Re: [Gnewsense-dev] Improving gNS "Help and Support"

[Russell Currey]

On Fri, 2009-08-14 at 22:59 +0200, Zach Oglesby wrote:
> Quoting Luis Felipe Lopez Acevedo <address@hidden>:
> 
> > El mié, 24-06-2009 a las 15:37 +0300, Osama KM escribió:
> >> Hello, GNUers.
> >>
> >
> > (trimmed)
> >
> >> Unfortunately, gNewSense current Help and Support Center (System ->
> >> Help and Support) doesn't really do what we aim to. In fact, it
> >> doesn't say _anything_ (as far as I could find) about the free
> >> software movement and why using gNewSense, although there are too much
> >> things to be said. (i.e. what's wrong with other distributions, why
> >> there is no "Firefox", how to get gNewSense working with more drivers,
> >> how can someone help, updated list of working drivers, especially
> >> wirelesses,  and many other important things).
> >>
> >> These things need to be included in the distribution instead of being
> >> available only online or through IRC conversions.
> >>
> >
> > (trimmed)
> >
> >> This documentation should be translatable, again, to reach as much
> >> people as we can.
> >>
> >
> > (trimmed)
> >
> > Hello, Osama and all.
> >
> > I'd like to help with this.
> >
> > To start, I was thinking of creating a project in the list of projects
> > for the documentation team[1] to identify the set of documents that
> > could be included in the Help System. Once we have decided what
> > documents are needed, we could create a project per document.
> >
> > I made the following list of the documents that I, as a user, would like
> > to find in the Help System. I think they should be DocBook documents to
> > be able to include them more easily in the operating system and in the
> > Web site. Plus, they would be easier to translate too.
> >
> > ***
> > =About gNewSense=
> >
> > This should be a light documentation that gives users an overview of
> > gNewSense, including its practical and social benefits.
> >
> >
> > =Test-drive and Installation Manual=
> >
> > This manual should have the minimum system requirements and detailed
> > steps to tryout and install the system.
> >
> >
> > =Hardware Compatibility Manual=
> >
> > This document could explain why is not possible to use certain types of
> > hardware with gNewSense and free software in general. Also, it could
> > include information to help people find adequate hardware.
> >
> >
> > =User Manual=
> >
> > This is the document that describes the main features of the system and
> > shows how to use them. It should start with basic concepts for people
> > new to the system and people new to computers. Then, it would introduce
> > intermediate to advance topics.
> >
> >
> > =Customizing Manual=
> >
> > This manual could give a general view on how to customize the default
> > appearance and operation of the system. This would include information
> > about how to create themes, change the desktop to KDE, Xfce, etc.
> >
> > The User Manual gives basic instructions to change the appearance using
> > the system preferences. This customization manual would introduce more
> > advance topics to emphasize the freedom users have to adapt the software
> > to fit their needs.
> >
> >
> > =CookBook=
> >
> > A list of guides or "recipes" on how to install and use other tools
> > that, for different reasons, can not be installed yet the easy way.
> >
> > This would include, for example, the IceCat installation guide, How to
> > program Arduino boards, and other mini-guides already available in the
> > Web site.
> >
> >
> > =Problems and Solutions=
> >
> > A list of common problems and solutions. They should be divided in
> > categories.
> > ***
> >
> >
> > I'd like to hear your opinions on this. I'll create the project if you
> > think it's ok.
> I would love to help you work on these docs, Let me know what you are  
> going to start with and I will get on some others!
> --
> Zach Oglesby
> GPG Key: 1378F79F
> http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Zoglesby
> 
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I'd love to contribute to this, and I'm all for it.  Other GNU/Linux
distributions have sections like this, and considering gNewSense has a
strict, important purpose, why don't we?

The implementation of something like this would greatly help new users,
and allow any users with knowledge of a subject to contribute and help
others.