Volunteer / Would like to participate

[Marc Bruggeman]

To the Fedora Documentation Project maintainer (Tammy Fox),

I have been using and experimenting with Linux over the past 5 years.
Mostly Red Hat distributions (from 6.0 onwards I have used them all,
exept 8.0) but also tried out Debian, Mandrake and Slackware on several
occasions.  As I am a telecomm professional my interest was more in how
to set up the different protocols and configure the system(s) and try to
figure out why things were/are done in such or such a way.
In my professional career I have also written lots of technical
documents and presentations and project reports in several languages
(Dutch, English, French).
Lately, I feel I would like to contribute in a way to the whole Open
Software movement and because I feel most comfortable using the redhat
distributions and now Fedora, I would like to volunteer to work on the
documentation project.

I am on Fedora Core 2 right now, have downloaded the documentation files
via CVS and am reading trough the guidelines and Emacs tutorials. I must
admit that so far, I have not yet really used Emacs and the other
mentioned tools, but hey, that will give me a new challenge and a reason
to learn something new.

Please let me know if I can be of any help to this project, or if you
would need more specific info, do not hesitate to contact me !
Regards,
Marc

[Eddahbi Karim]

Le ven 28/05/2004 à 10:34, Marc Bruggeman a écrit :
> To the Fedora Documentation Project maintainer (Tammy Fox),
>
> I have been using and experimenting with Linux over the past 5 years.
> Mostly Red Hat distributions (from 6.0 onwards I have used them all,
> exept 8.0) but also tried out Debian, Mandrake and Slackware on several
> occasions.  As I am a telecomm professional my interest was more in how
> to set up the different protocols and configure the system(s) and try to
> figure out why things were/are done in such or such a way.

You'll have to precise what skills are needed for this type of job.
Is there any documentation to read before entering in this type of
project.
What are the tools that will help the project.
Do these tools exist in the RPM Database ? :P

I want to build a documentation center based on documentations which are
easy to use and read, and easy to understand so I'm interested by this
project because, if you know how things are done, it's easier to explain
how they work.

Sorry for my horrible english.

Karim,

[Karsten Wade]

On Fri, 2004-05-28 at 11:37, Eddahbi Karim wrote:
> Le ven 28/05/2004 à 10:34, Marc Bruggeman a écrit :
> > To the Fedora Documentation Project maintainer (Tammy Fox),
> >
> > I have been using and experimenting with Linux over the past 5 years.
> > Mostly Red Hat distributions (from 6.0 onwards I have used them all,
> > exept 8.0) but also tried out Debian, Mandrake and Slackware on several
> > occasions.  As I am a telecomm professional my interest was more in how
> > to set up the different protocols and configure the system(s) and try to
> > figure out why things were/are done in such or such a way.
>
> You'll have to precise what skills are needed for this type of job.
> Is there any documentation to read before entering in this type of
> project.
> What are the tools that will help the project.
> Do these tools exist in the RPM Database ? :P

Are you looking for something other than these?

http://fedora.redhat.com/projects/docs/
http://fedora.redhat.com/participate/documentation-guide/
> I want to build a documentation center based on documentations which are
> easy to use and read, and easy to understand so I'm interested by this
> project because, if you know how things are done, it's easier to explain
> how they work.

Fedora documentation is more immature than, for example, Debian
documentation.  We are starting from scratch with tutorials and HOWTOs. 
First we need to write the documentation.  This is what is needed right
now.

Using the Fedora docs project tools is more difficult than other
methods, such as those used by fedoranews.org.  This has hurt us in
terms of getting more community writers using the tools and
contributing.  Still, it's the "right thing" to use a scalable solution
such as DocBook from the start, no matter the difficulty.

