1 |
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- |
2 |
Hash: SHA1 |
3 |
|
4 |
This sounds intriguing. Certainly wireless networking and nVidia graphics cards |
5 |
will still be around; I'll look into contributing something in those areas, as |
6 |
they have always fascinated me (and sometimes been informative, aggravating |
7 |
tasks to properly set up!). Best of luck, and thanks for the great material so |
8 |
far. :) |
9 |
|
10 |
PS: Though the very idea of an "in-print" Gentoo book is in many ways absurd, as |
11 |
Gentoo is unique among Linux distros for its generally faster-paced, evolving |
12 |
nature, these draft handbooks present the best possible approach to actually |
13 |
publishing a "dead tree" Gentoo guide--something that would be a first for the |
14 |
distro, AFAIK. Given Gentoo's rapidly changing nature (e.g. fundamental pieces |
15 |
like Portage and baselayout), the need for a paper Gentoo book might seem |
16 |
obviated. But I'm strangely attracted to the idea. It seems more doable now that |
17 |
the draft handbooks have less of a specific Gentoo emphasis. I'd certainly be |
18 |
interested in seeing Gentoo documentation in print! |
19 |
|
20 |
|
21 |
|
22 |
Sven Vermeulen wrote: |
23 |
> Hi all, |
24 |
> |
25 |
> Some of you might have noticed that I committed a lot of new files in the |
26 |
> CVS repo under [gentoo]/xml/htdocs/doc/en/handbook/draft/complete. What |
27 |
> you see there is an idea I had regarding the/a Gentoo Handbook which |
28 |
> focusses on something entirely different from our current Gentoo Handbook. |
29 |
> |
30 |
> Currently, the Gentoo Handbook is meant to provide Gentoo-specific, static |
31 |
> information to the end user. Such information, like the installation |
32 |
> instructions, Portage stuff, init scripts, ... is not interesting for |
33 |
> non-Gentoo users. Even more, Gentoo users only have "limited" need of this |
34 |
> document: it only contains the Gentoo-specific aspects. |
35 |
> |
36 |
> That isn't a bad thing. It keeps the documentation coherent and easier to |
37 |
> maintain, something we noticed over the last few months where handbook |
38 |
> changes have become less and less frequent. However, many users are |
39 |
> missing a Gentoo-centered Linux-general document. |
40 |
> |
41 |
> This is what the new draft attempts to become: a full handbook covering |
42 |
> various technologies that Linux (the operating system) offers to its |
43 |
> users, using Gentoo Linux as the glue to help users install and maintain |
44 |
> their system. |
45 |
> |
46 |
> As such a handbook is dangerous to develop (as many technologies grow and |
47 |
> develop over months while writing such a handbook takes at least another |
48 |
> year), the style in which the handbook is written should be more |
49 |
> explanatory and less tutorial-based. This means that the step-by-step |
50 |
> examples should be minimized, but that the technologies behind it should |
51 |
> be clearly documented and well explained. |
52 |
> |
53 |
> The current draft is not finished, only one-and-a-half part is filled in |
54 |
> and many will follow. I want to ask all of you to take a look and state |
55 |
> your opinions on it. I also want you to help out writing this book: if you |
56 |
> know any interesting technologies that will remain apparent in the Linux |
57 |
> OS even in one year, do write on it. |
58 |
> |
59 |
> Personally, I think that I'll first write separate guides on the subjects |
60 |
> (which will be step-by-step) after which I create a chapter in the |
61 |
> handbook that covers the technology without going too deeply in the |
62 |
> step-by-step instructions. |
63 |
> |
64 |
> I want this to be clear: the handbook should *not* cover the commands in |
65 |
> great detail but rather help the reader find out what is possible with |
66 |
> Linux, understand the technology and be able to search for the specific |
67 |
> documentation on the Internet. |
68 |
> |
69 |
> For instance, the LVM2 documentation in the handbook should cover the |
70 |
> essentials of LVM2: the logical, abstract idea behind it (separation of |
71 |
> physical versus logical), features (like snapshotting) with examples how |
72 |
> easy it is to create such setups (yes, examples are important) but not |
73 |
> with a complete white paper on a specific setup. Difficult topics that are |
74 |
> well documented elsewhere should be mentioned but not copied (think LVM2 |
75 |
> for root file system). |
76 |
> |
77 |
> My asbestos suit is in place, my fingers are well protected with hardened |
78 |
> steel gloves to counter Yoswink's knife and I have my cookies at hand to |
79 |
> get enough sugar to survive this thread. |
80 |
> |
81 |
> Wkr, |
82 |
> Sven Vermeulen |
83 |
|
84 |
|
85 |
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- |
86 |
Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) |
87 |
Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org |
88 |
|
89 |
iD8DBQFDzSOrrsJQqN81j74RAsieAKCfH4GHzO0jglwP4+2hVX9/Him4jgCfRUY9 |
90 |
ry31hhTsVkePUqy2LMAtzi0= |
91 |
=PDsc |
92 |
-----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
93 |
-- |
94 |
gentoo-doc@g.o mailing list |