[semi-off-topic] Intro book to GNU/Linux & Free Software for non-technical users

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Chris

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A rejoint: 04/23/2011

[off-topic] Intro book to GNU/Linux & Free Software for non-technical users

I thought I would post the first "chapter" to a book I'm going to try and put together. With the number of GNU/Linux users growing there has never been a better time to release a book geared toward GNU/Linux with a free software slant.

With that here is a draft of the first chapter:

http://pastebin.com/BJpLpDBc

Note: This is almost entirely taken from other free sources and it is NOT my own work. It has been edited a bit to reduce the length, eliminate technical jargon, and make it more palatable to non-technical users. Feel free to comment on it and make suggestions, revise pieces, etc.

The intent is to hit novice users who are not at all technical. If they have the capability to figure out how to boot and install GNU/Linux this is not a book for them.

It'll cover and/or is for:

1. Brief intro to the history of GNU/Linux
2. Focus on one distribution and version (long term support only)
3. Desktop topics primarily (the terminal is WAY beyond the scope of this user base)
4. Users who are buying GNU/Linux pre-loaded and pay for technical support
5. One desktop user interface and common issues
6. Users who want a real physical printed book

Chris

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A rejoint: 04/23/2011

Here are the topics I've thought up so far:

http://pastebin.com/BYBbDy78

Magic Banana

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A rejoint: 07/24/2010

What about using Trisquel's manuals to fill some section and, reciprocally, insert the new content of the book in Trisquel's manuals?

Chris

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A rejoint: 04/23/2011

I think most of it will be done from scratch actually. For a few reasons. One being consistency, two being quality, and three being I don't think we can focus on Trisquel initially.

What I'm thinking is a book to help novice users to get up to speed on free software. Even while these users might be on free software friendly hardware Trisquel hasn't quite caught up to the usability that is needed for this base. This is not to say it doesn't work really well. The pieces which are a problem tend to be beyond the scope of the distribution.

Since we have to start somewhere I'm thinking of doing is sticking to the current path. Free software friendly hardware → teach the free software friendly apps (to the extent we can, make it easier to transition users later) → develop solutions to common non-free problems → actually transition users.

As I've mentioned before various problems with STS/LTS release model that isn't so much what I'm talking about here. Mainly things like limited entertainment/'gaming' options and similar. Trisquel also seems to be buggy enough still that it would be too significant a deterrent. The last thing I want is to push a solution that will turn users off of free software in the future. Something I know a lot of us have done and/or continue to do.

Magic Banana

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A rejoint: 07/24/2010

I was not referring to the documentation that is specific to Trisquel. For instance, the manual I recently wrote about chatting may be useful for the book... and writing an analogue section in the book would lead to an improved manual in Trisquel's documentation.

Chris

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A rejoint: 04/23/2011

Possibly. I'm sure I'll try and rip as much content from other sources (whom allow it that is) as I can.

One of the concerns though with pulling in content from elsewhere is it gets too techy and hard to understand. I'd like to try and apply the keep it simple stupid principle. That one can use any number of applications is too much for some people. Sticking to something along the lines of this would be much better I think:

AIM

GNU/Linux comes with support for AIM built-in. Unlike with other platforms you can communicate with all your friends simply by adding your AOL Instant Messaging account to Empathy. Empathy is a new replacement for AOL Instant Messenger on GNU/Linux.

Directions to add account:
...

Getting into the dozen or so other programs is really unnecessary so in this case I'd leave it out.

Magic Banana

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A rejoint: 07/24/2010

If you expect that readers outside the USA find the book useful, you do not want to only present AIM (which is not popular at all elsewhere).

Chris

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A rejoint: 04/23/2011

That was an example :)

I was thinking more along the lines of having a statement like it for each program.

Christianity
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A rejoint: 10/09/2012

I have a comment, and I'm prepared for it to not go over well:

I think you should make a serious effort to avoid polarizing language, especially early on in the book. To be clear, I'm not at all looking to argue the truth in calling Microsoft "the arch enemy of free software". I'm saying that before seeing a thorough argument laid out, that sort of language is a huge deterrent for someone very new to all this. Since your book isn't about the free software philosophy itself, what I would recommend is focusing only on the positives of free software and using mostly neutral language when proprietary software needs to be discussed. Give a good amount references on the philosophy and benefits, so they have places to look around for more information. If they're interested they'll surely form their own opinion on the non-free.

I do think it's a good idea, and hopefully it's successful. Release it under a free culture license, and for the printed version you can probably ship it alongside Trisquel 6.0 cds. Good luck!

Chris

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A rejoint: 04/23/2011

Yes- I'd agree with you. I didn't take in the way you have pointed out although now that you mention it I've changed to to "from IBM to Microsoft". I'm not a writer. I'll probably read through and revise a bunch more times. I figure this is probably the only real writing in the book so... and it is taken from others largely (with whom have released under acceptable licenses or put into public domain).

The main part that we need are pictures, editing, instruction, etc. I started with the outline.

andrew
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A rejoint: 04/19/2012

Maybe a section on Instant Messaging and/or video calls? I know a lot of older people who are introduced to Skype (sadly). And not only teenagers and tech-savvy people use IM either.

Maybe explaining how to setup Pidgin to connect to different services like the Google chat service, Facebook Chat etc. would be helpful to many people.

