[Cdd-commits] r242 - cdd/trunk/doc/en
Ben Armstrong
debian-custom@lists.debian.org
Sun, 11 Jul 2004 08:46:29 -0600
Author: synrg
Date: Sun Jul 11 08:46:28 2004
New Revision: 242
Modified:
cdd/trunk/doc/en/07_starting.sgml
Log:
Grammar, usage, etc.
Modified: cdd/trunk/doc/en/07_starting.sgml
==============================================================================
--- cdd/trunk/doc/en/07_starting.sgml (original)
+++ cdd/trunk/doc/en/07_starting.sgml Sun Jul 11 08:46:28 2004
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
<p>
This chapter more or less covers the text of the <url
id="http://packages.debian.org/unstable/doc/subproject-howto.html"
-name="Debian Subproject HOWTO"> which was written by Ben Armstrong
+name="Debian Subproject HOWTO">, which was written by Ben Armstrong
<email>synrg@debian.org</email>. Ben has agreed that his text should
be included here, and the <package>subproject-howto</package> will be
orphaned once the current document is ready for packaging.
@@ -159,10 +159,10 @@
<sect1>
<heading>Web space</heading>
<p>
- A fairly important way to give people an idea as to what your Custom
+ A fairly important way to let people know what your Custom
Debian Distribution is about is certainly a web page. While there
are a number of ways to go about this, the simplest is to put them
- at the developer home page at <url id="http://people.debian.org"> in case an
+ at the developer home page at <url id="http://people.debian.org"> if an
official Debian developer is starting the project.
</p>
<p>
@@ -173,13 +173,19 @@
name="Wiki page for Custom Debian Distributions">.
</p>
<p>
+ A third, and more recent possibility is to start a project at
+ <url id="http://alioth.debian.org" name="alioth.debian.org">, since
+ hosting Debian development projects is the whole reason for this
+ site.
+ </p>
+ <p>
Finally, the best way is to have a page under <url
id="http://www.debian.org/devel">. While not as straightforward as
- maintaining a personal page or a Wiki site, this approach has its
+ any of the other options, this approach has its
advantages. First, the site is mirrored everywhere. Second, the
Debian web site translators translate pages into many different
languages, reaching new potential audiences for your Custom Debian
- Distribution and improving communication with other members of your
+ Distribution, and improving communication with other members of your
project and interested parties for whom English is not their most
comfortable language. Third, a number of templates are available to
make your site more integrated with the main web site, and to assist
@@ -189,7 +195,7 @@
Debian web pages">.
</p>
<p>
- Once this is done the Debian web pages team should be contacted via
+ Once this is done, the Debian web pages team should be contacted via
the mailing list <email>debian-www@lists.debian.org</email> to add the
project to the <url id="http://www.debian.org/intro/organization"
name="organisation page">.
@@ -210,37 +216,35 @@
<sect1>
<heading>Formal announcement</heading>
<p>
- Once there is a list, or at least some preliminary discussion on
- debian-devel to determine, and there is some information about the
- newly to create Custom Debian Distribution available on the web
- which can be linked it is time to send a formal announcement to
+ Once there is a list, or at least enough preliminary discussion on
+ debian-devel to get started, and there is some information about the
+ newly planned Custom Debian Distribution available on the web,
+ it is time to send a formal announcement to
<email>debian-devel-announce@lists.debian.org</email>. The
announcement should include references to past discussions, any web
- pages and code which might already exist, and summarise in a well-thought
- out manner what the project is setting out to achieve. Enlist the
+ pages and code which might already exist, and summarise in a well thought
+ out manner what the project is setting out to achieve. Enlisting the
help of fellow developers on irc or in private email to look over
- the draft and work out the final wording before it is send out is
+ the draft and work out the final wording before it is sent out is
always a good idea.
</p>
<p>
- Mails to <email>debian-devel-announce@lists.debian.org</email> have to
- be signed by the GPG key of an official Debian developer but it
+ Emails to <email>debian-devel-announce@lists.debian.org</email> have to
+ be signed by the GPG key of an official Debian developer. However, it
should not be a very hard task if somebody wants to support Debian
while not yet being a developer to find a developer who volunteers
to sign an announcement of a reasonable project. It might be
- reasonable to send this announcement also to non-Debian lists as
- well if they cover the same topic as the Custom Debian
- Distribution. If your announcement is well done it will generate a
- huge amount of answers from many outsiders and is able to attract
- people to Debian.
+ reasonable to send this announcement also to other relevant non-Debian
+ lists. If your announcement is well done, it will draw a number
+ of responses from many outsiders, and will attract people to Debian.
</p>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<heading>Explaining the project</heading>
<p>
- Now the real work starts. People who are involved into the project
- should be aware that the have to answer questions about the project
+ Now the real work starts. People who are involved in the project
+ should be aware that they have to answer questions about the project
whenever they show up at conferences or at an exhibition booth. So
being prepared with some flyers or posters is always a good idea.
</p>
@@ -272,12 +276,17 @@
</p>
<p>
The sort of user the project looks after, and which of the needs the
- project hopes to address are, defined by the projects goals. Thus,
- Debian Jr. first had to decide which children: What age? English
- speaking children only, or other languages as well? And then the
- project had to determine how and where they would be using Debian:
- At home? In school? Playing games? On their own systems? On their
- parents' systems?
+ project hopes to address are defined by the project's goals.
