HOWTO HOWTO
 Mark F. Komarinski <[email protected]>

 v1.21, 8 February 1999

 List the tools, procedures, and hints to get HOWTO authors up to speed
 and writing.

 ______________________________________________________________________

 Table of Contents























































 1. Introduction

    1.1 History
    1.2 New versions
    1.3 Comments
       1.3.1 Version History
    1.4 Copyrights and Trademarks
    1.5 Acknowledgements and Thanks

 2. Background on the LDP and SGML

    2.1 The LDP
    2.2 SGML
       2.2.1 Why SGML instead of HTML or other formats?
    2.3 The tools
       2.3.1 sgmltools
       2.3.2 TeX
       2.3.3 LyX
       2.3.4 Emacs (PSGML)
       2.3.5 WordPerfect 2000

 3. Getting Started

    3.1 For New Authors
    3.2 Mailing Lists
    3.3 Downloading and installing the tools
       3.3.1 sgmltools
    3.4 Writing SGML by hand
       3.4.1 Starting out
       3.4.2 Header information
       3.4.3 Sections
       3.4.4 Normal paragraphs
       3.4.5 Enhanced Text
       3.4.6 Lists
       3.4.7 Verbatim text
       3.4.8 URLs
       3.4.9 References
       3.4.10 Special characters
    3.5 Writing SGML using other tools
       3.5.1 LyX
       3.5.2 Emacs
       3.5.3 Other SGML tools
    3.6 CVS basics
       3.6.1 CVS init
       3.6.2 Creating a CVS project
       3.6.3 Adding and removing files from a CVS project
    3.7 Distributing your documentation
       3.7.1 Before you distribute
       3.7.2 Copyright and Licensing issues
       3.7.3 Submission to LDP

 4. Style guides

 5. FAQs about the LDP

    5.1 I want to help the LDP. How can I do this?
    5.2 I want to publish a collection of LDP documents in a book. How is the LDP  content licensed?
    5.3 I found an error in an LDP document. Can I fix it?


 ______________________________________________________________________

 11..  IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn



 11..11..  HHiissttoorryy

 This document was started on Aug 26, 1999 by Mark F. Komarinski after
 two day's worth of frustration getting tools to work. If even one LDP
 author is helped by this, then I did my job.

 11..22..  NNeeww vveerrssiioonnss

 The newest version of this can be found on my homepage
 http://www.cgipc.com/~markk/ <http://www.cgipc.com/~markk/>in its SGML
 source.  Other versions may be found in different formats at the LDP
 homepage http://www.linuxdoc.org/ <http://www.linuxdoc.org/>.

 11..33..  CCoommmmeennttss

 Comments on this HOWTO may be directed to the author ([email protected]
 <mailto:[email protected]>).

 11..33..11..  VVeerrssiioonn HHiissttoorryy

 v1.21 (February 8, 1999)


 +o  Changed location of GNU GPL to ftp.gnu.org (per
    [email protected])

 +o  Added CVS information.  Will need to add more soon.

 11..44..  CCooppyyrriigghhttss aanndd TTrraaddeemmaarrkkss

 (c) 1999-2000 Mark F. Komarinski

 This manual may be reproduced in whole or in part, without fee,
 subject to the following restrictions:


 +o  The copyright notice above and this permission notice must be
    preserved complete on all complete or partial copies

 +o  Any translation or derived work must be approved by the author in
    writing before distribution.

 +o  If you distribute this work in part, instructions for obtaining the
    complete version of this manual must be included, and a means for
    obtaining a complete version provided.

 +o  Small portions may be reproduced as illustrations for reviews or
    quotes in other works without this permission notice if proper
    citation is given.


 Exceptions to these rules may be granted for academic purposes: Write
 to the author and ask. These restrictions are here to protect us as
 authors, not to restrict you as learners and educators. Any source
 code (aside from the SGML this document was written in) in this
 document is placed under the GNU General Public License, available via
 anonymous FTP from the GNU archive <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/GNU/COPYING>.

