ubuntu-manual team mailing list archive

[Kevin Godby <godbyk@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello, Jim.

On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 8:13 PM, Jim Connett <jimandmarcy@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I just finished some sizable edits to the Desktop chapter--starting at The
> Dash and going all the way down to just before the Nautilus section.
>
> I'll do my best to complete the grammatical edits from the Nautilus section
> to the end of the chapter by tomorrow evening.

Great work – thanks!

> One thing that's going to take me a bit of getting used to is knowing when
> words get the application tag, or the menu tag, or any other tag.
>  Specifically, the use of the term "the Dash" and "Launcher"...the tags are
> inconsistent right now.  I think once I redo the make file, I'll see the
> results and probably understand what needs to be done, but any advice,
> recommendations, links, etc. for this newbie is of course much appreciated.

The application tag is used to denote the name of an application –
that is, a program that the user runs. I don't think that term
probably applies to the launcher, the dash, and other persistent Unity
elements.  (I'm open to counter-arguments, though. My opinion isn't
particular well-founded here.)

The menu tag is used to denote the names of pull-down menus and menu
items (e.g., File, Edit, View, Print).

The other tags typically refer to specific UI elements (buttons, check
boxes, etc.).

The style guide at <http://files.ubuntu-manual.org/style-guide.pdf>
has a list of all our LaTeX tags and their uses.  If you find anything
in there to be unclear or missing, let me know and I'll get it fixed.

> I'm also going to need to install 11.10 on a virtual machine before I can
> offer screenshots in the Desktop chapter...I'm running 12.04.

The current manual is for Ubuntu 12.04. We've already published the
11.10 edition.

> Finally, because there were so many changes, I did not "document" them as
> well as needed (or probably as expected/required by the group).  There were
> a couple of points where Hannie had made  recommendations to review the
> section...or paragraph...or sentence. I reviewed it, fixed it, and deleted
> the comment. Other than that, very few comments were inserted as to what
> changed.  I figure if someone really wants to see the changes, then 'bzr
> diff' ! :)

You shouldn't have to leave comments behind in the source files.  In
fact, I generally recommend against littering the source files with
comments. Comments may be used as kind of a "note to self" for authors
and editors. There's no need to document everything that's been
written, edited, etc. – that's what the bzr commit messages are for.

> Thank you for this opportunity. Those of you who are edition know it's hard
> work...it'll get easier with time, but I'm very thankful to have the
> opportunity to contribute back to the community in appreciation for what
> I've received over the years of being an Ubuntu enthusiast.

We're glad to have your help!  Writing and editing a manual is indeed
a lot of hard work. And on top of that, we have to learn to use LaTeX,
bzr, and other tools – certainly not an easy task!

Thanks again for your help and let me know if you encounter and
problems or have any questions.

—Kevin