Creating an Admin Handbook

[Remko Lodder]

Hey Murray, doc@

Murray Stokely wrote:

> The Handbook is currently organized as 5 distinct DocBook <parts> :
> 
> * Getting Started
> * Common Tasks
> * System Administration
> * Network Communication
> * Appendices
> 
> I would like to split the Handbook into a User Handbook and an
> Administrator Handbook.  The first two <parts> would belong to the
> user handbook, the second two <parts> would belong to the
> administrator handbook, and the appendices would be shared with both.
> 

Although i am not a doc committer, i still lead the Dutch Documentation 
project, and i am a member of a team that gives information to new 
people (educational). In both views i can totally agree with the split 
you mention. We can offer the Dutch version to our new people, and if 
they are more grown up in the world of FreeBSD they can start trying the 
other book. I think that makes a challenge for them. Given that it's 
easier to know how one should write documentation in it. User-Handbook, 
not that difficult, Admin-Handbook more advanced topics... and by 
refering to eachother you can point users to more advanced topics or 
stay in the User-Handbook

> 
> I propose that the User Handbook remain as 'handbook' in CVS, and that
> the admin chapters be repo-copied to 'books/admin-handbook'.
> 
> Each of the two books would then be in the more manageable 400-600
> page range in printed form.

:-) that makes it easier for my doc project and the people that are 
going to read it :-)

> 
> I can perform all of this work, ask for the repo copies, update all
> cross links between chapters to use new entities to link between
> volumes, and update the prefaces and frontmatter for both volumes.  I
> can do this in a single day so as to minimize disruption for others
> working on the Handbook(s).  The preface and frontmatter of the
> index.html at www.freebsd.org/handbook would contain a prominent
> pointer to the new volume so that people looking for content can still
> find it easily.

Great :-), as others state, freeze commits for the time you need.. and 
afterwards continue working on the _new_ documents :-)

> 
> Is there any reason not to go ahead with such a split?

Do it please :-)


> 
>    - Murray


-- 
Kind regards,

Remko Lodder                   |remko at elvandar.org
Reporter DSINet                |remko at dsinet.org
Projectleader Mostly-Harmless  |remko at mostly-harmless.nl