 11..55..  AAcckknnoowwlleeddggeemmeennttss aanndd TThhaannkkss

 Thanks to everyone that gave comments as I was writing this. This
 includes Deb Richardson and Daniel Barlow and other members of the
 ldp-discuss list.

 Some sections I got from the HOWTO Index (available at many LDP
 locations) and the sgmltools documentation. There are pointers to
 sgmltools and the LDP elsewhere in this document.

 22..  BBaacckkggrroouunndd oonn tthhee LLDDPP aanndd SSGGMMLL

 22..11..  TThhee LLDDPP

 The Linux Documentation Project (LDP) was started to provide new users
 a way of getting information quickly about a particular subject. It
 not only contains a series of books on administration, networking, and
 programming, but has a large number of smaller works on individual
 subjects, written by those who have used it. If you want to find out
 about printing, you get the Printing HOWTO. If you want to do some
 networking, grab the Ethernet HOWTO, and so on.

 At first, many of these works were in text or HTML. As time went on,
 there had to be a better way of managing these documents. One that
 would let you read it from a web page, a text file on a CD-ROM, or
 even your hand-held PDA.  The answer, as it turns out, is SGML.

 22..22..  SSGGMMLL

 The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is a language that is
 based on embedding codes within a document. In this way, its similar
 to HTML, but there is where any similarities end. The power of SGML is
 that unlike WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), you don't define
 things like colors, or font sizes, or even some kinds of formatting.
 Instead, you define elements (paragraph, section, numbered list) and
 let the SGML processor and the end program worry about placement,
 colors, fonts, and so on. HTML does the same thing, and is actually a
 subset of SGML.

 SGML has really two parts that make it up. First is the Structure,
 which is what is commonly called the DTD, or Document Type Definition.
 The DTD defines the relationship between each of the elements. The
 LinuxDoc DTD, used to create this document, is an example of this. The
 DTD gives a common look and feel to each document that's created using
 the DTD. Second is the Content, which is what gets rendered by the
 SGML processor and is eventually seen by the user.  This paragraph is
 content, but so would a graphic image, table, numbered list, and so
 on. Content is surrounded by tags to separate out each different
 element.

 Over time, the LinuxDoc DTD is going to change over to the DocBook
 DTD, used by others and giving the LDP a consistent look and feel to
 other SGML documentation. As this happens, we'll keep you updated via
 this HOWTO or on the mailing lists. The biggest difference between
 LinuxDoc and DocBook is that DocBook assigns tags to different types
 of content (such as commands, file names, directories, and so on)
 while LinuxDoc assigns tags based on the way the text should look (you
 can assign emphasized or typewriter for example)

 22..22..11..  WWhhyy SSGGMMLL iinnsstteeaadd ooff HHTTMMLL oorr ootthheerr ffoorrmmaattss??

 SGML provides for more than just formatting. You can automatically
 build indexes, table of contents, and links within the document or to
 outside. The sgmltools package also lets you export (I'll call it
 render from here on) SGML to LaTeX, info, text, HTML, and RTF. From
 these basic formats, you can then create other formats (DOC,
 PostScript, and so on). Programs like LyX (right now my LinuxDoc
 editor of choice) allow you to write in TeX format, then export it as
 SGML and render from SGML to whatever you chose.

 In the end, SGML is more concerned about the way elements work instead
 of the way they look. A big distinction, and one that will let you
 write faster, since you don't have to worry about placement of
 paragraphs, font sizes, font types, and so on.
 22..33..  TThhee ttoooollss

 In this section, I'll go over some of the tools that you'll need or
 want to use to create your own LDP documentation. I'll describe them
 here, and better define them later on, along with how to install them.
 If you use some other tool to assist in writing LDP, please let me
 know and I'll add a blurb here for it.

 22..33..11..  ssggmmllttoooollss

 Required

 The sgmltools package contains the SGML tools needed to render SGML as
 any of the file formats listed above. It also contains the LinuxDoc
 DTD, needed to make LDP documentation. To create only SGML
 documentation, this is all you need. If you want to render to formats
 like TeX, you'll need to get those packages as well. The sgmltools
 package is available either with your distribution of choice, or via
 http://www.sgmltools.org/ <http://www.sgmltools.org/>. Note that you
 will need version 1.0.9 to use LinuxDoc. Any other version is written
 for DocBook.

