HOWTO Template for Small Linuxdoc HOWTOs


Stein Gjoen, sgjoen@nyx.net

v0.03, 20 May 2002
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 This is a fully working template for small HOWTOs. The source contains fully
described slots to make a convenient framework for you to fill in for making
your own HOWTO, suggesting some names, conventions and contents for the
chapters. While derived from the Template for big HOWTOs this is a minimalistic
Template that only lists the minimal requirements to fit into the Linux
Documentation Project archives
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1. Introduction

 My comments to the reader is in this style (emphasized). Example lines are in
plain roman style. Note that extra comments and advice is found in comments
within the SGML source.
For various reasons this brand new release is codenamed the unleash release.
New code names will appear as per industry standard guidelines to emphasize the
state-of-the-art-ness of this document.
This Template is a suggestion and a starting point, a check list for minimum
features and also examples for authors. Over time HOWTOs will outgrow any
template since in the end the goal is to inform readers efficiently.
Stating the background is a simple way to getting started writing the intro.
This is where you make a summary of what it news. When a HOWTO exceeds 20 pages
it takes more than a casual read to find the updates. This is where you help
your readers with that, alerting them to specific and important news.
This is the first update featuring an improved structure.
Tell people where the document home page is so the very newest release could be
found in case of problems with the main Linux_Documentation_Project homepage.
The latest version number of this document can be gleaned from my plan entry if
you finger my Nyx account.
First of all we need a bit of legalese. Recent development shows it is quite
important.

1.1 Copyright

Copyright is a source of much and continuous debate on the LDP mailing list.
For more in depth information please consult the Manifesto at the LinuxDoc
site. The purpose of having a license is to allow appropriate distribution. You
can use any license that meets the Manifesto. What follows is a boilerplate
licence.
This document is Copyright 2000 by John Doe (change to your name). Permission
is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of
the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published
by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover
Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license can be found in Appendix
A.
Replace with your name, or supply a new license, when you use this template for
a new HOWTO.

1.2 Disclaimer

Use the information in this document at your own risk. I disavow any potential
liability for the contents of this document. Use of the concepts, examples,
and/or other content of this document is entirely at your own risk.
All copyrights are owned by their owners, unless specifically noted otherwise.
Use of a term in this document should not be regarded as affecting the validity
of any trademark or service mark.
Naming of particular products or brands should not be seen as endorsements.
You are strongly recommended to take a backup of your system before major
installation and backups at regular intervals.
If you have the capacity it would be nice to make the HOWTO available in a
number of formats.
Also, the latest version of the Template will be available on my web space on
Nyx in a number of formats:

* HTML.
* plain_ASCII_text.
* SGML_source.


1.3 Credits

It is always nice to acknowledge people who help you with inputs, it is also
regarded by many as important in the Linux world new economy
In this version I have the pleasure of acknowledging


       corff (at) ZEDAT.FU-Berlin.DE
       dwood (at) plugged.net.au
       lcl (at) spiretech.com
       kgh12351 (at) nifty.ne.jp
       dave (at) lafn.org
       gferg (at) hoop.timonium.sgi.com
       name (at) site.org


Scramble the addresses so email harvesters cannot get addresses from your HOWTO
and then spam people. That has happened in the past.
Also Somecompany is acknowledged for sending me documentation on their gizmos
as well as permission to quote from the material. These quotes have been
approved before appearing here and will be clearly labelled.
Any comments or suggestions can be mailed to my mail address on Nyx:
sgjoen@nyx.net (replace with your own address.)

2. The Main Text

Here comes the documentation itself.