Resent-Date: Fri, 8 Dec 1995 22:37:23 -0500
From: "Eric S. Raymond" <esr@locke.ccil.org>
Message-Id: <199512090348.WAA21580@locke.ccil.org>
Subject: Re: Java on Linux HOWTO, version 0.2
To: joey@gopher.chem.wayne.edu (Joey Oravec)
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 1995 22:47:58 -0500 (EST)
Cc: java-linux@java.blackdown.org
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SOL.3.91.951208210924.29642E-100000@gopher.chem.wayne.edu> from "Joey Oravec" at Dec 8, 95 09:23:39 pm
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> We could I suppose. What it would be is more of a "you take it over" 
> thing. Personally, I'd much rather keep it up myself, which I would have
> done vigorously if I knew there was interest of it outside of my circle of
> friends. But I'm so tired of the politics over this stuff that if I said
> that anyway (since I was allready doing it in the first place) that I
> really don't want to make it a "who can better support LinuxJava" 
> competetion. I was just about ready to give up support entirely allready
> from all the pressure I and many others have gotten on the issue. Lemme
> think about it tonight while I sleep...

I'm willing to take over, including merging your mini-HOWTOs into the main
document.  But I want to leave you a way to participate and get due credit
for having been in there first.

I think what you're doing on IRC is obviously valuable, and represents a kind
of implicit knowledge that I very much wish I had.  If you'd like to write up
something about LinuxNet, how to get to it and your channel, I'd like to put
it in the Resources section.

To be quite frank, though, I think I can do the better job of maintaining the
written FAQ/HOWTO. I write better prose than you, and I have more time to put
into it.  This is not a putdown, your FAQ is quite good by FAQ standards. 
But I'm an successful, experienced writer who routinely gets paid money for it
(you've probably heard of "The New Hacker's Dictionary?") and the difference
shows.

My ideal outcome would be if I got permission to merge your documents into
mine and then maintain the merged version with your assistance.  And I'd
like to be able to pick your brain about the stuff I don't know, and have you
feel free to criticize and correct me on anything where you have superior
knowledge.  You'd get to back-seat drive :-).

But we'll do this any way that makes you feel right.  If you want active
coauthor status, that's fine -- but let me do the editing, because I spell
better than you do.  If you want to back away from active maintainence, but
get a special credit and citation in my HOWTO, that's fine too.  If you want
to tell me to take a hike and continue to maintain your own FAQ, that's okay
too, I'll still credit you generously in mine -- but I think the Linux world
would be better served if we cooperate actively.

Perhaps you should clue me in about some of this politics.  Am I stepping
into some kind of minefield?  And if so, why?
--
								>>esr>>