Subject:
Re: ISBN numbers for LDP docs?
From:
Stein Gjoen ####@####.####
Date:
22 Jan 2004 23:45:41 -0000
Message-Id: <40106193.1080608@mail.nyx.net>
Martin WHEELER wrote:
[snip]
> LDP publications are distributed in an entirely different manner; and
> are not sold.
TLDP documents have been published on paper, at least one such
effort was by Redhat. I believe they got the indexing features
added and also got ESR to collate the whole thing and that the
printers were experts on bibles and used very, very thin paper
and still got a brick. In fact not all documents would fit inside
the thickest format they had.
I would be interested to hear if anyone else has published a
paper version recently.
[snip]
> 2) For a few weeks now, I've been toying with the idea of proposing a
> complete re-organisation of the LDP on this list -- not with any idea of
> implementing startling change, but rather to get practicality to match
> with reality.
I am in contact with librarian sciences staff at a
college/university proposing a reorganisation and structuring as
a student project. Their initial reaction was that this would be
a big project, possibly suited for a masters grade student project.
It is early days yet and I will return to these lists with more
information when I get more information from them.
Earlier I had toyed with a few prototypes/proposals but never
got much response. If you want to have a look you could check out
< http://www.nyx.net/~sgjoen/tarpl.html >
> Discussions on this list seem endlessly to return to the theme of
> writers, writing, and methods of writing/producing documents.
> But is this really what the LDP is all about? I don't really think so.
> It's just a sideline.
Well, just to compensate things I made my angle of approach that
of our readers, the very reason I started out the project above.
I have also started small side tasks on cooperating close with
Debian, getting the anniversary announcement out, prototypes for
interacting with publishers and more. My HOWTO Generator and the
templates were started to help just a small segment of writers,
newcomers. And I have prototyped a document integrater/reader.
Even more projects are in my own little pipeline.
I talk. I also make prototypes and try to get things working, up
and running.
So, what have I missed out?
And what more should we do?
> The LDP is principally a *publishing* project -- the very fact that the
> ISBN proposal has surfaced shows this -- but keeps getting bogged down
> in considerations of whether clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform are
> superior to MS Word megabloat bits'n'bytes, etc.
Publishing brings in a number of secondary issues like public
relations and understanding our readers, writers, republishers
and others. These are important things.
And in spite of much traffic (and here I will add another request
to everyone to trim quoted material) things do advance. I have
gotten a few things going and so has many, many others. I am not
pretending to pull most of the weight around here.
[snip]
> I would like to suggest a practical recognition of what in effect is
> gradually happening -- would-be authors should write and publish their
> material in any way they personally see fit -- and submit the final
> product to the LDP for approval.
I thought initial document could be in nearly any format and
volunteers would turn it into LinuxDoc or DocBook.
> (In the normal run of events, this would be on a publicly accessible web
> page somewhere; in PDF, HTML, ASCII -- whatever. At this stage the
> choice is entirely up to the writer/author[s].)
Well, in my updates on the HOWTO Generator I asked if there
was any interest in being able to continue to work within
it to update a HOWTO, making it directly available from the
web pages. I cannot remember I got any comments on that.
[snip]
> But the bulk of LDP time would be spent on massaging pre-written texts
> to fit into the prevailing list of documents, and making sure that list
> was up-to-date and widely available -- NOT faffing around arguing with
> writers as to whether a ballpoint pen is superior to a reed stylus, or
> acting as a collection point for any old document sent in, whether
> on-topic or not.
I do not let long discussions on tools or copyrights stop
me from doing what I think is useful, nor did I think anyone
else did either.
> Furthermore, I should like the LDP to start this right now -- by
> declaring a *total* re-organisation of ALL of its documents; removing
> ALL from the publications list; then submitting each to a rigorous
> approval process via a system of appointed readers and editors before
> allowing them back in. [The glory days of: "Hey! anything goes! just
> get some damn' text out!" are long behind us. That sort of text now
> belongs on a personal/private website (everyone can be a publisher these
> days, right?) -- we're no longer in the era when the LDP was itself a
> revolutionary new way of getting information out to the masses.]
Is this what you meant by reorganising earlier on? It can
mean so many things I would like to be sure and know what
you had in mind in detail.
> Maybe we should give all authors a three-month period in which to get
> their docs up to snuff -- say from now to March 31st? Then whip
> every document out of the collection, and only replace it on the
> published docs list if all criteria for inclusion on the LDP publishing
> list are fully met.
>
> Comments?
This requires some truly awesome human resources. How many have
you recruited? Part of the reason why I wanted the anniversary on
Slashdot was to help the recruiting drive. It seems it did not
help. That is why I am so interested in successful recruiting.
> [* If the LDP *really* wants to get into black-on-white publishing and
> particularly the issue of publication numbers, then an intelligent way
> forward would be to apply for a serial journal publishing licence
> (ISSN), and produce say, a quarterly or six-monthly journal containing
> *all* the most recently accepted documents, thus allowing 'subscribers'
> to accumulate a full document library over time, with an index at each
> year's end.]
It will be tricky to decide what goes into which issue. Also,
have you checked out just how big a paper edition would be?
> Thinks: Oh shit; I've probably just launched the mother of all political
> infights as to who gets to put their name on the cover as 'Editor of The
> LDP Quarterly'. Much bloodshed and aggro expected in cyberspace.
Well, I for one have ghostwritten a lot already and am used
not to be listed.
Regards,
Stein Gjoen
