← Back to team overview

ubuntu-manual team mailing list archive

Re: Releasing manuals less often, ditching translations

 

Hi there,
I think one manual per two years is not enough, because many changes will come with the versions between LTS versions. So it would be a great idea to schedule the release a few weeks after ubuntu release date so there is more time for writing and checking after UI freeze. The translated versions are even more delayed, but I definitely don't agree with Jason to use google translator, it's just terrible. Maybe one would understand what's going on, but it's not nice to read. Moreover, we do have common translations for some words/phrases that google doesn't know, so it wouldn't be the same strings at the screen and in the manual. German translation for lucid-e2 is done now, but we're just having a few problems compiling the pdf and have to get the screenshots...

cheers
Jonas

Am 01.11.2010 01:40, schrieb Jason Odoom:
*Hi Ben,*

Seems good but its kind of disappointing not releasing the Mnual every 6 months. We can also keep a copy that can be read (without download) online, using the "Google translator <http://translate.google.com/about/intl/en_ALL/tour.html#professional>" widget, readers can change the language. Instead of killing translation for the Manual.

Jason Odoom
www.google.com/profiles/jasonodoom <http://www.google.com/profiles/jasonodoom>



On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 5:50 PM, Benjamin Humphrey <humphreybc@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:humphreybc@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:

    Hey guys,

    I don't have much time to write a lengthy email so this is going to be
    to the point. As everyone will know, the last 4 months in this team
    have been terrible - we've been getting nothing done, the manual for
    Maverick is still not out and we're not moving forward. This is
    combination of a few things, myself and a lot of the core contributors
    have been extremely busy in the second half of 2010, we've been
    pushing hard for the Lucid manual and some of us might be a bit burnt
    out, our barrier for new contributors is way too high and the demand
    for a new manual every 6 months, plus translations and screenshots is
    just too much for the team to handle without full time contributors.

    Rather than see the team disintegrate, which would be terrible, I
    figure we need to slim our goals down a bit and perhaps give us a
    greater time span to work in. Hence I propose one (or both) of the
    following:

    * Not releasing the manual for every release, but perhaps only .04
    releases (yearly) or only LTS releases (every two years).
    * Releasing only in English, at least until we have a better
    infrastructure for translations

    My preference would be the first option. I feel that it's not
    necessary for us to have a new manual every 6 months, what with the
    large amount of documentation and support elsewhere and the fact that
    not enough changes every six months to justify a new book. I think
    that having our material in other languages is important, but it's
    difficult to coordinate such a mammoth task when we have very limited
    infrastructure for translation this amount of text.

    I believe if we toned down our lofty release goals, we'll have more
    time to work on things like the Support and Learning Center, the
    personas, quickstart booklets and other things, giving us a better,
    more complete and concise product overall, even if it was released
    less regularly.

    Please let me know your thoughts. We should also have a meeting soon.

    --
    Benjamin Humphrey
    interesting.co.nz <http://interesting.co.nz>
    ohso.co <http://ohso.co>

    _______________________________________________
    Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-manual
    <https://launchpad.net/%7Eubuntu-manual>
    Post to     : ubuntu-manual@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    <mailto:ubuntu-manual@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
    Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-manual
    <https://launchpad.net/%7Eubuntu-manual>
    More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp



_______________________________________________
Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-manual
Post to     : ubuntu-manual@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-manual
More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp

Follow ups

References