I'm not really sure how difficult setting up Ekiga is, so maybe that's not feasible for your book.

PS. good luck!

Chris

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A rejoint: 04/23/2011

Yea- that would be in a popular apps section. I've got to do some research on that topic.

GustavoCM

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A rejoint: 11/20/2012

Hey Chris,

great effort!! I was missing something like this; I will keep an eye on it.

Just a small correction: at the end of the 14th line, "there own companies" should read "their own companies".

And I think Christianity is right; I totally agree with the assertion about Microsoft being the great (at least more powerful) enemy of Free Software (philosophy/movement) and it should be shown as such, but I think it should be said after (or while, or "only if") some facts are presented, like judicial wars, sabotage, difamation (FUD spreading) against Free Software or every freedom-willing people. I do not have a list, but I bet someone already make one.

Also, I think Microsoft is firstly enemy of the USER of the software, and only then enemy of Free Software. Microsoft, as well as other entities, cheats and fool the user (e.g., foistware and spyware) as a strategy to maintain its monopoly, which is always prejudicial to everybody who's not on it -- said, the consumers/users and the competitors.

This also brings into subject the use monopolists make of the State to "eternize" the monopoly/oligopoly -- in this case, say hello to software patents.

Perhaps it's not the case to write everything about these matters, but only to introduce them and link to further readings at https://www.fsf.org , https://www.gnu.org or, in the case of patents, e.g., here: http://endsoftpatents.org/

Thanks for your work!
Gustavo

lembas
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A rejoint: 05/13/2010

> I do not have a list, but I bet someone already make one.

Here's one somewhat outdated list http://wayback.archive.org/web/20120116153542/http://www.msversus.org/

At least the OOXML and "secure boot" chapters are missing from that.

But M$ is just one part of the problem http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/microsoft.html

GustavoCM

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A rejoint: 11/20/2012

Thanks :-)

Also: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/its-not-the-gates-its-the-bars

Besides, https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary-sabotage.html can be a valuable resource in the future (it's a list of "examples of proprietary software that does nasty things beyond spying on users and restricting them").

Chris

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A rejoint: 04/23/2011

Fixed. I'll probably work on editing it a bit more. It obviously needs the grammar police involved toward the end. I certainly never got a degree in English.

akirashinigami

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A rejoint: 02/25/2010

I can help you proofread it near the end. I like to think of myself as an honorary member of the grammar police, if nothing else.

Michał Masłowski

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A rejoint: 05/15/2010

Some small wording issues:

- "the original programmers" suggests them being some of the first
programmers, while there were many before; was it based on a text
about hackers?
- Lisp is a programming language, not an operating system; Lisp machines
were developed by MIT, Symbolics and LMI, they wrote operating systems
for them
- the free software movement probably wasn't Linus's motivation for
writing Linux; maybe it was for choosing the GPL later
- "At least not as defined by the Free Software Foundation" could be
replaced by an explanation of the problem: commercial use restrictions
(is it common enough so the reader will find other packages with this
problem?)
- calling open source "pragmatic" suggests the FSM and the FSF not being
pragmatic, this isn't true; there might be better words to express the
focus on user-restricting business
- "thousands of individuals and companies" could have better examples
than just two nonfree software vendors

I haven't seen such an introduction starting with the microcomputer
history (maybe since RMS did not consider them important or powerful
enough to be useful), it's a good example.

lembas
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A rejoint: 05/13/2010

I really liked these books on rms and free software http://shop.fsf.org/product/book_bundle/

For a wider view on the hacking scene, I found this Biella's course interesting http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/09/the-anthropology-of-hackers/63308/

sirgazil (non vérifié)
sirgazil

I think there's a huge lack of introductory resources for the target users you describe, so I encourage you to keep with your idea of the book.

Every time I install a new version of a libre distribution for myself or for other people, I start dreaming a lot on a help system for beginners. I've being learning to program and using different documentation systems for some time now and may start a project like this in the future (focusing on LTS versions of Trisquel). I want new users to be able to easily access help resources from the desktop and from the main menu of the system from the first time they start the computer.

Good luck with your book!

icarolongo
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A rejoint: 03/26/2011

It's a good idea. I thought about this.
I'm in a more "radical" way. Like one list with companies, hardware, services and many things with free software or values like sharing. And with this is possible you use everyday only free software, some free hardwares, patent-free formats and everything (or almost) free...

Is very hard to find information about the "free world".

icarolongo
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A rejoint: 03/26/2011

Another idea is you record with one camera the step-by-step of installation for desktops and laptops and try to move more and more people to free software. (with closed captions and all the accessibility resources)

Chris

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A rejoint: 04/23/2011

Yea- we don't want to ignore GNU/Linux users of other distributions. It is where most of the people here originate. It's not going to help anybody to ignore them. I've spoken with and we are working with some of the lead developers of other distributions and what is said behind the scenes differs a bit about what is said publicly. They don't want to alienate the user base. However they would be cooperative with prioritizing free software / standards and do (at least some of the lead developers) want to work toward it. If you make radical changes (like with what Canonical did by switching to Unity) you will alienate the user base. Pushing Unity though wouldn't have hurt the distribution's numbers had things been done a little differently.