Self Introduction: Frank

[Francis Earl]

On Sun, 2007-04-29 at 17:05 -0400, Paul W. Frields wrote:
> On Sun, 2007-04-29 at 13:26 -0700, Francis Earl wrote:
> > My real name is Francis Earl, for obvious reason however, I prefer
> > Frank. I currently reside in Phoenix, Arizona. (PST) 
> 
> Nice to have you aboard Frank.

Thank you  :)

> > I'm currently not working, however I am 3 classes from an AAS in Network
> > Technology.
> > 
> > My primary purpose for joining the arts team is to hopefully make entry
> > easier for people interested in Fedora. I wish to do this by providing
> > information on fedoraproject.org that will hopefully assist them in
> > getting started. I believe that other projects are so popular because
> > the requirements for entry are lower, and hopefully I'll help ensure
> > Fedora starts down a similar path.
> 
> We have several initiatives already underway to help as well, including
> click-through CLA for easier wiki contributions.  Many folks have
> devoted many hours to figuring out the best way to do this, and you can
> also help by participating in the Fedora Infrastructure project if
> you're interested.
> 
> Some other projects don't have as high a bar because their specific
> legal requirements are less.  Since Fedora is sponsored by a US company,
> while being run by a full community effort, it has to maintain some
> minimal protections to make sure we don't legally endanger our biggest
> bankroller. :-)

Not sure why I said arts team there... while I agree that causing any
legal issues for RedHat is surely not a good idea, I believe there are
things we can do to assist in pointing users in the right direction
while still avoiding that.

My primary reasoning here though is discussed in my previous e-mail
relating to the Drafts page. Making the docs less intimidating, and
providing users with more guides to common tasks. The wiki should
eventually become THE user manual for Fedora, and I hope to contribute
to that end.

There is plenty of information we can share, and the wiki can also be a
good place to inform users why some things aren't available. Also, with
the CodecsBuddy, we apparently can now talk about accessing some of the
things that were previously an issue. 

> > I was an early contributor to Ubuntu documentation, and have made
> > contributions to
> > many OpenSUSE wiki pages. These are mostly related to what normal users
> > will want to do when they get started, very basic things explained
> > because I was sick of answering them in the IRC channels, and also to
> > remind me of the process  :)
> > 
> > I don't think anything really makes me an excellent match for the
> > project. I think I simply have the time to write the pages many would
> > find tedious, things directed at new users. Everyone was one once
> > though, and I don't know about you, but it was very confusing for me.
> > There are no User Manuals for Fedora users, I believe the wiki should
> > become exactly that. A User Manual for Users by Users, and I don't think
> > such things can be written by anyone but the users  :)
> 
> The Documentation Project is basically here to oversee such efforts and
> make sure they maintain high standards of quality.  We're happy to see
> motivated people stepping up to contribute content!

I'm not sure how I take this, as I'm not sure exactly how you define
"high standards of quality". I believe they should be accurate, and I
believe they should be informative. I'm worried that this also includes
maintaining a professional feel to the documents. I believe that is the
wrong approach, depending on the target audience of each document. It
shouldn't feel like a text book to the user reading it, which is
somewhat the feel I got from the few documents I have read so far.

> > I feel like I just went through an interview process, is that really the
> > feel people want for contribution to the project?
> 
> It helps us get a feel for the relative experience and linguisitc skills
> of a contributor.  That you felt you had participated in an interview is
> not too far off the mark, although most folks haven't seemed to mind if
> it helps them find good traction off the bat.

I apparently got the job, so I guess it went well  :)
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