Notes from the Mousepad

Here’s a somewhat quick run-down of some projects with-which I’ll be participating, and some other projects that, while I might not be a direct participant, I am curious to watch develop.

Xfce Updates

I see the LXDE project get a good amount of attention lately, in large part (I think) because it uses somewhat less memory than Xfce.  Xfce is still going on strong, though, and plans are in the words for the eventual release of Xfce 4.8.

Jérôme Guelfucci recently provided a brief update on what’s going on with Xfce, and one of the big things is a push for updated documentation.  I’ll be contributing to that, and will likely be borrowing some of the user-help topic “stubs” that have been put-together by the GNOME Documentation team.  I’ll be sure to share any relevant topic stubs with them, too.

Jannis Pohlman has also started the process of forming an Xfce foundation.  Jannis notes that this would make Xfce a legal entity with a board of directors, and that it would help to raise funds through sponsors and other contributors for hackfests and other events.

My Documentation Projects

Lately I have been continuing work on gedit documentation and have also done some initial work on updating the Ubuntu Packaging Guide.  I should have the gedit docs well-drafted within another week or so, but I welcome suggestions and contributions with regards to the Packaging Guide.

Thus far, I’ve drafted the Packaging Guide in Mallard, and although Mallard is XML-based, it is much simpler than DocBook.  It is not difficult to learn, and you can draft-up a nice-looking, topic-focused documentation set with it rather quickly. I also know that there was a UDS session about the Packaging Guide today, so I welcome any feedback that resulted from that session, too.

Other Documentation Projects of Note

In non-Linux-help news, there are a couple of interesting DITA-related projects that I’ve been wanting to mention. If you haven’t heard of it before, DITA* stands for the Darwin Information Typing Architecture, an XML-based syntax originally developed (and later open-sourced) by IBM. The toolkit that processes the syntax, the DITA Open Toolkit, is Java-based, though, which I think has somewhat slowed its adoption in the Linux community. (Currently, only OpenSUSE packages DITA and the DITA Open Toolkit, but their implementation is a bit broken, perhaps due to an outdated version of Saxon in the OpenSUSE repositories.)

When people ask me what the big deal is about DITA**, I like to point them to this white paper (PDF).  It seems to provide a pretty clear picture of what DITA can help you do, even if it does make it look easier to implement than it is in real life.

There are a couple of DITA tools on the horizon that look to make it a bit easier to work with, though.  A group of Drupal developers are working with DITA developers to build a Drupal-based DITA authoring platform.  From what I can tell, it will be released under an open-source license.  They are just in the planning stages now, but I’ve relayed the Ubuntu Documentation / Ubuntu Manual / Ubuntu Learning Team’s requirements from what we talked about this past summer when considering the Ubuntu Learning Center.

Also, Don Day, the chair of the OASIS DITA Technical Committee, has put together a Free-as-in-Freedom web-based DITA platform.  It’s in its early stages, too, but you can get a look at it here. You can log in as a guest, and then select topic tools from the bottom of the page to have a go at editing the document.

A Docs Conference?  In Ohio?

Finally, there is word on the street about the possibility of a docs conference in Cincinnati during the first weekend in June.  I’ve expressed interest in helping with planning and organizing that conference.  For now I will keep my calendar open, and will post more news here as conference plans solidify.

*Whenever you do a Google search for DITA, it’s typically a good idea to exclude the phrase “Von Teese” from your search query.  That is, unless you want your documentation searches to also include results for a fabulous burlesque dancer / entertainer. If you do want dancer / entertainer results in your documentation search queries, then make sure to include the phrase “Von Teese” in your queries.

** Generally, people do not ask me about DITA.

With the successful Beta release of Xubuntu 8.04, I got to thinking of some of the qualities that have always drawn me back to using Xubuntu.  I know that people have spirited feelings about their desktops of choice in the Linux world, but I thought I’d present a few reasons (8.04 reasons, to be exact) why Xubuntu (or Xfce in general) makes a good desktop environment choice, and why Ubuntu or Kubuntu users should consider using Xubuntu in place of their Gnome or KDE environments.

So, with all due respect to my Gnome- and KDE-using brothers and sisters, here they are:

1) Relative lightness – The Xfce desktop loads more quickly than Gnome or KDE desktops, and Xfce applications are built with an emphasis on lightness.  Xubuntu does have a handful of Gnome-based applications (and hence, some Gnome dependencies), but the developers avoid Gnome-lib heaviness where they can, and applications that require Gnome libraries have been only been chosen because they provide vital end-user functionality.

2) Xubuntu is extensible – I used to work at a deli when I was in college, and my boss used to tell me, “You can always add more, but you can never take away.”  He was referring to putting ingredients onto sandwiches, but his statement can also apply to Xubuntu.  You can use the breadth and depth of the Ubuntu repositories to add extra features and functionality that you may want, but the heavier Gnome or Mono libraries aren’t built into Xubuntu’s core, so you can also stick with the lighter choices if the default Xubuntu system suits your needs.

3) You know what you’re doing – Let’s say you’ve been using Ubuntu or Kubuntu for a while, and know your way around a Linux environment.  You know mv, cp, ls, grep, what a “.whatever” file is for . . .  So you don’t need a distro that’s going to hold your hand quite as frequently.  Xubuntu provides you with most of the same features of Ubuntu, but also doesn’t get in your way with a GUI for everything.  This may not be an advantage for some, but may not be a nuisance for those who are knowledgeable about their systems. Continue Reading