From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on dcvr.yhbt.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-ASN: AS22989 209.51.188.0/24 X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.9 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_00,DKIM_INVALID, DKIM_SIGNED,MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_MED,SPF_HELO_PASS, SPF_PASS,T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE shortcircuit=no autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from lists.gnu.org (lists.gnu.org [209.51.188.17]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by dcvr.yhbt.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 9AB8E1F403 for ; Wed, 6 Jul 2022 16:08:53 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: dcvr.yhbt.net; dkim=fail reason="signature verification failed" (2048-bit key; unprotected) header.d=andrewyu.org header.i=@andrewyu.org header.b="E0wAv5DA"; dkim-atps=neutral Received: from localhost ([::1]:42982 helo=lists1p.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1o97a8-0001lZ-Fd for e@80x24.org; Wed, 06 Jul 2022 12:08:52 -0400 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]:40996) by lists.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1o97Zg-0001lP-Cp for libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org; Wed, 06 Jul 2022 12:08:24 -0400 Received: from andrewyu.org ([173.249.27.223]:49242) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1o97Ze-0007jA-0E for libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org; Wed, 06 Jul 2022 12:08:24 -0400 Received: from localhost (unknown [185.148.13.95]) by andrewyu.org (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 33B745806F6 for ; Wed, 6 Jul 2022 18:08:14 +0200 (CEST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/simple; d=andrewyu.org; s=mail; t=1657123695; bh=vaXLqx0h+eccAf7+zxVkKPkvjDamqzEAe/0wbEi+Tgo=; h=Date:From:To:Subject:References:In-Reply-To:From; b=E0wAv5DAvjvuZIPpvuop7Nj3dF4aqfo1qnfoQg33vc34a9/PhSmnbJ2qu8E6r7wyc rISDIvjWIPYw0f3VLTJcdkEYQt9PeHqlLZ+NjjytRcN6qGzKVNSpxbIJ9NXSd8/GxR jC0kgETu6GXWIIoToc2Ukl4IPnzqcz5X6dwnz7hldOhVGVtyBtXcvJ1z58aJK65yeD x7iQ9etnsOXr6CQVh5NhAVHt5xBOIqQDDDLjM8jRKVaEsYT1XUKLltgl8br5Dai5Bo X9VxHtp5yjhXOeRHrm5GBDzUb/tWG1bm45FdztPJY+BYmCi3pLS/bebs/vbr29ymh0 h2MMy1ar94KQg== Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2022 00:08:10 +0800 To: Nicholas Johnson via libreplanet-discuss Subject: Re: Book Introducing Free Software to Laypeople Message-ID: <20220706160810.f7ooczbvp76vdfb2@gentoo-dell> References: MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: Received-SPF: pass client-ip=173.249.27.223; envelope-from=andrew@andrewyu.org; helo=andrewyu.org X-Spam_score_int: -20 X-Spam_score: -2.1 X-Spam_bar: -- X-Spam_report: (-2.1 / 5.0 requ) BAYES_00=-1.9, DKIM_SIGNED=0.1, DKIM_VALID=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_AU=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_EF=-0.1, SPF_HELO_PASS=-0.001, SPF_PASS=-0.001, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE=-0.01 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no X-Spam_action: no action X-BeenThere: libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.29 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , From: Andrew Yu via libreplanet-discuss Reply-To: Andrew Yu Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============7928908279081739797==" Errors-To: libreplanet-discuss-bounces+e=80x24.org@libreplanet.org Sender: "libreplanet-discuss" --===============7928908279081739797== Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha256; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="rylkwsixi6wy6vf4" Content-Disposition: inline --rylkwsixi6wy6vf4 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On 22/07/05 08:47PM, Nicholas Johnson via libreplanet-discuss wrote: > There is loads of free software, but relatively few people using it for > their personal computing. So I thought "Why not write a book > introducing laypeople to free software?" I'm not sure if something > like it has been done before. This is quite a coincidence---zleap, Noisytoot and I have started drafting such a book. A basic draft is available at git://git.andrewyu.org/zleap-guide.git, but many improvements are needed. As of now it primarily focuses on the command line, but I do believe that a more general introduction to Free Software is appropriate. The main author/editor is zleap, he's really into spreading ideas and participates in many computing-related clubs locally near him, taking chances to introduce people (mainly younger people) to Free Software. However I do find that sometimes he can get some concepts a bit messed up himself, so we work together in assistance to try to provide more accurate information. Maybe we could work together on this, don't know. =20 > I've never written a book before. I know little about publishing or > marketing, so it would be a first for me. I do have a few ideas: >=20 > * Use LibreOffice. I find using LibreOffice for writing documents generally and especially larger documents to be a bad idea. Documents produced with word processors are prone to subtle formatting problems, flexibility issues (no true macro definitions), is quite bad at typography (i.e. does not hyphenate at correct points many times and doesn't support kerning properly) and is generally cumbersome. For normal ``books'', I'd probably use plain TeX or LaTeX. In this specific case it may be very helpful to produce both printed versions (with device independent formats like TeX DVI, PostScript and Portable Document Format), World Wide Web pages written in HTML, and plain text versions for people who want those (i.e. me, for example). GNU TeXinfo fits this job, and while the info(1) online manual browser isn't that great, the format is easily compilable to LaTeX (then to PDF for example), HTML, and plain text, with outstanding typography for the PDF as it uses LaTeX and TeX under the hood, and still enough flexibility more than possible with LibreOffice for other formats. > * Make the book available both as a hard copy and as an eBook. > * Make the eBook available as a pdf and epub. > * Design a website for the book. TeXinfo is quite good at this. I haven't tried to produce ePub output before, however I know for a fact it's doable without much hassle with TeXinfo and Pandoc. > * Design a cover page and edit the book. Sure! > * Integrate the lulu API into the website? I have absolutely no idea what that is. A quick WWW search told me that it's a HTTP RESTful API for printing? Why is this needed? > I'll probably pay people to do the cover page design, website design, > and edit the book. The target demographic is non-techie software users > and the goal is inspiring them to use free software for their personal > computing. You could probably also rely on volunteers in the Free Software community first, many of us would be really happy to help. > I don't have a detailed outline of the book yet, but I think the first > chapter should get the reader interested in free software and point out > some ways proprietary software harms them. Then, in the later chapters > after the reader is hooked, I'll tie it all together by explaining the > philosophy of free software. I don't want to start with the philosophy. > I feel that may come off as preachy, too abstract, and turn people off. Agreed. -- Andrew Yu --rylkwsixi6wy6vf4 Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iHUEABYIAB0WIQSs8o3AoujXZEazOi1UVBIWajcYmwUCYsWzXgAKCRBUVBIWajcY m+hLAP9VRtP5DicSXxnc/vWY53ZHOV5ICqZvGUaQlIyGDFtpiAEA7RXcxifqoaew e8wK2DHdxfYfayM6wxEbHTHI01gSuwI= =JRPT -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --rylkwsixi6wy6vf4-- --===============7928908279081739797== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: inline X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX18KbGlicmVwbGFu ZXQtZGlzY3VzcyBtYWlsaW5nIGxpc3QKbGlicmVwbGFuZXQtZGlzY3Vzc0BsaWJyZXBsYW5ldC5v cmcKaHR0cHM6Ly9saXN0cy5saWJyZXBsYW5ldC5vcmcvbWFpbG1hbi9saXN0aW5mby9saWJyZXBs YW5ldC1kaXNjdXNzCg== --===============7928908279081739797==--