[FM Discuss] Hi folks

[Mick Chesterman]

On 03/01/2018 00:41, Gregory Pittman wrote:
> On 01/02/2018 06:36 PM, M R wrote:
>> Hi Greg (and whomever else):
>>
>>
> I'm hoping there will be plenty of answers other than mine. To some
> extent, flossmanuals fills a need where no good manuals exist. Beyond
> that, I've seen a number of comprehensive manuals associated with
> projects that are hard to absorb as a new user. There may be a need for
> a particular point of view. Part of what you need to decide is whether
> you think that something you're working on fills a need.
>
>
> One might argue that there never are too many manuals, though I would
> say that each should justify its existence. Also, existing manuals
> become dated. The one that Christoph and I wrote in 2009 is now in many
> ways outmoded by new developments in Scribus.

Hi Matt,

I would agree with Greg, It's a good question and can vary for lots of 
people. Most of this is different manuals for different needs. A 
discussion on this would be good for an updated manual.

Going back to the original premise it was started by Adam Hyde who 
wanted supplementary docs for the workshops he was giving and I still 
think that is in the DNA of FM. Beginner docs focused on a particular 
area of practice. Thus docs don't have to be exhaustive / complete list 
of features.

I think one of Adam's other big pushes was to use FM as a tempate for to 
fill the gap of a web to print  collaborative workflow. He build a lot 
of momentum around that which was great to pull people in to the project 
and get funding.

Having a more narrow focus allows the manual to be shorter and thus 
easier to translate and print (and update in theory!).
It also means that by having clustered manuals around topics like, 
Video, Audio, Graphics, Net Security, you build a network of 
contributors and as a workshop leader you have a repository you can pick 
and mix from when creating tailored courses (I used to do this when 
running a DIY media centre in Salford).

Having said that, there hasn't really been a new manual or even an 
updated one on FM for some time, althought there is good work going on 
with Inkscape, but I would say that is due to a lack of active 
facilitation and outreach rather than a fault in scope.

It would be great to hear other thoughts. FM has been coasting for a 
while now, 2018 is probably a good time to resolve and document some of 
these issues and then make a push to make FM sustaining.

nice one
Mick