Aside from the document that I wrote and maintain, I want to help
facilitate getting everyone else's documents written.  There are many
people on this list willing to help even the newest writer get their
tutorial or HOWTO ready for Fedora docs.

hth - Karsten

[Karsten Wade]

On Fri, 2004-05-28 at 01:34, Marc Bruggeman wrote:
> To the Fedora Documentation Project maintainer (Tammy Fox),
>
> I have been using and experimenting with Linux over the past 5 years.
> Mostly Red Hat distributions (from 6.0 onwards I have used them all,
> exept 8.0) but also tried out Debian, Mandrake and Slackware on several
> occasions.  As I am a telecomm professional my interest was more in how
> to set up the different protocols and configure the system(s) and try to
> figure out why things were/are done in such or such a way.
> In my professional career I have also written lots of technical
> documents and presentations and project reports in several languages
> (Dutch, English, French).
> Lately, I feel I would like to contribute in a way to the whole Open
> Software movement and because I feel most comfortable using the redhat
> distributions and now Fedora, I would like to volunteer to work on the
> documentation project.
>
> I am on Fedora Core 2 right now, have downloaded the documentation files
> via CVS and am reading trough the guidelines and Emacs tutorials. I must
> admit that so far, I have not yet really used Emacs and the other
> mentioned tools, but hey, that will give me a new challenge and a reason
> to learn something new.
>
> Please let me know if I can be of any help to this project, or if you
> would need more specific info, do not hesitate to contact me !

Speaking just as a project member, I would say, Yes!, we need more
help.  Right now we need:

* Writers of new documents, especially those who can understand the
tools
* Helpers, who can assist non-DocBook users in getting documents in the
proper format

After we have some more submissions, we will need editors, and one day,
translators.

As for what can you write about?  The question comes back to you, what
are you interested in?  Tell us, we'd like to talk about it.  When you
have something, submit it to the list.  Look for collaborators.  See if
your idea is being worked on in another way.

Welcome!

- Karsten

[Marc Bruggeman]

Karsten,
My apologies for the somewhat late reply. 
I have been reading up on the materials and this list, as well as some
others related to the Fedora project.

I guess my best option for the moment is going through the phase of
learning to use all these different tools, and start writing. When I get
something finished, I will submit it here in the list.

And to answer the question about what I could write about : I have been
so far 'studying and experimenting' with IP networking, DHCP, DNS, NIS,
NFS, SAMBA, NTP... I want to know more about configuring and using
encryption and related tools. I am also trying to learn a bit more about
(shell script) programming in a Linux environment (apart from learning
how to use the documentation tools and programs).

I will keep an eye on this list and get back as soon as I have something
to present.
Regards,
Marc

Marc On Thu, 2004-06-03 at 22:07, Karsten Wade wrote:
> On Fri, 2004-05-28 at 01:34, Marc Bruggeman wrote:
> > To the Fedora Documentation Project maintainer (Tammy Fox),
> >
> > I have been using and experimenting with Linux over the past 5 years.
> > Mostly Red Hat distributions (from 6.0 onwards I have used them all,
> > exept 8.0) but also tried out Debian, Mandrake and Slackware on several
> > occasions.  As I am a telecomm professional my interest was more in how
> > to set up the different protocols and configure the system(s) and try to
> > figure out why things were/are done in such or such a way.
> > In my professional career I have also written lots of technical
> > documents and presentations and project reports in several languages
> > (Dutch, English, French).
> > Lately, I feel I would like to contribute in a way to the whole Open
> > Software movement and because I feel most comfortable using the redhat
> > distributions and now Fedora, I would like to volunteer to work on the
> > documentation project.
> >
> > I am on Fedora Core 2 right now, have downloaded the documentation files
> > via CVS and am reading trough the guidelines and Emacs tutorials. I must
> > admit that so far, I have not yet really used Emacs and the other
> > mentioned tools, but hey, that will give me a new challenge and a reason
> > to learn something new.
> >
> > Please let me know if I can be of any help to this project, or if you
> > would need more specific info, do not hesitate to contact me !
>
> Speaking just as a project member, I would say, Yes!, we need more
> help.  Right now we need:
> Writers of new documents, especially those who can understand the
>
> tools
> Helpers, who can assist non-DocBook users in getting documents in the
>
> proper format
>
> After we have some more submissions, we will need editors, and one day,
> translators.
>
> As for what can you write about?  The question comes back to you, what
> are you interested in?  Tell us, we'd like to talk about it.  When you
> have something, submit it to the list.  Look for collaborators.  See if
> your idea is being worked on in another way.
>
> Welcome!
> Karsten
>
> -- 
> Karsten Wade, RHCE, Tech Writer
> this .signature subject to random changes
> http://people.redhat.com/kwade/
> gpg fingerprint: 2680 DBFD D968 3141 0115  5F1B D992 0E06 AD0E 0C41

