[FM Discuss] Hi folks

[Maren Hachmann]

Am 03.01.2018 um 00:36 schrieb M R:
> Hi Greg (and whomever else):
> 
> 
> Thanks.  One of the follow-up questions I had is about the relationship
> between a given Floss documentation project and the 'official'
> documentation supported by that software's own organization.  

- As for the Inkscape beginners' guide that we're creating here:
write.flossmanuals.net/start-with-inkscape/_draft/

It's official. We've started it (or rather, mostly translated it from
French) because there is only a comprehensive manual available that is
difficult to understand for people who are completely new to vector editing.

The goal is to have an incomplete getting-started guide that allows
everyone from any background and age group to make their first drawings
in Inkscape. Videos are nice, but there are many people out there who
still prefer being able to find the thing they need quickly, or to work
through a book. I think age might also play a role.

The original French book, on the other hand, has been written by Elisa
de Castro Guerra (mostly, as far as I understand), probably for the same
reasons, but as it was in French, it hasn't reached a very wide
audience, and hasn't been adopted as an official resource (and I think
there was no effort made in that direction).

- As for the videos: Yes, having some moving visuals that show you what
to do is a great help. So what I have done on my own website for
Inkscape tutorials is a mix of media [1][2]:
They are written tutorials mixed with animated gifs, and accompanied by
an SVG file where users can try everything out on prepared examples.
I've only had good feedback on them, but this type of thing is difficult
to provide in a print format. People still buy books! Some do it to
support the author, or the project, or to have something they can thumb
through quickly. We don't yet have any version of the Inkscape
beginners' guide released, it's still in draft state. Making videos that
are didactically good requires different persons with different skills
than those who gathered for the beginners' guide manual.

Kind Regards,
 Maren

[1]
http://vektorrascheln.de/posts/2015/Dec/inkscape-fuer-einsteiger-teil-i-grundlagen-en.html
[2]
http://vektorrascheln.de/posts/2015/Dec/inkscape-fuer-einsteiger-teil-ii-praxis-en.html