+ <comment>BA: I had a bit of trouble deciding how to punctuate the following
+ passage. I considered and rejected the advice given here in response to
+ Kirsten's question about punctuating a list of questions:
+ http://www.udel.edu/eli/g20.html, instead following the advice found
+ elsewhere on the Web that double punctuation should be avoided.</comment>
+ Thus, Debian Jr. first had to decide which children the project
+ would reach: "What age?" "English speaking children only, or
+ other languages as well?" Then the project had to determine
+ how and where they would be using Debian: "At home?" "In school?"
+ "Playing games?" "On their own systems?" "On their parents' systems?"
</p>
<p>
The answers to all of these questions are not straightforward. It is
@@ -289,21 +298,20 @@
to sustain itself.
</p>
<p>
- A good example was the request to split the part of microbiology
+ A good example was the request to split the microbiology
related packages out of Debian-Med into a Debian-Bio project. This
- is reasonable in principle and should be really done in fact the
+ is reasonable in principle, and should really be done. In fact, the
initiator of Debian-Med would support this idea. So he gave the
- answer: "Just start the Debian-Bio project and take over all related
- stuff. Until this happened we will serve medical stuff which has to
- deal with sequence analysis etc. with Debian-Med services."
- Unfortunately there was silence around Debian-Bio after this answer
- ...
+ answer: "Just start the Debian-Bio project to take over all related
+ material. Until this happens, Debian-Med will cover medical material
+ that deals with sequence analysis and so forth." Unfortunately,
+ there was silence from the Debian-Bio proponents after this answer.
</p>
<p>
- Of course, it sometimes turns out that you start working on a project,
+ Of course, it sometimes turns out that you start working on a project
thinking you know what it is about, only to find out later that you
really had no idea what it would become until the user base has grown
- beyond the small community of developers that started it. So none of
+ beyond the small community of developers that started it. So, none of
the decisions you make about your project's scope at the beginning
should be taken as set in stone. On the other hand, it is your project,
and if you see it veering off in directions that are contrary to your
@@ -314,15 +322,15 @@
<sect1 id="tasksel">
<heading>Using tasksel and meta packages</heading>
<p>
- According to the plan of the project the first meta packages (<ref
+ According to the plan of the project, the first meta packages (<ref
id="metapackages">) should be developed. It is not always easy to
- decide what should be included and which meta packages should be
- built. The best way to decide here is discussion on the mailing
- list some well though proposals.
+ decide what should be included, and which meta packages should be
+ built. The best way to decide on this point is to discuss on the
+ mailing list some well thought out proposals.
</p>
<p>
Section <ref id="text_ui"> mentions <prgn>tasksel</prgn> as a tool
- to select a Custom Debian Distributions and explains the problem why
+ to select a Custom Debian Distribution, and explains why
it is currently not possible to get a Custom Debian Distribution
included into the task selection list.
</p>
@@ -339,19 +347,19 @@
Beyond the release announcement for Debian itself, it is necessary
to put some thought and work into a release announcement for the
first release of a Custom Debian Distribution. This will not only
- be directed at the Debian developer community but also to the users.
+ be directed at the Debian developer community, but also at the users.
This will include potential new Debian users abroad, who may not be
- on a Debian mailing list. Here applies the same as for the first
- announcement of the project: Propagating the information to
- relevant places is an important issue.
+ on a Debian mailing list. Here, the same principle applies as for
+ the first announcement of the project: it is important to consider
+ sending the information to other relevant forums.
</p>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="users">
<heading>Users of a Custom Debian Distribution</heading>
<p>
- By this time people have newly installed Debian along with the stuff
- of the Custom Debian Distribution, or have installed the meta
+ By this time, people have newly installed Debian along with the
+ material in the Custom Debian Distribution, or have installed the meta
packages on their existing Debian systems. Now comes the fun part,
building relationships with the user community.
</p>
@@ -359,11 +367,11 @@
<sect2 id="user_support">
<heading>Devoting resources to the users</heading>
<p>
- Users are mixed blessing. In the first development phase, there are
- some developers as users and some intrepid "early adopters", but
- once it is released, the first version is "out there" and the
- project is necessarily going to attract all kinds of users who are
- not necessarily as technically savvy as your small development user
+ Users are a mixed blessing. In the first development phase there are
+ some developers who are users, and some intrepid "early adopters."
+ But once it is released, the first version is "out there," and the
+ project will certainly attract all kinds of users who are not
+ necessarily as technically savvy as your small development user
community. Be prepared to spend some time with them. Be patient
with them. And be listening carefully for the underlying questions
beneath the surface questions. As draining as it can be to deal
@@ -379,7 +387,7 @@
might at first appear. When user help requests start coming in,
you might at first see them as a distraction from the development
effort. However, you don't necessarily want to "ghettoize" the
- user community into a separate list early. I think that's a
+ user community into a separate list early. That's a
recipe for developers to get out of touch very quickly with the
users. Tolerate the new user questions on the developer list
for a while. Once a user list is finally set up, courteously
@@ -394,7 +402,7 @@
<p>
Fortunately, we're not in the business of supporting users alone.
Look beyond Debian for your allies in user support: Linux user
- groups (LUGs), the users themselves. Develop an awareness of who
+ groups (LUGs) and the users themselves. Develop an awareness of who
has stakes in seeing your project succeed, and enlist their help
in getting a strong network of support established for your work.
</p>