Background: I gave Linux a shot when I needed to find a computer for our office's intern to use, and the only spare computer we had was an old Pentium II that nobody knew the password for. So I downloaded a bunch of different Linux LiveCDs and tried each one. Damn Small Linux was the only one that would get the machine to boot.

Today, the computer runs great and does everything the intern needs from it.

However, it took a lot of trial-and-error tinkering for me to teach myself enough Linux to get it to a point where it's fully-functional.

The lack of documentation availale for newbies is a common complaint. I bought a copy of the Official DSL Book, figuring it would have better documentation than what's on-line, and it would be a nice way to send a few bucks to the developers of DSL, since I use it so much.

But the book didn't really answer many of my pressing questions, and it was written for an earlier version of DSL, so some of the information was a little out-of-date.

LONG STORY SHORT: I had an idea that would provide independent, small-time Linux developers an extra revenue stream, and also provide newbies with an opportunity for better-quality documentation - publish a hard-copy manual for your software via Cafépress.com! I just started selling t-shirts via Cafepress, and I've been very pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the finished product. They now offer the ability to sell print-on-demand books, and I presume the quality is just as high as with their t-shirts.

This would be a great way for independent Linux developers to keep their documentation up-to-date without the need to publish large numbers of a manual that might be out-of-date within a few months. Plus, the revenue stream provided by Cafepress should be an incentive for developers to make sure the documentation is well-written and comprehensive.

Sure, the developer could still provide PDFs, or a Wiki, or a user forum on their site. But in addition to that they could also sell a really good user manual for their software. This wouldn't violate the GNU license, as far as I can tell.

Hell, why limit it to the developers themselves? If you're a power-user of a particular piece of software, why not write a manual/user guide yourself and sell it via Cafepress? You could advertise the link at the user forum for the software package in question.

So, what do y'all think? Anybody know of any Linux developers who have used this method? I would definitely pay for a good manual for a LOT of the Linux software that is out there. Getting started can just be SO confusing sometimes.

When you have completed installation and boot up in Linux the first time, then you should be able to read all of the stuff that would help you to do all of the common things in Linux, like connect to the internet and burn cds. This should all be in the Help files that are found in KDE or GNOME desktops from the Help menu. The Help menu has limited documentation. If all distros would improve the Help menu, then beginners would not have so much problems, and if a window poped up to tell the beginner to go to the Help menu then they would not be so lost at starting Linux.