Re: Debian User Manual
On 14 May 1998, Ardo van Rangelrooij wrote:
>
> I completely agree with the CVS thing and authors collaborating.
> However, I don't think it's a good idea to work on one big document
> which covers all aspects of using Debian. We had a similar discussion
> last fall (see archive) and I still think the then proposed division
> into an Installation Manual, Tutorial, and Reference Guide is a good
> one. Please the archive for all the details, but the main reason for
> this was trying to accomodate different audiences (sysadmins, newbies,
> (more) experienced users, etc.). In this setting the current setup
> makes sense.
>
I was actually one of the people making the argument for multiple manuals
for different audiences back then. :-) However, I'm changing my mind a
little. I think those are simply too many documents to maintain. The plain
Tutorial isn't getting written as it is. There are also an abundance of
man pages, FAQs, HOWTOs, etc. for advanced users, and the LDP guides.
Why not write the tutorial - complete with basic configuration stuff,
rather than putting this in an Installation Manual - and for advanced
users just do a little bit better with /usr/doc and maybe have some short
documents that give an overview of Debian's eccentricities compared to
other Linuxes and Unices.
It's just a suggestion of course, and I certainly won't be upset if
someone does write all these books. However, I am not sure we should plan
on them being written.
> However, seeing the DDH made me rethink the Reference Guide. The DDH
> can be viewed as a big Super Reference Guide. We only need to document
> the Debian specific way of things. The question is then: how? In one
> big document, scattered throughout the DDH, something in between? We
> can use the same approach for the planned SysAdmin and NetAdminmanuals.
>
Ah, I read this now and see where I got the above idea. :-)
Again, I have no real objection to the sysadmin guide, the network guide,
the install guide, etc., except that I would rather see one finished and
maintained guide than 10 planned and out-of-date guides.
> 1) As I'm listed as maintainer of the tutorial I will package it.
> The reason I did not do this up to now is that I think we should try
> to complete the current setup first. With Debian 2.0 coming out next
> month(?) and shortly after us having the Tutorial available seems good
> timing to me. This also helps bridging the next two weeks during
> which I will be out of town. :-)
>
Sounds good. There's now a link to my page on the Debian site, so that
will help too.
> 2) As I already told Havoc we should definitely contact this person.
> This also brings me back to the "How Debian specific should it be".
> A lot of what's in the Tutorial is quite generic for all(?) Linux
> distributions, so joining forces to write a GNU/Linux CookBook makes
> sense. However, we also need to be able to handle the Debian-specific
> bits and pieces.
>
I've emailed gnu@gnu.org asking about this. When they respond I will
report back.
I'm also investigating the CVS issue; it looks like I would have to apply
for an account on the server, so that might take a while if I decide to do
it. Also I am waiting to hear from craig@happy.digitaldune.net who is in
the CVS group over there, so I can tell people we're moving if we do.
So that's the current state of things.
Havoc Pennington ==== http://pobox.com/~hp
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