Linux Documentation Project (LDP) FAQ

Rahul Sundaram


<rahulsundaram AT yahoo DOT co DOT in>
        

2004-05-31
Revision History                                                             
Revision 1.4            2004-05-31             Revised by: RS                
Added a few more FAQ's and minor modifications from Emma Jane Hogbin and     
updated to Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 License per TM.       
Revision 1.3            2003-11-15             Revised by: EM                
Minor editorial update                                                       
Revision 1.2            2003-11-09             Revised by: TM                
Small corrections                                                            
Revision 1.1            2003-11-07             Revised by: RS                
Minor update                                                                 
Revision 1.0            2003-02-24             Revised by: TM                
Initial Release, reviewed by LDP                                             


An introductory FAQ for users who come across the LDP and want a short
introduction to it.

2003, Rahul Sundaram

   
    Copyright (c) 2003 by Rahul Sundaram. This material is licensed under the
    Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 License. Terms and conditions
    for distribution can be found at [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
    by-sa/2.0/] Creative Commons).
   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What is LDP?
Q: What is a Guide?
Q: What is a HOWTO?
Q: What is a man page?
Q: What is an FAQ?
Q: Where can I get all of these documents?
Q: How are the documents licensed?
Q: Are all of the topics that are in the LDP related to Linux?
Q: Who contributes to LDP?
Q: Why should I contribute?
Q: How can I contribute?
Q: In which format should I write the documentation?
Q: DocBook is too hard to learn for a LyX user like me. Why do you use it?
Q: How should I submit documentation?
Q: Will my document be reviewed before it is accepted to the collection?
Q: What if I have question that hasn't been answered here?

Q: What is LDP?

A: LDP is a loosely knit team of volunteers who provide documentation for
many aspects of Linux. There are several forms of documentation: Guides,
HOWTOs, man pages, and FAQs.

Q: What is a Guide?

A: A guide is typically a longer book with broader coverage of a subject; for
instance, the Network Administration or User Guide. The intent is to
understand the whole subject, as opposed to performing only one task. If you
want to have a broader look at some aspect of Linux, then the guides should
be very handy.

Q: What is a HOWTO?

A: A HOWTO is usually a step-by-step guide that describe, in detail, how to
perform a specific task. For example, you can use the Linux Installation
HOWTO to help you install Linux on a system, but it does not cover how to set
up a Web server so that you can focus on a particular task.

Q: What is a man page?

A: A man (Manual) page is a standard form of help that is available for many
Linux applications and utilities. You can view man pages by using the man
command. Many of the GNU utilities have a more detailed form of help, called
info pages. You can view info pages by using the info command.

Q: What is an FAQ?

A: An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is a list of questions that are
usually available in mailing lists. An FAQ is used to avoid answering
repetitive questions that are asked by new users. For example, the Linux FAQ
answers questions like, "What is Linux?" and "How is Linux pronounced?"

Q: Where can I get all of these documents?

A: Most Linux distributions include LDP documents, so there is a high chance
that they are already available for you if you've installed Linux. The latest
versions that are available at the LDP Web site, [http://www.tldp.org] http:/
/www.tldp.org.

Q: How are the documents licensed?

A: LDP has documents that are available only under a free license, like the
GNU Free Documentation License. This means that you are allowed to
distribute, modify, and do what ever you want to do to the documents, as long
as you do not change the copyright and licensing terms.

Q: Are all of the topics that are in the LDP related to Linux?

A: Yes. There are several other applications, languages, and operating
systems that are covered at the LDP. LDP accepts the document if it is of any
interest to general Linux users. For example, the Linux+Windows HOWTO
explains, in detail, how your Linux system can coexist with Windows.
Documents that do not relate directly to Linux won't be accepted.

Q: Who contributes to LDP?

A: Application developers, who usually provide help files with their
programs, often submit their documentation to LDP. Increasingly, new users
solve their Linux issues and document their work to help others in the
community.

Q: Why should I contribute?

A: Authors who want to help others by providing some documentation can do so
through LDP. The documents should be under a free license, such as the GNU
free documentation license, which ensures that everyone is benefited through
your documents. Here are some of the major benefits when you contribute
through LDP:

  * LDP hosts the document and ensures that it is available in many formats,
    including text, html, and pdf, so that Linux users can view it in a
    platform-independent manner.
   
