Re: tutorial outline (fwd)
Hi,
robert havoc pennington <rhpennin@midway.uchicago.edu> writes:
> [Forwarded with permission - Havoc]
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: 21 Dec 1997 13:56:25 +0100
> From: Christian Leutloff <leutloff@sundancer.oche.de>
> To: robert havoc pennington <rhpennin@midway.uchicago.edu>
> Subject: Re: tutorial outline
>
> robert havoc pennington <rhpennin@midway.uchicago.edu> writes:
>
> > I tossed together a very unpolished possible outline, on the principle
>
> but it seams to be very complete! Good work.
I completely agree.
> > This should also give a sense of the "Debian Tutorial" idea and whether it
> > will work.
>
> > * About this manual
> > This is the Debian Tutorial. It is aimed at readers who are new to
> > GNU/Linux and Debian. It assumes no prior knowledge of Unix and
> > Unix-like systems, but it does assume very basic general knowledge
> > about computers and hardware.
>
> Is this prerequisite really necessary!? A tutorial shouldn't assume
> anything - if possible.
Well, it's at least good to indicate what we're assuming. The
tutorial introduces the user to Debian which happens to run on a
computer. So I think we may assume that the user knows what a
computer is and some of the basic hardware parts, like keyboard,
mouse, monitor, etc. That is, we have to start at some level.
> > This manual is meant to be read in order;
> > each chapter assumes knowledge of prior chapters.
>
> It would be easier for the reader and the author if each chapter is
> mostly selfcontained. It can contain references for more detailed
> aspects but the general prerequisites should be available in the
> context.
This was the problem we had with what is now the Debian User's
Reference Guide: chapter interdependencies, and why we started this
tutorial. Therefore, I don't think it's a problem for this tutorial
to have chapters depending on previous chapters. Knowledgable
readers can always skip a part and read ahead.
> > There is also a Debian Reference Guide, which is more comprehensive
> > but less introductory.
>
> > This tutorial assumes that you have already installed Debian GNU/Linux
> > (and have read the Debian FAQ ?). If you have not yet installed the
> > system, you may still find this tutorial useful to get a sense of what
> > Debian is like.
>
> If the second sentence is true, then you can leave the first out ;-)
Yes, this needs to be reworded somewhat :-).
> This *tutorial* is very very long and gives you many many valueable
> hints. I think to many. It should be split into user tasks
> (i.e. sending mail) and admin tasks (i.e. configuring mail). Our
> configuration programs are so easy that the user can configure the
> general email system with the user knowledge. Later he can finetune
> the system with the admin tutorial.
I tend to agree. Although the current setup is very good, we should
leave out some of the "details". The question we have to answer in
this context is where stops the installation manual and where starts
the tutorial. One could argue that the admin tasks go in the first
and the latter only covers the user tasks. The former then takes care
of a basic installation with things configured in a "standard" way.
The tutorial then starts from that point on introducing the usage. A
first-time "home user" uses both manuals, a only-sysadmin the first,
and a only-user only the latter (besides all the other applicable
manuals of course). So, I think we should aline the tutorial with
the installation manual to make a coherent whole.
> The user tutorial should IMHO demonstrate the useful sides of the
> Linux system and show how easy difficult day to day tasks can be
> solved.
Yes. We could think of it as a kind of "advertisement".
All in all, I think the current setup is a very good step in the right
direction. It only needs to be finetuned.
Thanks,
Ardo
--
Ardo van Rangelrooij
home email: ardo.van.rangelrooij@tip.nl, ardo@debian.org
home page: http://www.tip.nl/users/ardo.van.rangelrooij
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