Re: Idea: Master Debian FAQ (newbie-centric)
I think this is a fantastic idea! I volunteer whatever I can to help out
this cause. I think we should get a mailing list for this set up and
start building it as soon as possible.
> What I'm getting around to saying is how can we, the Debian
> community, set up some newbie FAQ's that are tailored specifically at the
> very new person trying out linux and doesn't want "every switch" explained
> in detail. Most people, if I am not mistaken, want easy to understand
> documentation that gets them up and running fast with concrete examples of
> the cmd in action for a variety of "most used" scenarios. Take the following
> topics:
>
> email, ssh, http, sound, xwindows, security, word processors, tar
>
> Each one of those topics probably has a handful of "how do I" associated with
> it that a very new user would "typically" ask to this list. First off I'd like
> to ask if someone has already gathered a FAQ like this for Debian. If not,
> I'd like to volunteer my time in creating (when I have the knowledge) parts
> of the FAQ. Some basic questions come up though and these I throw out to you,
> the Debian community:
>
> 1. Who would house/display the FAQ so it is always available.
That's a minor issue... anyone with a permanent website.
> 2. Who can contribute and how?
I'd suggest a core group of volunteers with experience in writing newbie
manuals, or even some who have not. (I, for one, have been the author of
many newbie-centric documents on a larrge MUX.) Others are welcome to
volunteer their time to this group, but most of the major organization
would be controlled by this group.
> 3. Who does quality control checks?
The core group of volunteers would review the documents, make
comments/corrections, and ultimately, if there are no further
objections, decide to make that document available. An alternate
solution would be to have a quicker development period, in which
documents go up with very little editing, but are changed as time goes
on as more people read them.
> 4. How do you submit an article to be included?
Send it to the mailing list, or, if the list is private, to a public
email address which would be checked by one volunteer to verify that the
email is actually meant for this project (as in, non-spam), and finally
sent to the list.
> 5. What would be a successful structure/format?
The best structure would probably be a mixture of the general FAQ format
and a set of tutorials. Questions such as "How do I unpack a .tar.gz
file" would be in FAQ format, but others such as "How do I get a base
system running before using apt to finish it?" would be answered with
newbie-oriented tutorials.
> 6. Would the Debian main page hold a link to this if it's done well and tailored
> toward Debian?
I don't see why not. I think this is something that the Big Chiefs at
Debian HQ would appreciate greatly.
> Again, I'd like to be part of this and am willing do devote some of my time
> to getting easy to understand documentation out to newbies...of which I still
> consider myself a member.
My impression is that most people are. I've been using Debian for about
a year now, and I keep finding new things that I would have loved to
know when I started. For example, I just set up my sound card this
morning for the first time.
> Bill Jensen
Jon Eisenstein
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