This user is a member of the Xfce SIG.

John Babich

Open(Source+Standards+Access+Process) = FOSS Docs the FOSS Way!

My Fedora Community Roles:

File:JohnBabich ContentDeveloper.png Content Writer File:JohnBabich PeoplePerson.png People Person

IRC "Office Hours": 1600 UTC to 2000 UTC
Handle: jmbuser on Freenode IRC at #fedora-docs, #fedora-mktg, #fedora-websites
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA and beyond
Email: [[MailTo(jmbuser.fedora AT DESPAMINATE gmail DOT com)]
Journal: Currently on LiveJournal , which also feeds into Planet Fedora
FedoraPeople link: http://jmbabich.fedorapeople.org/
Tweet me AT jmbabich

Get Involved

I encourage anyone who benefits from free and open source software to get involved in some way. This can be as simple as trying new software and giving feedback to the developers. It can be as complex as writing code. It can even be the most complex of all tasks - explaining technical subjects in clear, non-technical language.

Why I am Involved

This is the email I sent to introduce myself to the Fedora Docs Project .

I have been a big fan of GNU/Linux and FOSS in general, and Red Hat and Fedora Linux in particular, since 1998. I started with Red Hat Linux 5.0 and have been using Linux on the desktop ever since.

After years of benefiting from GNU/Linux, I want to contribute something in return. My background is in large programming projects and I am professionally employed in information and communications technology (ICT).

As an ICT professional, I am very interested in promoting open source software as a means to help people to communicate via the Internet. I see computers as tools to enrich people's lives and effect positive changes in society. This is why I am a strong advocate for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) educational project.

Finally, there are plenty of great Linux distributions from which to choose. I have decided to commit my time and energy to the Fedora Project because I believe in the objectives of the Fedora Project. I wholeheartedly agree with its guiding principles. I can use leading-edge software without selling my soul or parting with too much of my hard-earned money.

My Recent Involvement

My primary contribution has been to help write useful documents so non-technical people can get the most out of Fedora Linux. Recently I've been helping out with the Fedora Documentation Project. I was also a beat writer for the Fedora Weekly News .

I am currently a member of the Fedora Documentation Steering Committee (FDSCo) and served on the Fedora Ambassadors Steering Committee (FAmSCo) for most of 2008.

I also take every opportunity I can to get my friends and colleagues to try FOSS, especially Fedora Linux.

Recent Contributions

Contributor to previous versions of the Fedora Desktop User Guide

Completed, with invaluable help from many others, the published version of the Fedora Core 6 Desktop User Guide

Fedora Websites Project - Random acts of wiki kindness

Fedora Ambassador - Organized the first Fedora presence at GITEX 2007, held in Dubai, UAE in early September 2007. Check out the Fedora Event page at this page .

Ideas on Improving the Fedora Docs Workflow was a compilation of tools to write and edit "FOSS Docs the FOSS Way". Just like FOSS developers use FOSS tools to create FOSS code, FOSS writers should have a FOSS toolkit to produce FOSS docs. FOSS writers can then share their docs more freely upstream, cross-stream and downstream under the Open Publication License and other compatible licenses.

FOSS Docs Toolchain is an attempt to write a detailed specification on how to write and edit documents using only FOSS tools. Note: Check out Publican for the latest FOSS documentation toolset. (I wish I had more time to check it out for myself).

Although my involvement is limited due to the demands of my current job, I am still following the progress of my friends and colleagues in the Fedora Project. I recently became a certified by the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional (PMP). This has led to an interest in how the technique of timeboxing is so successfully employed to produce a polished version of the Fedora distribution every 6 months.

GPG KEYID and Fingerprint

pub   1024D/42AF1331 2006-08-12 [expires: 2008-08-11] 
Key fingerprint = CE8E 40BD 5CB8 8437 787F  8F57 D517 C1DF 42AF 1331
uid                  John M. Babich (Fedora Project) < jmbabich gmail com>
sub   2048g/9C81B068 2006-08-12 [expires: 2008-08-11]

For Further Information

Fedora Project Core Principles, Objectives & Non-objectives

The Free Software Foundation - the "GNU" in "GNU/Linux"

The Linux Foundation "promotes, protects and standardizes Linux by providing unified resources and services needed for open source to successfully compete with closed platforms."

Open Source Initiative (OSI) "is a non-profit corporation dedicated to managing and promoting the Open Source Definition for the good of the community, specifically through the OSI Certified Open Source Software certification mark and program."