Re: [Fsfe-uk] Linux User & Developer Expo

[Chris Croughton]

On Tue, May 04, 2004 at 11:07:34PM +0100, Roger Leigh wrote:

> I've attached a very early draft copy.  It's incomplete, and only has
> a basic introduction and a list of ways in which one can contribute to
> Free Software.  It's in troff -ms format (use
>   groff -ms -T utf8 affs-contribute.ms | less -R
> to view, or -T ps to get a PostScript copy).

Wow, someone else who still uses groff (for other than man pages)!

Incidentally, if people have terminals which don't support utf8 (like
me), the folowing works as well:

   groff -ms -T ascii affs-contribute.ms | less

(OK, so you get (R) and other substitutions, but it's readable.)

> Before I go into all of these ways in detail, can anyone suggest any
> other ways?  I'm sure I've only scratched the surface, and there are
> no doubt many others I haven't considered.  I'd like to have this part
> as comprehensive as possible before I flesh it out, since I'd like to
> appeal to as wide a range of skillsets as possible.  Ideally, I'd like
> to make the point that anyone, no matter their skills or abilities,
> has something they can contribute.

Your suggestion "Supporting Free Software" doesn't mean anything, that's
what this whole document is about.  Perhaps you mean things like talking
about it, writing to government and other bodies (especially about
products and resources which are incompatible, like many web sites),
supporting it publically?

Under documentation, add:

  o  Proof-reading and correcting documentation.
  
  o  Translating documentation.

People who don't know the software well enough to write documentation
can still proof-read it (and for "end-user" applications it is useful to
have non-knowledgable people read it, because they will often catch
assumptions which the authors thought were 'obvious').  Many people with
literary skills can make suggestion as to how better to divide
documentation to make it useful and accessible.

  o  Testing new and changed software.

Under the heading of 'companies', add "and other professional
organisations".

  o  Provide resources, such as computer and test equipment,
     especially less-common and new platforms for testing and porting
     free software.

Not necessarily donating the equipment, but lending and donating time
and access to it.  I don't expect anyone to donate a million pound
mainframe for instance, but they could make time available on it for
developing and porting.

  o  Provide or sponsor training on free software, scripting languages,
     etc.

  o  Assist with standards organisations working on free and open
     standards.

(I don't think I've heard of many standards explicitly calling
themselves 'free', most seem to be called 'open standards' and that is
the term most likely to be known for them.)

Just a few off the top of my head...

Chris C