Hi José,
I understand the comments Ben made and I agree that there are limited
resources. I also agree that it is frustrating for users when documentation
is not available. I have been stuck with great pieces of OS software (and
proprietary ones as well ) due a lack for documentation (even in the
internet and Google age :) ). I think that it is virtually impossible to
create - and even more important to maintain - good documentation in the
long term without any funding sources. Thus, let me introduce how I am
going about documentation not specific to one software pieces but in the
case of OS web mapping. I am running a small GIS consulting business in
Seattle USA for the last 5 years, and I have been offering and teaching
classes for OS Web GIS with MapServer, PostGIS and OpenLayers professionally
for the last 3 years ( 4 classes total, see
http://www.terragis.net/gis-classes/os-web-gis ) . Over the years the class
manual grew and now I am planning to publish it as a stand alone booklet and
sell it. Yes sell it. However, I am planning to donate 50% of my authors
process to OSGEO, (or our local chapter here in Seattle CUGOS www.cugos.org
which will is in the process of becoming a non-profit itself). The other 50%
of my share of the proceeds will use for funding the advancement and
maintenance in the long term of the document. FYI the document is written
and in the process of being edited and will be about 150-200 pages in the
new format. The whole point why I am mentioning this is that I myself was
frustrated with documentation for some pieces of software and especially in
the long term the maintenance of already existing documentations often
(usually) do not work out too well in reality (mostly they just don't with
some exceptions). Thus I am proposing to use the same approach and to put
together a small but dedicated group of people to write a gvSIG (CE ?)
booklet that can be funded and maintained in a similar way outlined above .
I am ready to participate . José ? Ruth? Victor ? Others ? Who is ready to
join ?
Thoughts ?
Cheers
Karsten
_____
From: José Antonio Canalejo Alonso [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 1:09 PM
To: gvsigce-users; gvsigce-community
Subject: [Gvsigce-community] Tutorials and Videos
Hello all,
what do you think about something like this (http://geo.ideaplus.com.br)?
I like it very much. The only problem is the mix of languages (english,
spanish, portuguese).
Between 2007 and 2009 we were working with a group of volunteers
(http://www.gvsig.org/web/community/agradecimientos/traductores/)
translating the handbook of gvSIG 1.1.2 into german. The whole manual was
translated and it "should" be available behind this link
(http://www.gvsig.org/web/projects/gvsig-desktop/docs/user/gvsig-desktop-1-1
-manual-de-usuario/gvsig-desktop-1-1-manual-de-usuario/not_available_lang/vi
ew?set_language=de). It took a long time to be finished. We wrote a document
to explain the people how they could edit the plone themselves. At the end
most of them sent us their translations because they didn't find time to
edit the plone and we had to edit it ourselves with one or two volunteers.
Screen shots were not translated into german and actually, AFAIK no one is
doing the translation into german of 1.9 (1.10 or 1.11).
People expect to have the software with handbooks, manuals and tutorials but
it is difficult (not impossible) to find funding for this.
One of the major difficulties of open source projects is the lack of
documentation. Handbooks and tutorials are often done many months after the
version is released.
So we have to look for a solution. On the web you will find a lot of videos
and tutorials like the link mentioned above. Users like to make these kind
of tutorials. They don't need instructions and they can work autonomous. We
have a software with more than 800 functionalities (even more now with
R-Sextante Interface: http://sextantegis.blogspot.com/2011/10/r.html). We
are testing them and simultaneously we could make small tutorials and put
them in a common gvSIG CE platform (wiki, google sites, ... and whatever
related web solutions people would like to bring up). We could provide a
template with gvSIG CE layout to make it nice and easy for authors. We could
include author's name and contact e-mail address to promote their work with
the project. It is better to have a common platform than thousands links on
the web (oft with the same information)
I think it is a good way to bring different people together to exchange
thoughts and know How.
What do you think about?
Best regards!
Jose
--
José Antonio Canalejo Alonso
gvSIG CE Team
www.gvsigce.org
Get involved!
=======
Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found.
(Email Guard: 7.0.0.27, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.18550)
http://www.pctools.com <http://www.pctools.com/?cclick=EmailFooterClean_51>
=======
=======
Email scanned by PC Tools - No viruses or spyware found.
(Email Guard: 7.0.0.27, Virus/Spyware Database: 6.18560)
http://www.pctools.com/
=======
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The demand for IT networking professionals continues to grow, and the
demand for specialized networking skills is growing even more rapidly.
Take a complimentary Learning@Cisco Self-Assessment and learn
about Cisco certifications, training, and career opportunities.
http://p.sf.net/sfu/cisco-dev2dev
_______________________________________________
Gvsigce-community mailing list
[email protected]
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gvsigce-community