 22..33..22..  TTeeXX

 Optional

 TeX (rhymes with blech!) is the markup language of choice for many,
 including those in the mathematics world. I still remember many
 Calculus exams that were actually written in TeX. It is also one of
 the first markup languages that is still around (the other being the
 *roff formats used in man pages). TeX actually follows some of the
 same concepts that SGML does. However, TeX renders its files into DVI
 (Device Independent) that can then be rendered into another format.
 Unfortunately, DVI can't be easily converted into anything other than
 printer languages (PostScript, PCL), making it hard to use to generate
 HTML.  TeX is installed or is available with most Linux distributions.
 TeX is available on almost all distributions as LaTeX or TeTeX. Either
 should work for you.

 22..33..33..  LLyyXX

 Optional

 The LyX program is a graphical WYSIWYM (What You See Is What You Mean)
 and provides a much-needed link between an easy-to-use graphical app
 and renderer and the sometimes-complex rules of SGML. LyX was really
 used to write TeX documentation, and many of the TeX rules apply in
 LyX. For example, while sections are automatically numbered, you can't
 insert whitespace (spaces and tabs) easily. It's against what TeX was
 designed to do. As it is, SGML often ignore the same whitespace.  The
 LyX program can read the LinuxDoc DTD and provide a template document
 for you to write (or edit) your LDP documentation in a way that you're
 familiar with, without having to use vi and remember what the tags are
 for itemizing a list. LyX is available at http://www.lyx.org/
 <http://www.lyx.org/>.

 For those of you using KDE, there is a port of LyX using the Qt
 libraries.  You can find more information on this version at
 http://www.devel.lyx.org/~ettrich/klyx.html
 <http://www.devel.lyx.org/~ettrich/klyx.html>.

 22..33..44..  EEmmaaccss ((PPSSGGMMLL))

 Optional


 There is an Emacs mode for writing SGML and XML documents. You can get
 more iformation about it at
 http://www.lysator.liu.se/projects/about_psgml.html
 <http://www.lysator.liu.se/projects/about_psgml.html>.

 22..33..55..  WWoorrddPPeerrffeecctt 22000000

 Optional

 The latest release of WordPerfect 2000 will have support for SGML
 modes.  I'm not sure yet if this includes LinuxDoc, or only DocBook.
 If you're a beta tester of WP2k and can tell me how well it works,
 I'll be happy to include your notes.

 33..  GGeettttiinngg SSttaarrtteedd

 This section shows how to get involved in writing your own LDP
 documentation.  Getting and setting up the tools, making contact with
 the LDP in general, and distributing what you know to all the Linux
 users out there.

 33..11..  FFoorr NNeeww AAuutthhoorrss

 If you are a new to the LDP and want to pick up an unmaintained HOWTO
 or write a new HOWTO or mini-HOWTO document, contact the HOWTO
 coordinator at [email protected] <mailto:linux-
 [email protected]>. This is to make sure the HOWTO coordinator can
 know who is working on what documentation. Also note that all HOWTO
 submissions must be in SGML format (currently using the LinuxDoc DTD).
 The mini-HOWTO submissions may be made in either SGML or HTML formats,
 but only SGML-formatted submissions will be included in printed
 versions of the HOWTOs.

 33..22..  MMaaiilliinngg LLiissttss

 There are a few mailing lists to subscribe to so you can take part in
 how the LDP works. First is [email protected]
 <mailto:[email protected]>, which is the main discussion
 group of the LDP. To subscribe, send a message with the subject
 reading "subscribe" to [email protected]
 <mailto:[email protected]>. To unsubscribe, send
 an e-mail with the subject of "unsubscribe" to ldp-discuss-
 [email protected] <mailto:ldp-discuss-
 [email protected]>.