[Mark Johnson]

> Speaking just as a project member, I would say, Yes!, we need more
> help.  Right now we need:
>
> [...]
> Helpers, who can assist non-DocBook users in getting documents in
> the proper format.

I could volunteer as a "Helper" who assists people in getting a working 
docbook authoring setup.

Cheers,
Mark

[Tommy Reynolds]

Uttered Mark Johnson , spake thus:
> I could volunteer as a "Helper" who assists people in getting a working 
> docbook authoring setup.

Could you start this by correcting the fedora-docs/example-tutorial?
The current CVS content gives a very poor PDF rendering, with
header/footer rules only half way across the page; and <table></table>
output only spanning half the page.  The HTML rendering seems OK enough
for now, but monkeying with the setup trying to get even a
semi-polished looking PDF is driving me nuts.

I'd perfer to see "example-tutorial" contain the actual template that
will be used for Fedora docs.  Provide us with the boilerplate and we
then DOCBOOK by example.

HTH

[Mark Johnson]

Tommy Reynolds wrote:
> Uttered Mark Johnson , spake thus:
> > I could volunteer as a "Helper" who assists people in getting a working 
> > docbook authoring setup.
>
> Could you start this by correcting the fedora-docs/example-tutorial?
> The current CVS content gives a very poor PDF rendering,

This is a processing/stylesheet issue, rather than an authoring 
environment problem.

I haven't even checked: is the pdf output generated from XSL or DSSSL 
stylesheets. If XSL, the fo -> pdf engine is likely passivetex or FOP. I 
dunno. Unfortunately, this toolchain is known to have some major 
deficiencies.

I wish I had the time to work on the toolchain (esp the stylesheets), 
but I simply don't have the time now. Maybe in a few months. FWIW, I 
really enjoy working on the toolchain stuff, but I'm already overloaded.

OTOH, I can get someone set up w/ Emacs & DocBook relatively quickly, as 
I've done it many times.

Sorry I can't help w/ the pdf stuff right now.
> I'd perfer to see "example-tutorial" contain the actual template that
> will be used for Fedora docs.  Provide us with the boilerplate and we
> then DOCBOOK by example.

I'll take a look at the "example-tutorial" and see if I can meaningfully 
contribute to a template.

Cheers,
Mark

[Karsten Wade]

On Tue, 2004-06-08 at 13:41, Tommy Reynolds wrote:
> Uttered Mark Johnson , spake thus:
> > I could volunteer as a "Helper" who assists people in getting a working 
> > docbook authoring setup.
>
> Could you start this by correcting the fedora-docs/example-tutorial?
> The current CVS content gives a very poor PDF rendering, with
> header/footer rules only half way across the page; and <table></table>
> output only spanning half the page.  The HTML rendering seems OK enough
> for now, but monkeying with the setup trying to get even a
> semi-polished looking PDF is driving me nuts.
>
> I'd perfer to see "example-tutorial" contain the actual template that
> will be used for Fedora docs.  Provide us with the boilerplate and we
> then DOCBOOK by example.

I looked at this for a little bit after your email recently; nothing
conclusive enough to write back about.  Anyone who is interested in
toolchain work, let's keep working on this.

Are there other problems with the PDF output anyone has noticed?  Other
problems building PDFs?

- Karsten