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<TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top"><A HREF="index.html"><IMG SRC="images/ldp.gif" WIDTH="300" HEIGHT="120" ALIGN="absmiddle" BORDER="0" ALT="The Linux Documentation Project"></A> |
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home</font></A> | |
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<A HREF="docs.html#howto"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"> |
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HOWTOs</font></A> | |
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<A HREF="guides.html"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"> |
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Guides</font></A> | |
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<TD ALIGN="center" VALIGN="center"><BR> |
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<H3><FONT FACE="arial,helvetica"> |
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Linux Documentation Project Manifesto </FONT></H3> |
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<P><BR><FONT FACE="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> |
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Last Revision: <B>June 2008</B><BR> |
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</P> |
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<P><EM> |
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Describes the goals, status, documentation conventions, and license |
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requirements of the Linux Documentation Project. |
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</EM></P> |
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<P><HR WIDTH="66%"></P> |
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<H3><A NAME="s1">1. OVERVIEW</A></H3> |
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<P> |
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The goal of the Linux Documentation Project (LDP) is to create and |
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distribute the canonical set of free GNU/Linux documentation. While |
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GNU/Linux applications and utilities may come with their own |
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documentation, LDP documentation fills in the numerous gaps. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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The hundreds of existing LDP documents present both overviews and |
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details of: the GNU/Linux Operating System, System Administration, |
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Hardware, Networks, Servers, GUIs, Programming, Language Support, etc. |
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Not every important topic is currently covered so LDP is seeking new |
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authors to fill in the gaps. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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An additional goal is to collaborate on all of the issues of GNU/Linux |
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documentation. We hope to establish a system of documentation that is |
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easy to use and search. This includes the integration of all available |
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documents. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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We freely distribute our documents via the Internet. Some major |
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distributions of Linux include them on CDs. |
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If you are interested in publishing any of the LDP works, |
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see the section "<A href="#pub">Publishing LDP Documents</A>" |
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below. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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The LDP is essentially a loose team of <A href="vlist.html">volunteers</A> with |
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minimal central organization. Anyone who would like to help is welcome to |
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join in this effort. We feel that working together informally and discussing |
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projects on our mailing lists is the best way to go. When we disagree |
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on things, we try to reason with each other until we reach an informed |
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consensus. |
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</P> |
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<P><HR WIDTH="66%"></P> |
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<H3><A NAME="s2">2. CURRENT PROJECTS and GETTING INVOLVED</A></H3> |
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<P> |
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Currently, the major effort of the LDP is the writing of HOWTOs. If |
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you think you would like to write a certain HOWTO first check to see |
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if one already exists on your topic. If so, please subscribe to the LDP general discussion |
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list at <a href="mailto:discuss-subscribe@en.tldp.org.NOSPAM">discuss@en.tldp.org</a> |
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or email |
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<A HREF="mailto:feedback@en.tldp.org">feedback list</A> and offer to help. |
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If there is no HOWTO about it, you may want to create a new HOWTO. |
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See the <A href="LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/index.html">LDP Author Guide</A> |
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(formerly the <i>HOWTO-HOWTO</i>) |
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and/or the <A href="HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/index.html">HOWTO-INDEX</A> for more details. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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The "<A href="guides.html">Guides</A>" are large book-size |
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LDP documents covering broad topics such as system administration. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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Other tasks include checking the HOWTOs for clarity and errors, |
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improving our website, and developing an integrated system of |
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documentation for Linux. If you are interested in any such project |
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(other than writing HOWTOs), subscribe to the LDP general discussion |
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list at <a href="mailto:discuss-subscribe@en.tldp.org.NOSPAM">discuss@en.tldp.org</a>. |
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</P> |
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<P><HR WIDTH="66%"></P> |
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<H3><A NAME="s3">3. LDP WEBSITES</A></H3> |
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<P> |
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The LDP has a number of mirror sites worldwide where one may inspect |
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and/or download LDP documents. The main site is |
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<A href="http://tldp.org/">http://tldp.org</A>. |
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Go here to find the list of <A href="mirrors.html">mirror sites</A> and |
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then use the nearest mirror site. |
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</P> |
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<P><HR WIDTH="66%"></P> |
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<H3><A NAME="s4">4. DOCUMENTATION CONVENTIONS</A></H3> |
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<P> |
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Here are the conventions that are currently used for LDP documents. |
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If you are interested in writing another document using different |
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conventions, please let us know of your plans first. |
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</P> |
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<UL> |
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<LI> |
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<P> |
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All <B>HOWTO</B> documents must be in one of these formats: |
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LinuxDoc SGML or DocBook XML/SGML. LinuxDoc is the simplest DTD |
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while DocBook is a more complex mark-up (with more features). |
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</P> |
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</LI> |
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<LI> |
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<P> |
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The <B>guides</B> -- full books produced by the LDP -- have historically been |
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done in LaTeX, as their primary goal has been to be printed |
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documentation. However, guide authors have been moving towards SGML |
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with the DocBook DTD, because it allows them to create many different |
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kinds of output, both printed and on-line. |
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</P> |
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</LI> |
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</UL> |
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<P><HR WIDTH="66%"></P> |
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<H3><A NAME="s5">5. LICENSE REQUIREMENTS</A></H3> |
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<P> |
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Anyone may copy and distribute (sell or give away) LDP documents (or |
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other LDP works) in any media and/or format. No fees are required to |
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be paid to the authors. It is not required that the documents be |
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modifiable, but it is encouraged. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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You can come up with your own license terms that satisfy these |
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conditions, or you can use a previously prepared license. The LDP has |
