ubuntu-manual team mailing list archive

[Hannie Dumoleyn <lafeber-dumoleyn2@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Mehmet,
Thanks for your comprehensive response. I hope we get more reactions 
like yours. I will add my comment between the lines.

Op 09-10-14 om 19:34 schreef Mehmet Atif Ergun:
> The German print edition for 13.04 seem to have been sold nicely. (The
> German 13.04 is an outlier in both print and online versions.) Do you
> know why that might be the case? That might help answering the
> question.
When I look at https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu-manual 
(Trusty), I see that the German translation still has 20% untranslated 
strings. The previous LTS version, 12.04 Precise Pangolin, is 100% 
translated, see 
https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu-manual/precise-e2/+pots/ubuntu-manual/de/+translate.
If a version is not fully translated, it is not published. It seems that 
we do not only need more editors and authors, but also more translators.
> I am still interested, both as an author and/or an editor. In the
> meantime, what does the coordinator role entail, in practice?
This is very good news indeed. If we get more enthousiastic active 
members like you, I am sure we can continue publishing in the future, be 
it standard or LTS. A coordinator sees to it that authors and editors 
who are assigned to a chapter or section hand in their work in time. 
Ideally he/she also tries to get authors or editors assigned to each 
section. This is the hardest part, as you can see from the gaps in 
Trusty. We use a spreadsheet to keep track of the work done, see 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApS28NMLnYJXdEdGQjRtUWtaOUZxREVzUldSOU5kc2c#gid=4, 
tab Trusty or Saucy.
> Looking at the numbers, download rates seem to spike mostly on LTS
> versions, except for 14.04 (which has few downloads). 13.10 seems to
> be an exception and to have stolen 14.04's success for some reason,
> both in print and in downloads.
>
> I'd say, only LTS. Trying to catch up with things every 6 months while
> the demand for it doesn't quite exist is probably a bad idea.
>
> Focusing on
> - fixing existing bugs during the time between two LTS versions and
> - adapting the last manual version to the next LTS version during the
> freeze/release stage of a new LTS
> would probably save a lot of time (and leg work) for us.
I really like the idea of publishing only LTS, but in the meantime we 
keep track of all changes in the standard versions and fix bugs. Let's 
see what others think about this.
> I prefer to work on a small section for the next LTS version and on a
> chapter or two for bug fixing for the current LTS version. But I am
> not sure which sections and chapters need urgent attention or which
> ones are more important etc.
I personally think that the most important chapters are:
Installation
The Ubuntu Desktop
Working with Ubuntu
The biggest one is Working with Ubuntu. That is why it is split into 10 
sections. Contributors can decide to work on only one of those.
> I had to visualize these using a quick and dirty spreadsheet. Let me
> know if you'd like me to share that with you or the list (unsure if
> list allows attachments).
That is funny. In the email I received from our ML the columns look nice 
and tidy. It may be a matter of which client you use. Just try to send 
your spreadsheet to our ML. If it is not accepted you can send it to me 
and I will make it into a google spreadsheet which we can share.
> Also, I had two questions after seeing the stats. One is, do we have a
> means to effectively reach out to non-English linux user groups and
> ask for help on translations (of say a shortened, more generic version
> of the manual) to languages we don't have?
I would say, let's first see if there is enough interest in continuing 
with UMP.
>   The other one is, do we
> have a way to ask Canonical what their paid users ask about the most
> in terms of support? That could help us prioritize certain chapters
> over others etc. (Also, please let me know if there is a resource on
> what chapters / sections are prioritized.)
See my answers above. If you have more questions, please send them to 
this list.
> Thanks,
> Mehmet.
I hope more of our members will take part in this discussion and send 
their comment, ideas, etc. to this list.
Best regards,
Hannie
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