-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 After an intense book sprint of 5 days in Provence, the book Cost of Freedom was released today in PDF and EPUB, under the CC0 license, in support of Syrian developer and free culture activist Bassel Khartabil, imprisoned since March 15th, 2012 in Syria.
Last month the prison where he was was bombed and Bassel was transfered somewhere else, but there's no register as to where he is located now. That prompted his friends and family, of the http://freebassel.org/ campaign, to organize this book sprint. You can now read the book at http://costoffreedom.cc/ and join the mailing-list to discuss it: mailto:[email protected]. A book sprint is a short and intense event where people gather to write a book from scratch. This method, inspired by the UnConference, was created by Adam Hyde of FLOSSManuals.org fame. Adam couldn't make it to the book sprint, but he contributed remotely. Normally a book sprint only takes local contributions, which is already a big work. This time we decided to accept remote contributions, and received 44 of them from across the globe. I highly recommend this method for writing technical documentation. Maybe it could inspire people to run "wiki sprints" and bring new contents to the LibrePlanet wiki. LP local teams could run "translation sprints" and expand the availability of existing contents to their respective language groups. The process is a great motivator to write, and to learn how to collaborate. I would insist on the quality of food, and a nice environment: our group had the chance to include many people who like to cook and this helped make lunch and dinner a privileged moment, where people could bind and relax. The book itself, despite its imperfections, is surprisingly well-structured and coherent as a whole. The variety of contribution styles and points of view make it a more interesting read than I would have expected last week, before we even got started. I hope you enjoy it, and that it can bring new perspectives on important questions facing free culture. == hk P.S.: the authors can be reached at [email protected] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQJ8BAEBCgBmBQJWQNiuXxSAAAAAAC4AKGlzc3Vlci1mcHJAbm90YXRpb25zLm9w ZW5wZ3AuZmlmdGhob3JzZW1hbi5uZXRFQ0IyNkIyRTNDNzEyMTc2OUEzNEM4ODU0 ODA2QzM2M0ZDMTg5ODNEAAoJEEgGw2P8GJg9jw0QALgV68Y/plAplvTr+vNqUUWl PVLxiqIizOTF4ZIAvq0QTdGRl9xl04lrZRV6nK6uCM/3wcA5uxkDwaswSqUgeZ18 es+KQp1nbAjUR3DnBaMXNSSQym5WAa5SFDAq1cOgfaKYe3hdvizuw+wYrUjbbSnO IDRmO0C6SpsC5Kxyhw1533KgC/96iZAKJ/0RY7o5Mt1GSi5FDFPoGIkCxAe9GSAs K3ti4NCdnCGYqk9EJzgJTZGz2vdQf74798LWN3TkBx75rz64vfW78X5U+zSncBGR 6yxKfA8UWhKu6MGQ0srPX7ZXVJB+VnpGWX3CQqvdIqn+ZphVbCYY6J+Yx6xMV+jK v4GBc1yofK453AVS9K/CBEJiPAzBH3gu4/YxwkG6aF+XdCRA/iVhDcljEtK2jDNA gE2/ZVDmGPRQ+f90dvbLWFtrIxApd38TNy1X4uoyAV+wxTVerMVI2FiPo3i/Q0IF w41Tpy5BUWD8MHmK2K1Lo46CfVminBXlhBOIoiqLKJuQ+OrDFBAwlNuDixBCWbvV VyHXU8TlO2n1w9iKQxsdDMRK7e3NgS4mDkk0Dr9cSfQzw+DOB7CJxIJOYD7LrtPM WcBeKAFP2jZil5QpPZKGfbNErLerwQeQgcxcGIkjOw649nkSJvtBUvBDkrXnjCBj oDLdoEnmTGI6HfLabvbS =qBdW -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