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a boilerplate license that you can use if you wish. Some people like |
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to use the <A href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html#GPL">GPL</A>, |
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while others write their own. There is a project |
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underway to create a special GPL license just for documents and this |
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may turn out to be a good choice |
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("<A href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html#FDL">The GNU Free Documentation License</A>"). |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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The copyright for each document should be in the name of the principal |
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authors. "The Linux Documentation Project" isn't a formal entity |
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and thus can't be used as a copyright owner. |
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</P> |
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</P></LI> |
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<P><HR WIDTH="66%"></P> |
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<H3><A NAME="s6">6. BOILERPLATE LICENSE</A></H3> |
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<P> |
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Here is a sample copyright notice and "boilerplate" license you may |
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want to use for your work: |
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</P> |
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<P><FONT face="courier"> |
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<P> |
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Copyright (c) 2008 by John Doe (change to your name) |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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Please freely copy and distribute (sell or give away) this document in |
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any format. It's requested that corrections and/or comments be fowarded |
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to the document maintainer. You may create a derivative work and distribute |
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it provided that you: |
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</P> |
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<OL><LI><P> |
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Send your derivative work (in the most suitable format such as |
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sgml) to the LDP (Linux Documentation Project) or the like for posting |
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on the Internet. If not the LDP, then let the LDP know where it is |
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available. |
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</P></LI> |
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<LI><P> |
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License the derivative work with this same license or use GPL. |
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Include a copyright notice and at least a pointer to the license used. |
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</P></LI> |
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<LI><P> |
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Give due credit to previous authors and major contributors. |
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</P></LI> |
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</OL> |
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<P> |
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If you're considering making a derived work other than a translation, |
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it's requested that you discuss your plans with the current maintainer. |
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</P> |
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</FONT></P> |
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<P><HR WIDTH="66%"></P> |
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<H3><A NAME="pub"></A><A NAME="s7">7. PUBLISHING LDP DOCUMENTS</A></H3> |
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<P> |
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If you're a publishing company interested in distributing any of the |
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LDP documents, read on. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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By the license requirements given previously, anyone is allowed to |
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publish and distribute verbatim copies of the Linux Documentation |
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Project documents. You don't need our explicit permission for this. |
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However, if you would like to distribute a translation or derivative |
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work based on any of the LDP documents, you may need to obtain |
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permission from the author, in writing, before doing so, if the |
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license requires that. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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You may, of course, sell the LDP documents for profit. We encourage |
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you to do so. Keep in mind, however, that because the LDP documents |
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are freely distributable, anyone may make copies and distribute them. |
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Thus the parts of a book which may be freely copied should be |
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separated (and identified) in such a manner as to facilitate copying |
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them without infringing on the copyright of other material. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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We do not require you to pay royalties from any profit earned by |
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selling LDP documents. However, we would like to suggest that if you |
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do sell LDP documents for profit, that you either offer the author |
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royalties, or donate a portion of your earnings to the author, the LDP |
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as a whole, or to the Linux development community. You may also wish |
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to send one or more free copies of the LDP documents that you are |
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distributing to the authors. Your show of support for the LDP and the |
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Linux community will be very much appreciated. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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We would like to be informed of any plans to publish or distribute LDP |
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documents, just so we know how they're becoming available. If you are |
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publishing or planning to publish any LDP documents, please |
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subscribe to the LDP general discussion |
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list at <a href="mailto:discuss-subscribe@en.tldp.org.NOSPAM">discuss@en.tldp.org</a> |
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or send mail |
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to <a href="mailto:feedback@en.tldp.org">feedback@en.tldp.org</A>. |
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It's nice to know who's doing what. |
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</P> |
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<P> |
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We encourage Linux software distributors to distribute the LDP |
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documents on CDs with their software. The LDP documents are intended |
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to be used as "official" Linux documentation, and we are glad to see |
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distributors bundling the LDP documents with the software. |
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</P> |
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<BR> |
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</TD></TR> |
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<TR BGCOLOR="#AAAAAA"> |
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<TD ALIGN="center"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"><B> |
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<A HREF="index.html"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"> |
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home</font></A> | |
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<A HREF="docs.html#howto"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"> |
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HOWTOs</font></A> | |
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<A HREF="guides.html"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"> |
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Guides</font></A> | |
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<A HREF="docs.html#faq"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"> |
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FAQs</font></A> | |
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<A HREF="docs.html#man"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"> |
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man pages</font></A> | |
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<A HREF="docs.html#lg"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"> |
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Linux Gazette</font></A> | |
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<A HREF="docs.html#lf"><font face="arial,helvetica" color="#ffffff"> |
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LinuxFocus</font></A> |
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</B></font></TD> |
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</TR> |
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<TR BGCOLOR="#AAAAAA"> |
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<TD ALIGN="center"><font face="arial,helvetica" size="-1"> |
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<b>Previous Manifesto versions:</b> <A href="manifesto_18Oct1999.html">1999-10-18</A> | <A href="manifesto_24Jul2003.html">2003-07-24</A><br/> |
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Last Modified: 2008-06-05<br/> |
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<a href="mailto:feedback@en.tldp.org.NOSPAM">feedback@en.tldp.org</a></font></TD> |
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