ubuntu-manual team mailing list archive

[Patrick Dickey <pdickeybeta@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Kevin,

My answers are inline.


On Sun, 2012-07-01 at 14:11 -0500, Kevin Godby wrote: 
> Hello, everyone.
> 
> I intend for this message to start a mailing list thread and
> discussion to review how things worked (and didn't work) during the
> process of creating Getting Started with Ubuntu 12.04.  This is a
> general discussion thread, but I'll include some questions to get
> things started. You're welcome to answer any, all, or none of the
> questions as they apply and to speak generally about any other topics
> that come to mind.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> 
> What did you think of the process overall?

Overall, I thought the process was fine. 

> 
> Was this your first time contributing to the manual project?  If so,
> how did you hear about the project?  Why did you decide to get
> involved?  Did you have trouble getting started with the project?
> Were the other team members helpful enough?

For me, I've been in the project for two or three editions now. I'm used
to the .tex format, more so than the Google Docs format. Plus, I'm
fortunate in that my section doesn't change much.

> 
> If you decided not to get involved in the manual project for this
> cycle, why not?  What could we change that would increase the
> likelihood of you getting involved in the project?
> 

N/A, as I was somewhat involved.

> How did you like your role (author, editor, translator, etc.) in this
> cycle?  Do you think you'd like to take on that same role again?
> Would you like to try a different role in the future?
> 

I would definitely take on the same role (Author) next time, and may
consider taking on more sections (if nothing else, on a one time basis).
In the future, I'll probably consider taking on additional roles.


> Did you find it difficult to use any of the tools for our project
> (e.g., bzr, LaTeX)?
> 

About the only tool that I had any trouble with this time, would be bzr.
It's just enough like git to get you into trouble, but still a bit
different. I think links to tutorials/instructions on how to use bzr
would be great (or maybe a book on how to use bzr to it's fullest
potential).

> What did you think of the release schedule?  Did it take too long to
> release the manual?  Did you feel rushed in your work? Did you have
> enough time to do everything you wanted to do?
> 

Not sure how to answer this one, as we've already discussed steps to
improve here. As for how long, in a perfect world, we'd be releasing
alongside the version release (or within a month). We weren't nearly as
far off with this release as we have been in the past.  

I think starting on the manual while it's still in beta will improve the
release time, and not make us feel rushed. Because we'll have four to
six months of time to complete our sections (minus time for changes that
come up).

> How well did the other team members communicate with you? Did you know
> what you were expected to do at each step of the process?  Were you
> ever lost or confused about what you could work on?
> 

On my end, there was a bit of confusion in the beginning. Only because
the links given in the mailing list pointed to the website (How to
contribute), but not to the spreadsheet showing who was doing what. So,
unless you had the email(s) that had the spreadsheet links in them, you
didn't know what your role was.

I would say put all pertinent links in the emails (the spreadsheet until
we've started completing sections, the links to the site's How to
contribute, and as we start making the manual itself, the link to the
crocdoc and other places).

> Did you feel that you had sufficient knowledge and skills to do the
> work that was requested of you?  Do you think that training or
> teaching by other team members would help?
> 

I think it's a process. We're finding things that need to be taught
(like how to make screenshots or how to set up a virtual machine), and
someone's creating the tutorials. For the newer members, speak up on the
mailing list when you have problems or questions. That way the more
experienced people know what training should be added to or improved.

> What do you think the team should do to improve the process for 12.10?
> 

I think the idea of starting while it's in beta will do a lot to improve
the process. Other than that, I don't see anything (but I can't honestly
say that I've looked for anything either).

> 
> --Kevin Godby
> 
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