LDP Weekly News, April 30, 2002

LDP Weekly News
2002-04-30

   by David Merrill

Announcing the Lampadas Project

   We are happy to announce the official launch of the Lampadas Project,
   a new documentation production system based on the LDP Database at
   http://db.tldp.org.

   The LDP Database is a database driven web site designed to manage
   document meta-data. The current LDP Database allows LDP staff to edit,
   manage, and maintain the document collection, as well as authors'
   information. We have been using the database to update and manage
   information for about a year. The database has been growing and
   evolving, and it is ready for the next stage of development. That next
   state is is the evolution to the Lampadas Project.

   The Lampadas Project will extend the LDP Database in four ways:
     * by adding the capability to mirror documents from other projects
       seamlessly, converting them all into DocBook XML;
     * by supporting collaboration between authors, editors, and readers
       with features such as document annotation and online editing;
     * by expanding and automating our publication system, standardizing
       it around DocBook XML; and
     * by generalizing the LDP's code so it can stand as a project as its
       own. This way the code can be used by any other project that needs
       a flexible, powerful document authoring, management and
       publication system.

The Goals of Lampadas

   The Linux Documentation Project writes, manages, edits and publishes
   documentation in many source formats, from hundreds of authors, into
   many output formats, in dozens of languages. Lampadas will assist all
   of those tasks.

   Lampadas will provide a web interface for authors to easily write
   documentation and for LDP staff to easily manage the document
   collection. Lampadas will be a very powerful publication system, and
   more powerful than any currently available in the Free Software/Open
   Source world. It will offer features oriented toward authors as well
   as the reader, such as document annotation.

   Lampadas will give us the ability to mirror hundreds or thousands of
   additional documents from any number of individual authors. Some
   examples of documents that are candidates for Lampadas include KDE and
   Gnome documentation, Internet RFCs, the Jargon File, and the many
   excellent manuals from the GNU Project.

   The LDP's goal for its own Lampadas database is to be a one-stop shop
   for all Linux documentation. Whether or not the LDP is involved in its
   writing, a document will be available in our Lampadas database as long
   as the authors do not object. Any document that is released under a
   license allowing free redistribution and derivative works can be
   included.

   Not only do we hope to mirror KDE, Gnome and other Free documentation,
   but we hope that some of the technology being developed for Lampadas
   will make its way into other end-user help systems, such as Gnome and
   KDE's help browsers.

   Lampadas offers (or will offer) the following features:

For Authors

     * Meta-data Management: Lampadas already provides complete meta-data
       management for documents without meta-data capabilities.
     * Complete DocBook Support: Authors who write in DocBook SGML or XML
       can make full use of the power of DocBook for their documentation.
       It has complete DocBook support.
     * Simple Online Editing: It also provides online editing in its own
       simple, easy to use text format, WikiText. If you can write a Wiki
       page, you can write documentation in Lampadas.
       WikiText is not just any text format. It provides the simplicity
       of plain text, a bit more power with a few more tags, or the full
       power of DocBook.
     * Format Agnostic: You will not have to use WikiText to edit your
       document online. You can edit your document online whether in
       plain text, DocBook, LinuxDoc, WikiText, or Texinfo. These are the
       formats dominant at the LDP. Support for additional formats will
       be added eventually.
       Lampadas supports any format the author is comfortable writing in.
       Rather than forcing authors to standardize on a tool, Lampadas
       supplies the meta-data shortcomings of the author's choice.

For Programmers

     * The publication process generates an enormous DocBook XML data
       repository, containing all man pages, Texinfo manuals, free books,
       HOWTOs, Guides, and FAQs. This XML repository, or database, will
       be available to programmers building other help systems based on
       XML, such as KDE, Gnome and ScrollKeeper.

Getting Involved, or For More Information

   If you would like to get involved with Lampadas, there is plenty of
   work to go around. The highly modular architecture lends itself to
   distributed development. Because some architectural decisions are
   still being made, this is a good time to get in on the ground floor.

   Our mailing list is lampadas@en.tldp.org (subscribers only). To join
   the list, send a blank email to lampadas-subscribe@en.tldp.org.

  I have put an early development version online at www.lampadas.org/.
   Feel free to drop by and kick the virtual tires. However, please do
   not send bug reports at this time! Any bugs you find, we probably
   already know about.

   I have also placed some of my development notes in the "Development"
   section of my personal home page at www.lupercalia.net/.

Why Lampadas?

   Fans of Frank Herbert's Dune series will recognize Lampadas as the
   name of the Bene Gesserit teaching planet, which plays a role in the
   final book, Chapterhouse: Dune. Before the planet can be destroyed by
   hordes of Honored Matres, Reverend Mother Lucia orders the planet to
   share Other Memory, two by two then four by four, until all the
   students hold within them the composite knowledge and memories of the
   entire planet. After the planet is annihilated by the Honored Matres,
   the precious knowledge is carried back to the Bene Gesserit
   Chapterhouse by the lone holder of the precious cargo, Rebecca.

   Herbert apparently took the name from the city of Lampadas, which was
   an ancient seat of learning and scholarship. Also, the word lampadas
   is the accusative form of the word "Torch" in ancient Greek.

   In all of these senses, Lampadas seems an appropriate name for this
   project, which is created to facilitate sharing information from many
   people and many sources, and disseminating it widely to others.

