > >> Thanks everyone. I appreciate your time and help!
> > >>
> > >> Chris Stackpole
> > >>
> > >>
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