 33..33..  DDoowwnnllooaaddiinngg aanndd iinnssttaalllliinngg tthhee ttoooollss

 33..33..11..  ssggmmllttoooollss

 Download the sgmltools package from http://www.sgmltools.org/
 <http://www.sgmltools.org/>, or directly from your distribution.  The
 source files from sgmltools.org is in source code format, so you will
 have to compile the source code for your machine. Using a pre-built
 package for your distribution is easier, as you don't have to compile
 it and potentially run into compilation issues (that is, if you're not
 a coder).

 With RedHat, the sgmltools is included with the distribution. If not,
 you can download it from ftp.redhat.com or any of its mirrors as part
 of the main distribution.

 If you're using Debian, it too has sgmltools in the standard
 distribution.  If you don't have the package installed, you can use
 the apt-get command to download and install the package for you:


 # apt-get install sgml-tools





 For more information on the Debian package, you can look at
 http://www.debian.org/Packages/stable/text/sgml-tools.html
 <http://www.debian.org/Packages/stable/text/sgml-tools.html>

 If compiling from source, all you need to do is:


 # tar -zxvf sgmltools-x.x.x.tar.gz
 # cd sgmltools-x.x.x
 # ./configure
 # make
 # make install





 Replace sgmltools-x.x.x with the actual version of the sgmltools
 package you're using. The current version as of this writing that
 supports LinuxDoc is 1.0.9. The version that supports DocBook is
 2.0.2. Both are available at the above web site.

 Once the tools are installed, you have a number of commands available
 to you.

 sgmlcheck file.sgml- Checks the syntax of a given document.

 sgml2html file.sgml- Converts an SGML file into HTML. Creates a
 file.html file that contains the Table Of Contents, then creates file-
 x.html files where x is the section number.

 sgml2rtf file.sgml- Converts an SGML file into Rich Text Format (RTF).
 Creates two files, the first being file.rtf that contains the TOC, and
 a file-0.rtf that contains all the sections.

 sgml2txt file.sgml- Converts an SGML file into ASCII text. The TOC and
 all sections are all put into file.txt.

 sgml2info file.sgml- Blah SGML blah INFO, used by the info command.
 All output is sent to file.info.

 sgml2latex file.sgml- Blah SGML blah TeX.

 sgml2lyx file.sgml- SGML yadda LyX graphical editor. This is great if
 you have pre-generated SGML files and want to convert them for use in
 LyX.

 33..44..  WWrriittiinngg SSGGMMLL bbyy hhaanndd

 Much like HTML, you can write SGML by hand, once you know all the
 markup codes you want to use. This section will go over as many of
 these codes as possible, along with practical examples of each. A nice
 place to start would be the SGML source for this document, which is
 available at the web site in the Introduction. As the SGML may be
 processed differently depending on the file format you go to, I'll try
 to list some things to know about as you're writing.




 33..44..11..  SSttaarrttiinngg oouutt

 To start a new document, create a new file in your favorite ASCII
 editor and start with this:


 <!doctype linuxdoc system>




 This defines the document type (LinuxDoc in our case) that the SGML
 processor will use when it renders the file in an output format.
 Nothing is rendered from this tag.

 Next you need to enclose the rest of your work in <article> and
 </article> tags. This signifies the start of the content (or article,
 eh?). If you're familiar with HTML, this is similar to enclosing all
 your content with <html> and </html>.

 33..44..22..  HHeeaaddeerr iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn

 The first part of the content should contain general information about
 the rest of the content. This would be similar to the first few pages
 of a book, where you have a title page (title of the work, author,
 date of publication, table of contents, and so on).

 The title of the content is enclosed in <title> and </title> tags. The
 author is specified in <author> and </author> tags. The date uses
 <date> and </date>.

 The two remaining sections are the <abstract> and </abstract> tags,
 which provide an executive summary of what the content is about, and
 the <toc> tag, which specifies the location of the table of contents.
 The TOC is automatically generated by the SGML processor. We'll get
 into sections later on.

