The meeting is, nominally, to discuss these proposals:
1. TFM should be READY TO PRINT by end 94, at the very latest Jan 95.
The ideal time to sell is the UNIX workshop: not only do you
automatically sell X copies, but being told they HAVE to read
TFM might make a few first years do so.
There is no reason why early publication is impossible, except that:
2. It should be re-written. TFM 94 is less amateurish than
the 93 version, but it's still grating and hard to follow. The
introductory sections -- Rules, Xwindows, UNIX, Vi, Cshrc, FTP, Email
-- need simplifying for readers with bad English. The more advanced
material is expected to be difficult, and can remain so if necessary.
In some cases, chapters should be moved: email, pine and ftp before
modems and IRC, for example. TFM might be better divided into
necessary, important enough and advanced concepts rather than the current
grouping of Basic, Networking and Advanced.
3. You need to choose an editor. (Not me. I will continue to drive
until someone else volunteers, then I'm finished.) I assume a few
people will nominate and the list will then vote. A good writer is
less useful in this position than someone who can get progsoc members
to finish whatever they volunteer to do.
Anyone with ideas / comments / etc should post them to the list. Please
prefix "TFM" to the header, so uninterested people can kill your mail
automatically. First year criticism is especially useful.
-- Grant Heinrich
In the end, we opted for utility over simplicity. We bought ceiling mirrors.