Sec=Unclassified RE: Proposal to donate the writing of an ebook/book

[Stoffers, Robert LAC]

Ubuntu already has a book like this, although its in xml form (nothing stopping it being a ebook or whatever else), which I wrote for the Breezy Badger release. Maybe you would like to contribute to this instead, its in need of new writers right now. I'll leave it to others to fill you in on the details of doing so.
 
Also, some things like Automatrix and Easy Ubuntu are bad even for the new users. What is gained by the ease of such tools is lost when it breaks their systems, leaving the user with a bad after taste of Linux. 
 
Regards,
 
Robert Stoffers
(author/ex-maintainer of the Ubuntu Desktop Guide)

-----Original Message-----
From: ubuntu-doc-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com [mailto:ubuntu-doc-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com]On Behalf Of Michael Steinberg
Sent: Monday, 30 January 2006 09:05
To: ubuntu-doc at lists.ubuntu.com
Subject: Proposal to donate the writing of an ebook/book


I like Linux and love Ubuntu, I admire the spirit which has made OSS work, and because I can't program but can write I thought writing a book would be a useful contribution. 

I've been using Ubuntu myself since its release and have installed it on a number of computers I've given to others, often poor people who haven't had a computer before. Teaching them is a problem, though. I haven't found any introductory books that are Linux-oriented except for ones about Mepis and Linspire; a "starting off with Ubuntu" book would fill a niche and would also help popularize the distro. 

As I see it right now, the book would cover installation, setup, and basic skills like navigating in the Open/Save box; customizing, adding applications (through Add Application, Synaptic, and apt-get, with a word on Automatix), fonts, printers etc.; sudo and administration; connecting via dialup and wireless; a few elementary command-line skills, what the programs do, and where to go for help. It would be structured in part around the default menus, but rather than tell people how to use the programs it would introduce each one and its function and cover the program's learning and support options. There would be a word or two about some of the additional apps in the "Add Application" menu option. While the focus would be on GNOME, there should be at least a chapter on Kubuntu. A tentative outline follows, and I welcome all comments. I would be working with pre-release versions of Dapper, so it should be up-to-date when finished. 

This isn't a difficult job. I'd solicit queries and requests through the beginner forum particularly, and for some topics would need to mine the Wiki or solicit people directly. Obviously the input of the doc team would be essential, but I don't think I need writing help, only fact-checking, editorial suggestions, and assistance with technical things I can't try out myself. 

The whole thing would be GPL'd. I think of it as a pdf e-book for the site (though I'd learn XML if needed), but hard-copy books are still more useful than pdfs. It would also be lovely to produce it in physical form, perhaps with Ubuntu CDs in the back pocket and on sale in the Ubuntu store. "Everything you need to start out in Ubuntu." A perfect gift for friends and family! 

Who am I? I'm an appellate lawyer in Rochester, New York, as far as income goes; but my real interest is in writing. I have a fairly abstract piece of social theory out from Monthly Review Press, The Fiction of a Thinkable World, which you can read about at http://www.monthlyreview.org/tfoatw.htm. (it would be terrific if you bought copies, too!) I also write frequently for http://www.mrzine.org. 

Besides that, I've published a short history of the Adirondack Mountains in New York for younger readers which won awards when it came out, and I've been explaining computers to family and friends ever since I bought an Osborne. I think I can get the material across simply and clearly and with a good deal of humor. 

I'd like to know how this sounds to the doc team. If you're interested, I have a sample chapter I can send in .pdf, and I can draft a detailed plan of work. 

Michael Steinberg 

OUTLINE (VERY TENTATIVE....) 

1. Why Linux? Why Ubuntu? 
2. Hardware concerns: Winmodems, Wireless 
3. Getting & Installing Ubuntu 
4. Welcome to the Desktop 
1. Gnome 
1. Displays, desktop backgrounds, etc. 
2. The Open/Save dialogue 
3. Options in the system menu 
4. The panel 
2. KDE 
5. Basic skills 
1. Nautilus 
2. Further tweaking with administrative tools; sudo 
3. Setting up dialup 
4. Ndiswrapper & wireless 
5. Fonts 
6. Printers 
7. Codecs 
6. Adding and customizing 
1. Automatix 
2. The package system 
3. Add programs & update manager 
4. Synaptic 
5. Apt-get 
7. Graphics applications 
1. The GIMP 
2. Inkscape 
3. Xsane 
4. Other programs in the "Add Applications" menu 
8. Internet: 
1. Web Browser 
1. Adding plugins 
2. Evolution & E-mail 
3. IRC & IM 
4. Other programs in the "Add Applications" menu 
9. Office applications 
1. Open Office 
2. Evolution: the rest of the story 
3. pdfs and Adobe Reader 
4. Other programs in the "Add Applications" menu 
1. Scribus & DTP 
10. Programming 
1. Nvu, Bluefish 
11. Sound & Video 
1. Totem 
2. Sound Juicer 
3. Getting Real Player 
4. Other programs in the "Add Applications" menu 
12. The Command line 
1. The structure of Linux: CLI, X, etc. 
2. Accounts & Permissions 
3. Root & sudo 
4. Basic file management 
5. Other useful commands 
13. A chapter about Kubuntu 
14. Getting more help 


************************************************************* 
Michael Steinberg 
109 Rutgers Street 
Rochester, New York 14607-2840 

(585) 242-0538 (h) (585) 295-8544 (o) (585) 298-9323 (fax) 
************************************************************* 
I don't spoil my cats. I simply can't convince myself that my intentions are always more important than theirs.