 Now, how does it all look together? Taking a nice bit of SGML code
 (that is, what was used to create this document) you'll see:


 <!doctype linuxdoc system>
 <!-- LinuxDoc file was created by LyX 1.0 (C) 1995-1999 by <markk> Tue Dec 14 15:24:03 1999-->
 <article>
 <title>HOWTO HOWTO
 </title>
 <author>Mark F. Komarinski
 </author>
 <date>v1.1, 14 December 1999
 </date>
 <abstract>List the tools, procedures, and hints to get HOWTO authors up to speed writing.
 </abstract>
 <toc>




 This bit of content created the main page you see when you look at
 this document in RTF or HTML format, listing all the information on
 one page.

 33..44..33..  SSeeccttiioonnss

 In order to build the Table of Contents, you need to have something to
 build with. Sections in the case of SGML is the same as chapters in
 traditional publishing. You have multiple sections, and each section
 can have a subsection, and each of those can have a subsection and so
 on.

 Starting your document with sections is great as it lets you create an
 outline of the major topics you want to cover. You can then break down
 these major sections into gradually smaller sections, until you have a
 nugget of information you can write about in a few short paragraphs.
 In writing this document, I actually started this way.

 Sections are one of the few sets of SGML tags that don't require to be
 closed. That is, there is no </sect> tag. Nor do you have to worry
 about numbering. The SGML processor will handle it all when you render
 the SGML into something else.

 Sections are started with <sect> tags. A new section is started with
 each <sect> tag. The first section is numbered 1.

 Creating subsections (like 1.1) is done with the <sect1> tag. It also
 starts with 1.

 Sub subsections (1.1.1) is done with the <sect2> tag, and also starts
 with 1.

 When the SGML processor comes across the <toc> tag, it runs through
 the rest of the document and builds the Table Of Contents based on the
 number of section tags within it. Sections are numbered and listed in
 the TOC and then used in the rest of the document. Sub subsections
 (1.1.1) do not show up in the TOC, but are put in emphasized text if
 possible.

 33..44..44..  NNoorrmmaall ppaarraaggrraapphhss

 Writing paragraphs of content is just like in HTML. Use a <p> tag to
 specify a new line, and start writing. SGML will ignore whitespace
 such as tabs, multiple spaces, and newlines. When SGML comes across a
 <p> tag, it starts a new paragraph. Proper SGML has you put in a </p>
 to end the paragraph.

 33..44..55..  EEnnhhaanncceedd TTeexxtt

 Every now and then you need a touch of text to stand out from the
 others.  Either to _h_i_g_h_l_i_g_h_t _c_o_d_e or to list a command name. The first
 (emphasizing text) is done with <em> and </em> tags. Typewriter text
 (the second example) is done with <tt> and </tt> tags.

 33..44..66..  LLiissttss

 There are two forms of doing lists under SGML. First is an enumerated
 list, where each item in the list is numbered (like sections) starting
 with 1.


 1. This is the first entry in the enumerated list.

 2. This is the second.

 3. Third.

 The code for the above list looks like this:







 <enum>
 <item>This is the first entry in the enumerated list.
 <item>This is the second.
 <item>Third.
 </enum>





 The <enum> tag specifies that the following items are going to be
 enumerated.

 The other method of writing lists is itemized, where each item merely
 has a star, or circle, or dot, or some other method of itemizing each
 item.


 +o  This is the first entry in the itemized list

 +o  This is the second

 +o  Third

 The above code looks like this in raw SGML:


 <itemize>
 <item>This is the first entry in the itemized list
 <item>This is the second.
 <item>Third.
 </itemize>




 As you can see, the <item> tag is the same for enumerated and itemized
 lists.

 A third form of lists is the description lists. This has a term being
 described, and the phrase that describes it.


    LLDDPP
       The Linux Documentation Project

    SSGGMMLL
       Standard Generalized Markup Language

 The code to create the above descriptions is:


 <descrip>
 <tag>LDP</tag>The Linux Documentation Project
 <tag>SGML</tag>Standard
  Generalized Markup Language
 </descrip>





 This isn't quite the same as itemized or enumerated lists, but you
 have the entire list surrounded by a tag (<descrip> and </descrip>)
 and each item in the line that is a word being defined is enclosed in
 <tag> and </tag>. The remainder of the line is taken to be the
 definition of the word.

