---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Nicolas Dufour <nicoduf@...32...>
Date: Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 1:01 PM
Subject: Re : re committee
To: Josh Andler <
scislac@...23...>, Alexandre Prokoudine <
alexandre.prokoudine@...23...>, Inkscape Board <
inkscape-board@lists.sourceforge.net>
Cc: Ted Gould <
ted@...1...>, "Jon A. Cruz" <
jon@...9...>, Johan Engelen <
jbc.engelen@...38......>
Hi,
>De : Josh Andler <
scislac@...39...3...>
>Johan & Nicolas, would you be interested on being on the board?
If you think I can be helpful, I'll be glad to join the board.
>I really think this is one of those tough issues regarding Packt and the project showing any form of favoritism in the name of financial gain vs something community based (not say that there's anything comparable, but saying that tends to be the preference). If I could get a copy of it (no I don't want to pay) to judge the quality, I could then feel comfortable with voting.
We could try to have something community based AND get financial gains...
Here's my suggestion:
1. An Inkscape doc team writes the Inkscape introduction ebook and release it for free (Gnu FDL or whatever fits best) on the Inkscape website.
2. Ask Packt to publish a printed version of the book for a small fee (and try to be less expensive than printing it at home).
3. Add a link on our website that redirect to the Packt book store.
4. Optionally translate and try to sell translated printed copies as well.
I see at least too difficulties:
1. We need a motivated documentation team to write the original ebook, and some motivated translators (you can count on me!) for the localized versions. But hey, it's just 40 pages, and some of us already have published books, articles, or have contributed to on-line manuals! We could use the Floss Manuals platform to write it in collaborative mode.
2. Probably the main difficulty: would Packt accept to publish a printed version of a free ebook? Eyrolles did it recently with the French translation of the RMS biography by Sam Williams (FDL) last year. You can download the ebook for free on the Framasoft website, and you can buy the printed version in many technical book stores in France. Doing that would be beneficial for Packt's reputation as a free and open source software supporter, and would not necessarily reduce the number of books sold. I believe that the promotion made by Packt in order to sell the book would attract users to the project's page, and that the users that find the ebook useful would also buy the printed version if it's not too expensive compared to a home printed version.
My 0.02€
Regards.
--
Nicolas