[FM Discuss] gsoc doc camp projects announced

[Lachlan Musicman]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the output for Sahana and
OpenStreetMap. OSM in particular - I've tried to use it before, and I
think that the docs that exist are difficult and convoluted. Sounds
fab!

cheers
L.

On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 19:56, adam <adam at flossmanuals.net> wrote:
> the projects chosen for the doc camp are:
> OpenMRS, KDE, Sahana, and OpenStreetMap
>
>
> from the gsoc blog:
> http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/
>
> For 5 days in October the Google Summer of Code Doc Summit, organized
> together with FLOSS Manuals, will bring together four documentation teams
> from open source projects, guest speakers, and free documentation 'free
> agents' to discuss everything and anything concerning the free documentation
> of free software. The event will feature a two day unconference and a three
> day Book Sprint. During the Book Sprint each project will produce a Book
> ready for distribution in print and electronic book formats.
>
> The event is an ambitious project. Not only are unconferences about free
> software documentation scarce, never before has a Book Sprint been attempted
> with four projects working simultaneously on their own book. It’s going to
> be an extremely interesting and challenging event.
>
> Free software documentation has often been a very low priority for free
> software projects. Often the documentation suffers from common flaws
> including:
>
>    no documentation existing at all
>    assumptions about the user's knowledge are set too high
>    poor navigation
>    unexplained jargon
>    there is no visual component
>    the documentation is proprietary or 'closed'
>    the format is unreadable
>    no translation workflow
>    operational steps are missing, unexplained, written 'from memory' or
> state how the software 'should' operate
>    the documentation is out of date, not easily re-usable or not easily
> modifiable.
>
> The Google Summer of Code Doc Summit will attempt to discuss and address
> these problematic issues and look towards positive models for documentation
> production. We hope to shine light on the importance of the free software
> documentation 'sector' in the ecology of Free software. Free (libre)
> documentation is not simply an aid for learning how to use free software, it
> is a road into education and adoption in industry, a tool for demonstrating
> to clients how free software will meet their needs and expectations, and an
> important promotional tool for the advancement of free software. A healthy
> free documentation sector is both socially and economically empowering. We
> believe Free Documentation of Free Software efforts and ideals should be
> valued on the same level as free software itself and that is exactly what we
> plan to do at this Summit.
>
> The Google Summer of Code Doc Summit is more than a think tank and an
> opportunity to discuss real world issues. Four projects, OpenMRS, KDE,
> Sahana, and OpenStreetMap, will have a chance to directly strengthen their
> documentation efforts. We look forward to working together with each of the
> selected teams and individuals to help them produce their own book by the
> end of the five day summit.
>
> It’s going to be a great event.
> --
>
> --
> Adam Hyde
> Founder, FLOSS Manuals
> Project Manager, Booki
> Book Sprint Facilitator
> mobile :+ 49 177 4935122
> identi.ca : @eset
> booki.flossmanuals.net : @adam
>
> http://www.flossmanuals.net
> http://www.booki.cc
> http://www.booksprints.net
>
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> Discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
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>



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