 33..44..77..  VVeerrbbaattiimm tteexxtt

 Sometimes you just need to print some text the way you write it. For
 this, you can use the <verb> and </verb> tags to enclose a paragraph
 in verbatim mode. Spaces, carriage returns, and other literal text
 (including special characters) are preserved until the </verb>.


 This is verbatim text.





 33..44..88..  UURRLLss

 Also in SGML is the ability to handle Universal Resource Locators
 (URL) of any kind. Note that this would only work when exported to
 HTML mode, but other formats may use them as well.

 A URL doesn't have an end tag, but puts its information within the
 <url> tag itself. Here is a URL that points to the LDP homepage:
 http://www.linuxdoc.org/ <http://www.linuxdoc.org/>. And here's the
 code to create it:


 <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/" name="http://www.linuxdoc.org/">





 The url=\"{}http://www.linuxdoc.org/\"{} tells the browser where to
 go, while the contents of the name=\"{}http://www.linuxdoc.org/\"{}
 tells the browser what to print out to the screen. In this case, the
 two are similar, but I could create a URL tag that looks like this:


 <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/" name="LDP">





 And then looks on the page like this: LDP <http://www.linuxdoc.org/>.
 However, good form suggests that you duplicate the URL in the name
 portion. The reason for this is if you're using something like Text or
 RTF output, the above tag would have no meaning.  you wouldn't know
 what URL to use.

 33..44..99..  RReeffeerreenncceess

 While URLs are great for linking to content outside the LDP document
 you're working on, it's not that great for linking within the content
 itself. For this, you use the <label> and <ref> tags. The <label> tag
 creates a point in the document where you want to refer back to later
 on, almost like a bookmark. Creating the <label> is easy. Find the
 point where you want to refer back to later on, and insert the
 following:





 <label id="Introduction">





 You have now created a point in the content that you can refer to
 later on as "Introduction". This label actually appears in this SGML
 work at the front of the document. When you want to refer back to that
 point later on (say ``'' (here)), you insert the following SGML:


 <ref id="Introduction" name="here">





 and the SGML will know to put in a link called "here" (see above) that
 links back to the location of the Introduction section.

 The other part of references is indexing. Since LDP documentation is
 usually published on paper as a large collection of documents, there
 needs to be a way of building the index at the back of the book, based
 on words and subjects.

 33..44..1100..  SSppeecciiaall cchhaarraacctteerrss

 Much like HTML, you will need to escape many non-alphanumeric
 characters to prevent the SGML processor from interpreting them as
 SGML code. Here's a list of the SGML codes used. More are listed in
 the sgmltools User's Guide located at
 http://www.sgmltools.org/guide/guide.html
 <http://www.sgmltools.org/guide/guide.html>.


 +o  Use &amp; for the ampersand (&)

 +o  Use &lt; for a left bracket (<)

 +o  Use &gt; for a right bracket (>)

 +o  Use &etago; for a left bracket with a slash (</)

 +o  Use &dollar; for a dollar sign ($)

 +o  Use &num; for a hash (#)

 +o  Use &percnt; for a percent (%)

 +o  Use &tilde; for a tilde (\ {})

 +o  Use " and " for quotes, or use &dquot for \"{}

 +o  Use &shy; for a soft hyphen (that is, an indication that this is a
    good place to break a word for horizontal justification).

 33..55..  WWrriittiinngg SSGGMMLL uussiinngg ootthheerr ttoooollss

 33..55..11..  LLyyXX

 I'm still gushing about LyX. Okay, so I'm a bit biased towards this
 application because I really like it. It provides the power of writing
 SGML with the ease-of-use of a regular word processor. It's not a
 WYSIWYG program, but more WYSIWYM (What You Get Is What You Mean)
 application, since what you see on the screen isn't necessarily what
 happens after the SGML processor is done with it.

