ubuntu-manual team mailing list archive

[Kevin Godby <godbyk@xxxxxxxxx>]

Minutes of the General Meeting of the Ubuntu Manual Team
19 May 2012
#ubuntu-manual on irc.freenode.net

Meeting log: http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2012/05/19/%23ubuntu-manual.html#t19:05

Kevin (godbyk) called the meeting to order at 19:05 UTC.

== Attendance ==

In attendance were:
* c7p
* ChrisWoollard
* godbyk
* Guest67191
* herat
* kereltis
* sayantandas
* stillnotcool
* thorwil
* tomswartz07
* TonyP

== Author updates and status reports ==

The deadline for the first draft is 31 May 2012. All of the new
content should be written and the screenshots should be in place by
then.

The authors in attendance reported that work on their assigned
sections was progressing on schedule and that they hadn't encountered
any problems yet.

The Ubuntu Desktop chapter needs an author assigned to some of the
early sections. Hannie and c7p are coordinating with authors to ensure
these sections are covered.

== Troubleshooting chapter ==

tomswartz07 agreed to take on the Troubleshooting chapter.

== VirtualBox as a tool for authors and editors ==

tomswartz07 explained how VirtualBox could be used to assist authors
in testing our new versions of Ubuntu and acquire clean, consistent
screenshots (unmarred by non-default settings).  He agreed to write up
some instructions on how authors and editors could use VirtualBox and
Kevin agreed to add them to the style guide.

== UDS meeting report ==

Hannie and Kevin attended the Ubuntu Manual UDS session via IRC.  The
IRC logs of the meeting are online at
<http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2012/05/09/%23ubuntu-uds-grand-ballroom-h.html>.

A number of topics were discussed at the meeting including the history
of the project, the reasons for delays in previous releases, where we
need help, and collaborating with the docs team.

The pad containing the meeting notes is available at
<http://summit.ubuntu.com/uds-q/meeting/20570/desktop-q-ubuntu-manual/>.

Alan Pope posted a blog entry and emailed the UK Loco team asking why
they haven't contributed to the manual. You can view his writings and
the responses at
<http://popey.com/blog/2012/05/09/why-not-contribute-to-ubuntu-manual>
and <https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-uk/2012-May/thread.html#34095>.

This lead to a discussing that revealed that many people find
installing and/or using LaTeX to be intimidating and onerous.  Future
work should be done to alleviate these issues.  (See the IRC meeting
logs for more details of the discussion.)

== Collaboration with the docs team ==

One question that arose during the UDS session was, "Why doesn't the
Ubuntu Manual team collaborate with the Ubuntu Docs team?"

Kevin responded by suggesting that we look at the Ubuntu docs team's
work to see where our work overlaps – where we're duplicating effort.
He also pointed out that while we may cover many of the same topics,
the tone and style of writing will vary between the two groups because
the context and audience are different.  The Ubuntu Desktop Guide
maintained by the docs team has short, topic-driven sequences of steps
to achieve a particular goal while the Ubuntu Manual provides more
context and background to educate the readers on how the system works
instead of just what buttons to click.  Kevin volunteered to analyze
the Ubuntu Desktop Guide to see if it covered any topics that the
Ubuntu Manual failed to cover and vice versa.

== Screenshot editors ==

It was agreed that authors should take the initial screenshots to
demonstrate what they wanted displayed.  One or two screenshot editors
will be assigned to take all of the final screenshots to ensure
consistency.

If you're interested in being a screenshot editor, please send a note
to the mailing list at <ubuntu-manual@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>.

== Call for editors ==

While we have enough authors to cover all the sections, we're still in
need of a number of editors.  Editors are in charge of ensuring
consistency of voice and style. They also handle a lot of
copy-editing.

If you're interested in being an editor, please email the mailing list
at <ubuntu-manual@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>.

== Any other business ==

No other business was brought forward.

== Adjourned ==

The meeting was adjourned at 20:46 UTC.

—Kevin Godby