discuss: Thread: Linux Programmer's Guide

I know some of you know Matt Welsh, so do you of you want to check
with him and see what he and the other authors want to do with the
Linux Programmer's Guide?

It is horribly out of date right now, and as a programmer's guide that
is particularly bad. There are plenty of folks still running the 2.0
kernel, but almost nobody is developing new software for it.

I don't think the current maintainers are going to do anything with
it. So, we need to either get the document GFDL'ed and find a new
maintainer(s) to update it, or at least use the parts that are still
workable, or we need to retire and archive it.

If you take a look at the document, you will see that it is not under
any kind of even remotely free license. It is just copyrighted, with
no permission for distribution. We are in violation even by mirroring
it and that can't continue.

Without some kind of licensing that allows us to do so, we will have
to remove this document entirely.

So someone please see if you can work this out with Matt and the other
authors.

Thanks,

-- 
Dr. David C. Merrill                     http://www.lupercalia.net
Linux Documentation Project                   ####@####.####
Collection Editor & Coordinator            http://www.linuxdoc.org
                                       Finger me for my public key

UNIX enhancements aren't.

The Linux Programmer's Guide needs to be archived or we need new
maintainers. And that would require a relicense from the authors, who
stipulate that if you make money with it they want a share. Probably
they would go along with it since that hasn't happened, and *won't*
happen if it just dies. Maybe not, but worth trying.

The question is does anyone want to maintain it? If not there's no
point talking to the authors.

-- 
Dr. David C. Merrill                     http://www.lupercalia.net
Linux Documentation Project                   ####@####.####
Collection Editor & Coordinator            http://www.linuxdoc.org

To err is human -- to blame it on a computer is even more so.

David et al:

> The question is does anyone want to maintain it? If not there's no
> point talking to the authors.

I currently moderate/administrate two lists called "LinuxCprogramming"
and "tuxCPProgramming" (http://lists.linux.org.au/listinfo/ - and follow
the links). Whilst I don't have the time and the expertise to maintain
all sections of the guide I would think that:

1) I take overall direction on the guide
2) I delegate to members of the lists (who volunteer themselves) various
sections

Hence, we'd still have the document maintained, the maintenance wouldn't
fall on just one person yet there would be one person or a small number
of people who coordinate its update (given that the programmer's guide
is really quite a large project). Much like the Linux Kernel itself...

DSL
-- 
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is
  just to love and to be loved in return."
  - David Bowie (Nature Boy from Moulin Rouge)

On Wed, Jul 11, 2001 at 11:32:12AM +0930, David Lloyd wrote:
> 
> David et al:
> 
> > The question is does anyone want to maintain it? If not there's no
> > point talking to the authors.
> 
> I currently moderate/administrate two lists called "LinuxCprogramming"
> and "tuxCPProgramming" (http://lists.linux.org.au/listinfo/ - and follow
> the links). Whilst I don't have the time and the expertise to maintain
> all sections of the guide I would think that:
> 
> 1) I take overall direction on the guide
> 2) I delegate to members of the lists (who volunteer themselves) various
> sections
> 
> Hence, we'd still have the document maintained, the maintenance wouldn't
> fall on just one person yet there would be one person or a small number
> of people who coordinate its update (given that the programmer's guide
> is really quite a large project). Much like the Linux Kernel itself...

That sounds great. Do you think you can find the people to maintain
the whole thing? It is a *big* document.

Also we would then need to pursue the authors and get permission to
relicense it and transfer maintainership. That might be difficult
since it hasn't been updated in so long, so some mails will be stale.
And different guys have copyright on different chapters.

Can you take responsibility to track them down and deal with the
license issue as well?

-- 
Dr. David C. Merrill                     http://www.lupercalia.net
Linux Documentation Project                   ####@####.####
Collection Editor & Coordinator            http://www.linuxdoc.org

Computers don't actually think.
	You just think they think.
		(We think.)

David!

> That sounds great. Do you think you can find the people to maintain
> the whole thing? It is a *big* document.

Well, I'll find more people than working on it at the moment (i.e. 1>0).

> Also we would then need to pursue the authors and get permission to
> relicense it and transfer maintainership. That might be difficult
> since it hasn't been updated in so long, so some mails will be stale.
> And different guys have copyright on different chapters.

<sigh>

> Can you take responsibility to track them down and deal with the
> license issue as well?

I'll see what I can come up with.

DSL
-- 
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is
  just to love and to be loved in return."
  - David Bowie (Nature Boy from Moulin Rouge)

I'd be quite willing to translate it into DocBook 4.1
or to pretty up the syntax or whichever.

My writing abilities for this would be somewhat
limited, though, since I'm part of its target
audience...

> "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is
>   just to love and to be loved in return."
>   - David Bowie (Nature Boy from Moulin Rouge)

I thought that was originally done by Grace Slick and
the Great Society. (Later known as Jefferson
Airplane.)

-adam buchbinder

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail
http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

I'll get there eventually.

My first thought is to contact the individual authors who all seem to
have some type of licence before doing any work at all on the beast.

DSL
-- 
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is
  just to love and to be loved in return."
  - David Bowie (Nature Boy from Moulin Rouge)

On Thu, Jul 12, 2001 at 11:03:43PM +0930, David Lloyd wrote:
> 
> I'll get there eventually.
> 
> My first thought is to contact the individual authors who all seem to
> have some type of licence before doing any work at all on the beast.

Great. Please let me know what happens.

-- 
Dr. David C. Merrill                     http://www.lupercalia.net
Linux Documentation Project                   ####@####.####
Collection Editor & Coordinator            http://www.linuxdoc.org

Bill Gates says banks are dinosaurs, well, some dinosaurs run real fast and
bite the hell out of you.
	--Unknown

Hi,
   I would like to take up the maintainence and updation of Linux
Programmer's guide. It seems it hasn't been updated from 1995 and lot
of things changed. There is room for lot of improvements. 
   I couldn't find e-mail addresses of authors in the document. Could
you point me to their addresses and so I can take up the work. 

Thank You,
Pradeep Padala

-- 
Perfection is our goal, excellence will be tolerated. -- J. Yahl
--

Pradeep!

>    I would like to take up the maintainence and updation of Linux
> Programmer's guide. It seems it hasn't been updated from 1995 and lot
> of things changed. There is room for lot of improvements.

I am actually (well supposedly) updating the guide; unfortunately I was
washed out last year because my stepfather died, I was in the middle of
a job change and I was suffering mild clinical depression (1). I've got
myself a job and a whole list of people who want to help with the guide
and I'm back onto it.

You might want to see:

* http://lists.linux.org.au/listinfo/linuxcprogramming/


David Lloyd

(1) because of a financial catastrophe and everything