 To create a LinuxDoc document with LyX, download and install the
 application.  Make sure you have TeX and sgmltools installed first
 (see ``'' (Installing the Tools) for more information on this). Once
 complete, start up LyX and select "file->new from template..." Select
 "Templates" then click on linuxdoctemplate.lyx and you'll have a
 template document set up, with most of the header information that an
 LDP document should have. Change the data to suit your need (that is,
 fill in the Title, Author, Date, Abstract, and so on) and then start
 writing. The pull down menu in the upper left hand corner can be used
 to select types of content (standard, itemized and enumerated lists,
 sections). The exclamation point is used to emphasize text, and you
 can either click it and begin typing in emphasized mode, or highlight
 text with the mouse and click on it to emphasize the highlighted text.
 Many other features of SGML can be found under the Insert menu bar.
 You can insert URL locations, cross references, index entries, and
 other kinds of data. When complete with your documentation, you can
 save it in LyX format, then export to LinuxDoc and have the file saved
 with a .sgml extension. That file is then ready to be checked with
 sgmlcheck and rendered to the formats you want.

 33..55..22..  EEmmaaccss

 Emacs has an SGML writing mode called psgml. Anyone with experience
 writing in this mode is welcome to e-mail the author of this document.

 33..55..33..  OOtthheerr SSGGMMLL ttoooollss

 If there are other SGML tools out there, or even commercial ones that
 the LinuxDoc DTD can be used with to create LDP documentation, please
 let me know.

 33..66..  CCVVSS bbaassiiccss

 At this time, the LDP does not have a shared repository for you to
 store your content online. Hopefully this will change. There are a few
 good reasons for using CVS:


 1. CVS will keep an off-site backup of your documents. In the event
    that you hand over a document to another author, they can just
    retrieve the document from CVS and continue on. In the event you
    need to go back to a previous version of a document, you can
    retrieve it as well.

 2. It's great if you have many people working on the same document.
    You can have CVS tell you what changes were made while you were
    editing your copy by another author, and integrate those changes
    in.

 3. Keeps a log of what changes were made. These logs (and a date
    stamp) can be placed automatically inside the document when you use
    some special tags that get processed before the SGML processor.

 4. Can provide for a way for a program to automatically update the LDP
    web site with new documentation as it's written and submitted.

 So let's take a look at what you need to set up CVS on your local
 system to at least get started.  Once network CVS access is available,
 many of these commands will stay the same, so don't worry about having
 to re-learn new tricks.




 33..66..11..  CCVVSS iinniitt

 First you'll need to create what is called a CVS repository.  This is
 pretty much the root directory that is used by CVS, with your various
 projects created as subdirectories of that.  It doesn't matter where
 this exists, though it's best if it were a dirtectory that was backed
 up.

 For our purposes, let's say that it'll be under my home directory
 (/home/markk) and be called cvs.root.  I can create the repository by
 first creating the directory /home/markk/cvs.root, then setting the
 CVSROOT environmental variable to /home/markk/cvs.root, then use the
 cvs init command.  This creates the base repository.  If you go into
 the /home/markk/cvs.root directory, you'll find a new directory called
 CVSROOT with basic information about the CVS setup you're using.

 If you plan on using CVS for something other than plain 'ol ASCII
 data, you will need to change one of these files to prevent CVS from
 treating it as an ASCII file.  This includes things like image files,
 .DOC files, and other binary-style data.  In short, if it's not source
 code, and it's not HTML, TXT, or SGML, you will probably need to
 change the configuration.  Here's what you do:

 Go to another directory and check out CVSROOT.  Yes, the CVSROOT
 directory is in CVS format too.  To do this, make sure that the
 environmental variable CVSROOT is still set to /home/markk/cvs.root
 (or your CVS repositorty directory).  Then use the command cvs co
 CVSROOT to "check out" the CVSROOT module.  Enter the CVSROOT
 directory and with your favorite text editor, edit the cvswrappers
 file.  There are no entries in this file, but the last line looks
 something like this:


 #*.gif -k 'b'



 If this line were not commented out, it would tell CVS that all files
 that end in .gif are binary files, and to not treat it as ASCII.  We
 want this.  So uncomment the line, and add lines of a similar format
 for other binary files that you want to cover with CVS, one per line.