  * LDP documents are available as part of many distributions and, hence,
    your documents reach a large community of Linux users.
   
  * Many of the Linux users who read your document may give you comments,
    suggestions, or even provide additional content that ensures the document
    is reliable and updated whenever necessary.
   
  * You may be providing some crucial help to users who come across the same
    issues that you have solved on your own.
   
  * It is a form of contribution to the Linux and open source community which
    depends on volunteers for its growth.
   
  * You may also publish any of LDP documents, including your own, and get
    monetary benefits from the whole process.
   

Q: How can I contribute?

A: If you know a particular topic well, first search the LDP Web site, [http:
//www.tldp.org] http://www.tldp.org, for related documentation. If something
is already available, you can contact the author through e-mail, which will
probably be available within the document, and coordinate your work together.
You can take care of the documents that are not maintained. If the topic is
an entirely new one, subscribe to the Discussion mailing list at <
discuss@en.tldp.org>, propose the topic to your peers first, and then gather
feedback. After you receive feedback and complete the draft, you can submit
the document by using the instructions that are in the LDP Author Guide,
[http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide] http://www.tldp.org/LDP/
LDP-Author-Guide. Be sure to advise LDP that you followed the steps that are
listed in the LDP Author Guide. This avoids having someone come back later
and tell you that this subject was not acceptable (which is rarely the case).
Contact the HOWTO coordinator who is listed at the LDP Web site if you
require any expert help. When you follow the above steps, you are ensured the
following benefits:

  * If any other person is interested in contributing, you can team up.
   
  * The topic that you wish to cover may already be available as part of some
    other documentation that you are not aware of; you may want to e-mail the
    list so that you can avoid repetitive work.
   
  * You can receive guidance in the form of help, tools, and other resources
    that can speed up your writing.
   

Because LDP is an informal organisation of volunteers, you do not need any
kind of membership to contribute. Everyone is encouraged to help in whatever
way they can.

Q: In which format should I write the documentation?

A: In any format you would like! Documents will be maintained in DocBook XML
or LinuxDoc and will be converted for you by a volunteer. You may choose to
use an editing suite (like OpenOffice.org) to write the DocBook for you.
There are also scripts available to convert LyX and ASCII documents to
DocBook.

Q: DocBook is too hard to learn for a LyX user like me. Why do you use it?

A: It's not just LyX users that say this, but here's the answer... There are
hundreds of documents in our collection. We have one set of scripts to
convert each of these documents into human-readable formats (HTML, PostScript
and PDF). We use these scripts not only to save time, but also to keep our
collection visually similar, as requested by many of our readers (read [http:
//ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/30/0041253] http://ask.slashdot.org/
article.pl?sid=04/03/30/0041253 for more information. DocBook is a very
descriptive markup language specifically desgined to describe technical
documentation. Always under active development, DocBook is be used to output
a variety of formats, including HTML pages, slide shows, PDF and PostScript
for printed materials. We are always interested in hearing about scripts or
tools for converting text to DocBook. Please read the [http://tldp.org/LDP/
LDP-Author-Guide/html/x2docbook.html] Author Guide and contribute your ideas
to the "Discuss" mailing list. LyX users should also read [http://
www.teledyn.com/help/XML/lyx2db/t1.html] http://www.teledyn.com/help/XML/
lyx2db/t1.html for more information.

Q: How should I submit documentation?

A: For your convenience, this process is summarized in our [http://
www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/html/process.html] Author Guide.

Q: Will my document be reviewed before it is accepted to the collection?

A: All new documents are reviewed according to the [http://tldp.org/HOWTO/
LDP-Reviewer-HOWTO/] LDP Reviewer HOWTO. Each document will go through three
reviews: technical, language and meta-data. You can read about these reviews
in the LDP Reviewer HOWTO.

Q: What if I have question that hasn't been answered here?

A: If your question hasn't been answered in this FAQ, please send e-mail to
the Discussion list (<discuss@en.tldp.org>) after subscribing to it. More
information is also available at [http://www.tldp.org/mailinfo.html] http://
www.tldp.org/mailinfo.html. If someone on the Discussion list answers the
question and you feel that it should be included here, send a copy of both
the question that you asked and the answer that you received to the author of
this document. The author's e-mail address is listed at the top of this page.
