Ubuntu PDF Format Guide

[Derek Broughton]

Zach wrote:

> The original post, as well as Dennis's reply, wasn't to the forum--it
> was to the ubuntu-users mailing list.  It just happens that the
> mailing list is mirrored to the forum--a service for the convenience
> of forum users who don't want to sign up to the mailing list.

Wow.  It was bad enough when someone decided that the Forum should be gated
to our list and we ended up with an influx of posts from people who not
only couldn't quote but probably get annoyed that we list-users _do_.  It
was worse when someone else decided that all of those posts should appear
to be from 'Forum user.  Now they're trying to make us abide by _their_
posting rules??

I really wish the ubuntu-user admins would just break this gateway and let
both the list and the Forum go their own way.  It's one thing gating a list
to gmane news, but it's completely different, and imo unworkable, to gate
to an HTML forum.  The formats are too incompatible.
 
> And with regards to Dennis's advice on avoiding unofficial
> documentation, it is valid and helpful, and may help unititiated users
> avoid serious breakage, potentially turning them off to Ubuntu & Linux
> in general.

Yes.
> 
> As far as the original question, the best place to go for
> documentation is help.ubuntu.com, as mentioned previously.  As you get
> more seasoned and become comfortable that you can fix things that
> break, you may want to turn to unofficial guides for specific things
> not covered in the official guide.  Do so at your own risk, though.
> 
> If you want PDF documentation there is a package called cups-pdf.  It
> let's you create a printer that prints to a pdf file instead of a
> physical printer, which is great for making web pages available to
> read where there's no internet.  It takes a bit of work to get going,
> but could be a sufficiently challenging project for a beginner.
> (Hint: to get it working you have to edit /etc/cups/cupsd.conf and set
> RunAsUser to No--this causes cups to run as root).
> 
> On the windows side, since you're using the Live CD, there is a really
> great project called PDF Creator.  It is an open source project on
> sourceforge.net.  You can also get it from The Open CD,
> www.theopencd.org.  If you pop your Ubuntu Live CD into a Windows
> computer, it contains information about The Open CD, as well as a
> subset of the Open CD's windows software.
> 
> Hope this helps
> Good Luck
> 
> On 11/6/05, 'Forum Post <ulist at gs1.ubuntuforums.org> wrote:
>>
>> I don't know the URL you are reading this from but mine reads as
>> follows:
>>
>> http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=470720#post470720

Which is completely irrelevant to the ubuntu-users mailing list.  

>> However, you do mention the code of conduct, so may i respectfully
>> remind you:
>>
>> - *Be considerate*

He was.

>> - *Be respectful*

He was.  Personally, I consider anonymous posts from "'Forum post"
disrespectful.

>> - *Be collaborative*
>> - *When you disagree, consult others*

It certainly seems to be the consensus position that ubuntuguide is no
longer a reliable source of documentation, so both of those points are
covered.

>> But first I would like to see you get back onto the original thread
>> topic, reposted to a technical forum if necessary, and then fixed for
>> the original poster, who after all, was someone with a problem, who
>> needs help finding a solution.

Just because somebody asks for a specific solution doesn't mean he should be
given that advice.  The specific solution he wanted was wrong and his
advice was good.
-- 
derek