Fedora User Guide

[Karsten Wade]

On Wed, 2005-08-24 at 03:11 +0100, Andrew Hudson wrote:

> Looking at http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/DocIdeas I quite 
> like the look of the Fedora User Guide - this could be a crucial 
> document to help new users ease their way into Fedora & Linux in 
> general. I would see it as being written in a conversational style 
> rather than a straight 'here are the facts in a particular order'.

You're definitely on the right track.

Personally, I'm going to be very picky about how a conversational style
is done.  Comes across like Bill Bryson, that I can take.  IMO, this is
a style that is harder to get right than wrong.  Harder than a neutral
style.  Harder to collaborate on.

It's an interesting topic to discuss.  Product documentation usually
takes a neutral tone.  I like how this neutral style gets out of the
user's way and focuses on the software.  

Books need to appeal to readers to attract them, i.e., they don't have
the advantage of being bundled with the software.  They are written to
target a group of readers.

The Fedora Desktop User Guide (my suggestion for a working title) would
be the most likely location to take a conversational style.  Perhaps a
test bed?

- Karsten
-- 
Karsten Wade, RHCE * Sr. Tech Writer * http://people.redhat.com/kwade/
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