New Documents

     * Kernel Analysis HOWTO
       This document tries to explain some things about the Linux Kernel,
       such as the most important components, how they work, and so on.
       This HOWTO should help prevent the reader from needing to browse
       all the kernel source files searching for the"right function,"
       declaration, and definition, and then linking each to the other.
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/KernelAnalysis-HOWTO.html
       Version 0.5, Robert Arcomano (Author)
     * The Mosix HOWTO
       This document gives a brief description to Mosix, a software
       package that turns a network of GNU/Linux computers into a
       computer cluster. Along the way, some background to parallel
       processing is given, as well as a brief introduction to programs
       that make special use of Mosix's capabilities.
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Mosix-HOWTO/
       Version 0.15, Kris Buytaert (Author)

Updated Documents

     * CVS-RCS- HOW-TO document for Linux (Source Code Control System)
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/CVS-RCS-HOWTO.html
       Version 22.3, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com
     * Java Decompiler HOW-TO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Java-Decompiler-HOWTO.html
       Version 4.4, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com
     * LDP Author Guide
       http://www.tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/
       Version 3.14, David Merrill (Author) david@lupercalia.net, Jorge
       Godoy (Author) godoy@metalab.unc.edu, Mark F. Komarinski (Author)
       markk@tldp.org
     * Link-sys WPC11 Mini-HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Wireless-Link-sys-WPC11/
       Version 1.1.1, Gerardo Arnaez (Author) garnaez@yahoo.com
     * Linux Frequently Asked Questions with Answers
       http://www.tldp.org/FAQ/Linux-FAQ/
       Version 2.0, David Merrill (Author) david@lupercalia.net
     * Linux MP3 CD Burning mini-HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/MP3-CD-Burning/
       Version 2.0, Greg Wierzchowski (Author) greg.wierzchowski@usa.net
     * Managing Accurate Date and Time HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/TimePrecision-HOWTO
       Version 1.0, Avi Alkalay (Author) avi at br.ibm.com/
     * PHP HOW-TO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/PHP-HOWTO.html
       Version 26.5, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com
     * The Linux Gamers HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Linux-Gamers-HOWTO/
       Version 0.9.11, Peter Jay Salzman (Author) p@dirac.org
     * The Linux Kernel HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO.html
       Version 3.8, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com, Brian Ward
       (Author) bri@cs.uchicago.edu
     * Vim Color Editor HOW-TO (Vi Improved with syntax color
       highlighting)
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Vim-HOWTO.html
       Version 17.9, Al Dev (Author) alavoor@yahoo.com

Unmaintained Documents

   These documents have been abandoned by their maintainers and many of
   them have not been updated in some time. If you're willing to become
   the maintainer for one of them, please join the LDP discussion list at
   lists.tldp.org/ and post a message indicating your interest.

     * Battery Powered Linux Mini-HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Battery-Powered.html
       Version ?
     * Brief Introduction to Alpha Systems and Processors
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Alpha-HOWTO.html
       Version 0.11
     * Enterprise Java for Linux HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Enterprise-Java-for-Linux-HOWTO.html
       Version 0.2
     * HOW-TO for inHouse IntraNet
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Netscape+Proxy.html
       Version ?
     * Installing Linux on ZIP disk using ppa ZIP Drive Mini-Howto
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Install-From-ZIP.html
       Version 0.7
     * LINUX PLIP MINI-HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/PLIP.html
       Version 2.1
     * Linux Benchmarking HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Benchmarking-HOWTO.html
       Version 0.12
     * Linux SMP HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/SMP-HOWTO.html
       Version 1.12.1
     * Linux Swap Space Mini-HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Swap-Space.html
       Version 1.42
     * Linux Threads Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
       http://www.tldp.org/FAQ/Threads-FAQ/
       Version ?
     * Linux simple fax printer server mini-HOWTO (faxsrv-mini-HOWTO)
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Fax-Server.html
       Version 1.0
     * NFS-Root Mini-Howto
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/NFS-Root.html
       Version 8
     * News Leafsite mini-HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/News-Leafsite.html
       Version 0.4
     * SoundBlaster AWE 32/64 HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Soundblaster-AWE.html
       Version 1.2
     * Spanish Linux HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Spanish-HOWTO.html
       Version 0.1
     * The Ftape FAQ
       http://www.tldp.org/FAQ/Ftape-FAQ.html
       Version 0.2
     * The Hebrew HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Hebrew-HOWTO.html
       Version 0.4
     * The LBX Mini-HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/LBX.html
       Version 1.04
     * The Linux ""Linux-DOS-Win95-OS2"" mini-HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Linux+DOS+Win95+OS2.html
       Version 1.3.1
     * The Linux 3Dfx HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/3Dfx-HOWTO.html
       Version 1.16
     * The Linux Busmouse HOWTO
       http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/unmaintained/Busmouse-
       HOWTO
       Version 2.0
     * The Linux Intranet Server HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Intranet-Server-HOWTO.html
       Version 2.12
     * The dosemu HOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/DOSEMU-HOWTO.html
       Version ?
     * UMSDOS HOW-TO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/UMSDOS-HOWTO.html
       Version 1.2
     * Visible bell mini-Howto
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Visual-Bell.html
       Version 2.3
     * X11-big-cursor MINIHOWTO
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/X-Big-Cursor.html
       Version 2
     * mini-HOWTO install qmail with MH
       http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Qmail+MH.html
       Version 1.4

About the LDP

   The Linux Documentation Project is developing free, high quality
   documentation for the GNU/Linux operating system. This includes the
   creation of HOWTOs and Guides, and collaboration with other
   documentation groups.

   If you've always wanted to help Linux reach Total World
   Domination(tm), but you're not a programmer, there's still something
   you can do. Help the LDP!

   The LDP keeps a page of resources for authors at
   http://www.tldp.org/authors/. Contributions are always welcome.

   For more LDP Weekly News, go to http://www.tldp.org/ldpwn/

-- 
David C. Merrill                         http://www.lupercalia.net
Linux Documentation Project                   david@lupercalia.net
Lead Developer                                 http://www.tldp.org