On 8 February 2011 20:26, Frank Lanitz <[email protected]> wrote: > > Am 07.02.2011 23:50, schrieb Russell Dickenson: > > On 8 February 2011 04:21, Frank Lanitz <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On Mon, 7 Feb 2011 12:21:00 +1000 > >> Russell Dickenson <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >>>>> The question is: in what format would people like to see the > >>>>> newsletter published? The Ubuntu newsletter is published as a > >>>>> weekly email, for example. The Frugalware Linux newsletter is > >>>>> published on a web site in HTML format. Personally I would prefer > >>>>> that the newsletter's content be hosted on a web site instead of > >>>>> sent out via email. The hosted method makes it easier to correct > >>>>> errors which may occur occasionally. Of course we could announce > >>>>> the latest newsletter in the usual Geany ML(s). > >>>> > >>>> +1 for website, then I can't delete it and an archive can be kept in > >>>> case it contains stuff that lasts beyond this month. > >>> > >>> Thanks. > >> > >> I guess depending on the markup language we are choosing in the end, > >> generating a HTML with some nice cc should be the smallest issue as > >> nearly all of them do support such thing. > > > > Sorry but I don't understand what "cc" means. :P > > Should have been CSS ;)
OK > >>>> Which actually would be a good idea, Geany has a fair bit of > >>>> "hidden" functionality and a "function of the month" exposing > >>>> functions of Geany that people tend to forget would be good, I know > >>>> I keep (re)learning new shortcuts. > >>>> > >>>> And a "Plugin of the month" too :-) > >>> > >>> I agree. A feature/plugin focus of the month would be useful. I know > >>> that it takes me a while to get to know an application like Geany > >>> well. Focusing on a particular feature would make the learning process > >>> easier for people like me. As someone who likes to tweak configuration > >>> settings, hints on these topics would also be useful I believe. > >> > >> In fact this is a nice idea. I'm asking who like to take over this task > >> and provide something like this on a monthly basis for the newsletter? > > > > I'll volunteer for this role. You need to know, though, that I am > > learning Geany so my explanations are likely to be quite simple. This > > may be a good thing because as I learn I can write about what I have > > learned in the newsletter. I'll need someone who is more familiar with > > Geany to check my work though. > > Great! Welcome aboard! Just ask if you have any question. I'm sure the > list likes helping you out! I've had great help so far. > >>>>>> Right now I started to put some content together into a LaTeX-file > >>>>>> which will be compiled to PDF and plain text and send out later > >>>>>> once its done. > >>>>> > >>>>> Would you mind sending the finished product to me? > >>>>> > >>>>> A question to Frank and others - do you mind in what format the > >>>>> newsletter's content is written in? I only have experience in using > >>>>> HTML and AsciiDoc (http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/). I would > >>>>> *much* prefer to use AsciiDoc because it "is a text document > >>>>> format for writing notes, documentation, articles, books, ebooks, > >>>>> slideshows, web pages, man pages and blogs. AsciiDoc files can be > >>>>> translated to many formats including HTML, PDF, EPUB, man page." I > >>>>> know that there are similar tools such as "plain text" markup > >>>>> languages but AsciiDoc is the one with which I have most > >>>>> experience. > >>>> > >>>> -1 for Latex, I know Frank is a Latexpert but they are a bit thin on > >>>> the ground, so having to do contributions in Latex would be limiting > >>>> (or would require Frank to do lots of conversion, and we want him to > >>>> have more time for other things :-). > >>> > >>> Yes. Sorry, but I not likely to contribute if I have to learn > >>> something like Latex. It's not something I'm using now, nor likely to > >>> use any time in the near future so I'm simply not motivated to learn > >>> it. > >> > >> I don't care much about the markup language. LaTeX on our level is not > >> more complicated as writing ReST etc. I guess. > > > > I would prefer not to have to learn something like LaTeX but since > > there's a Geany plugin available, I'm happy to stick with LaTeX for > > the moment. As you suggest, Frank, since we're not writing complex > > documents I don't expect the LaTeX markup used to be very complex. > > I'll probably be doing a little cut-and-pasting if that's OK. > > ;) > You can have a look at > > http://git.geany.org/newsletter/tree/newsletter_1.tex > > Maybe its getting interesting at > http://git.geany.org/newsletter/tree/newsletter_1.tex#n38 The content already looks good. Well done! > Let's see how it goes. ;) > > >>>> As an occasional Asciidoc contributor I hate to say this but... > >>>> > >>>> Perhaps the project should stick to one markup language? Geany's > >>>> documentation is done in reST, a part of Python's docutils which is > >>>> used to produce the Python docs. > >>>> (see http://docs.python.org/documenting/index.html ). > >>>> reST is a "lightweight markup language" quite similar to Asciidoc > >>>> and as you can see from the Geany help file produces HTML (and > >>>> others too IIRC). > >>> > >>> That's the one I was trying to think of! Thanks, Lex, for reminding > >>> me. I included AsciiDoc only as an example. I don't want to complicate > >>> things too much so would be happy to use reST. I currently use > >>> AsciiDoc for other projects but I see no reason to try to force it > >>> upon other people when a similar tool is already in use and doing its > >>> job well. > >> > >> OK. Let's give ReST a try. I guess we will need to have a makefile > >> which is generating the output we need. Who likes to do this? Also I > >> think this should be done after volume 1 has been send to public. > > > > In fact perhaps we should stick with LaTeX for the moment, Frank? > > Since you have experience with this already, creating the necessary > > Makefile should be easier than creating one for reST (or is it ReST > > ?). > > Yes, I can do it. > I suggest outpout shall be plain text for email newsletter. PDF for FTP > and HTML for some homepage, right? Those options look OK to me. Does anyone have thoughts on how the newsletter might be presented on the Geany web site. Perhaps a page on the wiki with links to the issues in the two formats - PDF and HTML (wiki ?). > >>>>> Assuming we were using AsciiDoc, we could have a master document > >>>>> which then draws in content from various contributors and is then > >>>>> converted to various formats. This method would make the job of > >>>>> the newsletter's editor a little easier since each piece can be > >>>>> edited separately, then combined into one document. > >>>> > >>>> Anything that simplifies the process is good if it reduces the time > >>>> required of the editor and contributors. This leads to more > >>>> contributions and more regular publication. > >>> > >>> I'll look into options available via reST. Even if it doesn't offer a > >>> "master document" option natively, I'm sure a custom solution could > >>> easily be created. > >> > >> As mentioned: With usage of git there is no real need to have such > >> thing like a master document as its possible to edit without having > >> unsolvable conflicts. > > > > I am using a master document for the Frugalware Linux newsletter for > > various reasons which probably don't apply to the Geany newsletter. I > > am comfortable using Git and agree that there's no need at the moment > > for a master document. > > Maybe using a masterdocument would be nice if somebody is working on > some content and its not clear which 'release' it will be added. So we > could do something like a busstop strategy for newsletter. But this is > far away from being needed I guess. Yes, this is where a master document could be useful. It seems we agree that there's no need for such a document now, but perhaps it will become necessary in the future. -- May you always be Frugal, Russell Dickenson (AKA phayz) _______________________________________________ Geany mailing list [email protected] http://lists.uvena.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geany
