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
