Open-Source Software for Technical Writers

For companies that are struggling in the current times because of the economic slowdown, an option that might not compromise on product quality is to switch to open-source software. In this article, I will talk about open-source publishing tools for the writing community.

Dhodi, Harjot Singh. Indus (2009). Articles>Software>Technical Writing>Open Source

Choosing a License for Sharing Documentation Content

What issues and legalities do we as Technical Communicators or Wiki Administrators need to be aware of as we move towards collaborative authoring projects and so forth, especially when documenting open source software?

Gentle, Anne. Just Write Click (2009). Articles>Documentation>Intellectual Property>Open Source

Open-Source Tech Writing: The Time is Now

We are all going to have to collaborate like never before. Everyone should select at least one area of interest and specialize as best they can. Then we will need to start meeting and sharing information. Immediately. There are several ways to do this, I believe.

Norris, Julie. 2moro Docs (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Technical Writing>Open Source

Active Open Source Translation Tool Projects

I don’t intend to give a complete project list. I just chose some projects that might be interesting enough to people from localization industry based on two criteria: 1. The features are useful for language service providers (LSP). 2. The development status is Stable or Mature. In other words, it is ready for real production use from the view of development cycle.

Dickson, Vic. Better Localization (2005). Articles>Software>Translation>Open Source

No More Slidesters, Part 3: Draw in the Open

As discussed recently, many people use PowerPoint to design posters, an act that borders on criminal. PowerPoint was designed for multiple projected images with minimal text, not one large image with complex text and graphics. People use PowerPoint because it’s the only thing remotely resembling a graphics software that people are familiar with. Microsoft Office simply doesn’t have a good, high end graphics component. Publisher comes close. OpenOffice does have a graphics component, simply called Draw. If you are not willing to shell out the big bucks generally required of a professional graphics software package, Draw has several features in its favour.

Better Posters (2009). Design>Presentations>Document Design>Open Source

Documentation Collaboration Service

Collaboration happens when multiple people work simultaneously towards a common goal. Collaboration software are tools which try to make working together easier and more productive. There are hundreds of methodologies and approaches out there to collaboration. We want to bring the focus on one particular dimension: open vs. structured collaboration.

Live Tech Docs (2009). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Open Source

XMLmind DITA Converter

XMLmind DITA Converter (ditac for short) allows to convert the most complex DITA 1.1 documents to production-quality XHTML 1.0, XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.1, JavaTM Help, HTML Help, Eclipse Help, PDF, PostScript®, RTF (can be opened in Word 2000+), WordprocessingML (can be opened in Word 2003+), Office Open XML (.docx, can be opened in Word 2007+), OpenOffice (.odt, can be opened in OpenOffice.org 2+).

XMLmind (2009). Resources>Software>DITA>Open Source

Janet Swisher on FLOSS Manuals, Open Source, and Book Sprints

Janet Swisher, who’s worked in technical communication since 1999, is an Information Developer for a medium-sized software company. Her specialist areas include online help, tutorials, API documentation and programmer guides. My “techie” cred is that she “can read code well enough to avoid asking obvious questions, and write code well enough to be dangerous.”

Walsh, Ivan. I Heart Tech Docs (2009). Articles>Interviews>Technical Writing>Open Source

Great Documentation Is Key to Open Source Success

Listen up open source developers, if you want your project to succeed you’re going to have to do more than write great code; you’re going to have to document it, teach new users how it works and provide real-world examples of what you can do with it. That’s the message from Jacob Kaplan-Moss, one of the creators of Django, a very successful open source, Python-based web framework. At least some Django’s success can be attributed to its thorough documentation which is not just reference materials, but also includes tutorials, topical guides and even snippets of design philosophy.

Gilbertson, Scott. Webmonkey (2009). Articles>Documentation>Usability>Open Source

Writing about Open Source to Kick Start (and Sustain) Your Career 

A report of a presentation by Dru Lavigne at FSOSS 2009 that discussed how to create and sustain a writing career by writing about Open Source.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Writing>Open Source

Doing Good with Technical Communication Skills 

Writers suggest people maintain or improve skills – or develop new skills – in some open-source type project where there is no pay, but plenty of opportunity to learn and, well, practice. This post is for sharing a few of those places of practice.

Mardahl, Karen. STC AccessAbility SIG (2009). Careers>TC>Unemployment>Open Source