@ponce
The slackwiki site for sure is very valueable.
But it has not a structure like a book. It's just a collection of articles.
It could be a good source for the content of a slackware book. As I already wrote, there is a lot of good articles and documentation available on the net. But it's widespread all over the net.

In my eyes the task would be to collect this information an make a book out of it.
And as sycamorex already mentioned, there should perhaps someone be, who has the knowledge to approve the entries to ensure the quality.

Maybe there would also be a chance for such a project, to become a kind of official slackware book, since there is in fact no up to date slackware book.

The last time we discussed putting the Slackbook on a wiki was in 09.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...2009-a-735819/

And no, I'm not volunteering to do it.

Hi,

I was hoping you would jump in and do it Dugan.
We have all this spare time to publish, edit and revise things here at LQ. Add in the family life and we have all the time in the world. I'm stretched as far as I will allow myself.

It's easy for people to have a wish list or suggest something should be done. Hard part is actually getting the ball rolling and not just down hill. Someone has to keep things going when the going gets rough.

Be it in hard copy, wiki or knowledge base a project of this magnitude would require a large commitment and time management to get things done. Let alone a good understanding of how to mesh the information. Team envolvement would require a good manager/team/project leader/maintainer. Of course writing skills and knowing the English language would be big plus. Tech writers can compose a good document but those to can be very dry and pointed.

Good luck to anyone that takes on the task(s).

The challenge is not that the book cannot be updated or maintained to provide real-time technical correctness. The challenge is control of the contents. Alan at one time might have been a contributing author, but he does not own or control the book.

According to the web site, the book is copyrighted by Slackware Linux, Inc. Therefore Pat controls the document through his corporation.

Pat, please share share your thoughts about how this book could be become useful to the community.

As food for thought, to encourage some revenue for Slackware development, PDF copies could be sold only through the store. No PDFs or (docbook) text source code would be available through the web site or wiki. PDFs could be offered through the store for a nominal price and perhaps included gratis in any CD/DVD set purchased through the store. Everybody else would use the online copy. People wanting a dead tree version would create their own with the PDF copy.

Although Pat controls the copyrights, I suspect he does not want to personally maintain the document.

Possibly, Pat does not want to control the copyrights. He could decide to release the contents to the public under whatever terms he deems appropriate. Possibly he could decide to establish something similar to what the BSD or Debian folks do with their official documentation.

I'm just guessing here. I won't speak for him but ask him to share his thoughts on that topic.

To help Pat maintain this book I suggest both an editorial and technical review board to provide stewardship. Just for numbers, say three to five people on each board to help distribute the responsibilities. That is, to maintain a high editorial standard and technical correctness, community members at large would not be allowed to edit the book contents online or the source text. Community members would submit document changes through a portal provided at the book web site. Other than obvious editorial changes, somebody on the technical review board would first ensure technical correctness. Thereafter somebody on the editorial board would post the changes while ensuring the contents adheres to some kind of style guide and editorial standard.

The review process need not be complicated. Changes would be posted within a day or two under most circumstances.

As Pat controls the book, he could omni-domni who sits on the technical review and editorial boards. Pretty much the same way he approves who helps with full-time Slackware development.

There are several Slackware community members who have expressed interest in maintaining a real-time copy of the book. Many users continually ask for such a book.

Pat?

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Indeed. You are correct, Woodsman. In my initial post in this thread I stated that I thought Slackware Essentials was GPL'd. That is incorrect. The entire contents of the book is (c) Slackware Linux, Inc.

So, as you say, that leaves any and all decisions regarding this particular book up to Pat V.

Hi,

+1 to Woodsman.

It would be nice to have a tool like that. Personally I would prefer the published book or eBook.

Excellent ideas from everyone really. It's amazing to see that there's a huge interest in having an up to date documentation for Slackware and that a lot of people are actually eager to contribute in one way or another. I personally like the idea of a handbook similar to the FreeBSD as someone's mentioned already. This would add a lot of value to the community in my opinion. Plus, I'm sure a lot of people would benefit from it.

Yes I love the FreeBSD handbook. I use it for a lot of Linux related stuff too.

Basically it's about 80% content complete. What you can do to help get it finished is really quite simple. Chew my ass out on a regular basis.

You can read an older version of the new book here: http://lizella.net/book/book.html Bare in mind that was put up some months back and changes have been made. If you notice any problems with the content please inform me via e-mail. As for those of you who've e-mailed me and I've not gotten back to you, I can only apologize for being rather silent.

Seriously, the more you chew my ass out the faster this'll get completed.

4 members found this post helpful.

Careful what you wish for, you may get tons more spam messages than you wish for

Chewing your backside is not going to help writing. Opening the process to others will get the project done. Please get rid of the cloak and dagger act.

There are many people in this community who could and would help. Why the closed-shop attitude? Why the secrecy? You can have all the editorial oversight you want, but why refuse to let others help with content? Especially when so much needs to be revised and rewritten.

Many people will understand if your personal schedule is interfering with this process, but then find people who do have sufficient time. Nobody faults you for the interruptions that life routinely introduces. We all have been there, done that. Yet not to find help is acting irresponsibly.

Which is why several people should be involved. That way no one person prevents the book from being updated and remaining technically correct at all times. That book should be available to all. Post what you have. Invite others to help. Let others send you changes and remarks. Just post the thing publicly so everybody can help review and proofread.

Many people embrace that Pat benefits financially with any dead-tree sales, but everybody in the community needs and deserves the book to be current and available --- all the time.

Claiming the book is 80% done is like saying a woman is 80% pregnant --- a useless statement to those who want a good resource online. Please stop the secrecy and pussy-footing. Place the book in the OPEN where all interested community members can help.

1 members found this post helpful.

Great to hear the book is coming along, Alan. Many thanks for your efforts on this project. I can wait.

Hi,
It seems you must have slipped some of late. The last I read & heard it was 90%. Slackers are very resourceful and helpful. So let us help to get this project complete.

What about putting the Slackbook up on a LQ wiki. Very doable! You will find that there are knowledgeable people who would gladly help to get this out. I've got a lot on my table right now. Surely (not Shirley) some time could be found to materialize the Slackbook 3.0 to the Slackware community. I'm willing as others will also support this important project.

Sent a few emails to you in the past without replies. You can contact me via email through LQ.

1 members found this post helpful.

Well, I'm not chewing anybody's arse, it's unhygenic.