 Once you're done with the editing, use cvs diff . to make sure that
 cvswrappers is the only file that changed, then use cvs commit
 cvswrappers to commit the changes back into the repository.  You can
 then delete the CVSROOT directory from the temporary directory. NEVER
 DIRECTLY MODIFY, DELETE, OR ADD FILES TO A REPOSITORY.  ALWAYS USE THE
 CVS COMMAND TO DO THIS.

 33..66..22..  CCrreeaattiinngg aa CCVVSS pprroojjeecctt

 Now that your repository is set to make new projects, let's create
 one.  In order to do this, you'll need some sort of content already
 written.  You'll also want this in a directory by itself.  For
 example, if I wanted to create a project for the HOWTO-HOWTO, I'd have
 a directory setup like this:


 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/howto> ls -la
 total 40
 drwxr-xr-x   2 markk    console      1024 Feb  8 10:51 .
 drwxr-xr-x 100 markk    users        6144 Feb  8 10:49 ..
 -rw-r--r--   1 markk    console     32555 Feb  8 10:51 howto.sgml
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/howto>


 Again, make sure that the CVSROOT environment variable is set to
 /home/markk/cvs.root, and use the cvs import command to create a new
 project:


 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/howto> cvs import howto R1 start
 N howto/howto.sgml

 No conflicts created by this import

 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/howto>



 What you don't see in this is when I was brought into the editor and
 was asked to add a comment for this file.  By default this should be
 the contents of the EDITOR environment variable, meaning it'll
 probably be vi.  In the cvs command, you're using the import command,
 telling CVS that you want to import the files in the current
 directory.  The howto tells CVS that the name of the project is HOWTO.
 The R1 and start reflect vendor and branches.  We don't need to worry
 about this, since you're writing documentation.  Writers of code will
 have to worry about it, as it has to do with code forking and the
 like.  CVS experts are invited to e-mail the author to explain these
 concepts a bit more.

 The file (in my case, just the howto.sgml) is added to the newly-
 created project.  I can verify this by going to another directory and
 using the command cvs co howto, which will extract the howto.sgml
 file:


 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz> cvs co howto
 cvs checkout: Updating howto
 U howto/howto.sgml
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz> ls -la
 total 8
 drwxr-xr-x   3 markk    console      1024 Feb  8 10:59 .
 drwxr-xr-x 101 markk    users        6144 Feb  8 10:59 ..
 drwxr-xr-x   3 markk    console      1024 Feb  8 10:59 howto
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz>



 I can then go into the howto directory, which now has a CVS directory
 within it and the howto.sgml file.  I can edit that howto.sgml file as
 I need, then use the cvs commit howto.sgml command to commit changes I
 made back into the project.  Each time I perform a commit, I have to
 add a comment which lists the changes I made to the document.  Each
 commit also gets a new version number, allowing me to go back to any
 pervious version at any time.

 33..66..33..  AAddddiinngg aanndd rreemmoovviinngg ffiilleess ffrroomm aa CCVVSS pprroojjeecctt

 I can add or remove files from a project if I have changes.  For
 example, I could add in the text-formatted version of the HOWTO-HOWTO,
 called howto.txt.  To do this, check out the current howto project
 into an empty directory, copy the howto.txt file into the project
 directory, use thecvs add command to add the file to the project, then
 use cvs commit to commit changes back into the main repository:






 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk> mkdir baz
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk> cd baz
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz> cvs co howto
 cvs checkout: Updating howto
 U howto/howto.sgml
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz> cd howto
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz/howto> cp ~/howto.txt .
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz/howto> cvs add howto.txt
 cvs add: scheduling file 'Howto.txt' for addition
 cvs add: use 'cvs commit' to add this file permanently
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz/howto> cvs diff .
 cvs diff: Diffing .
 cvs diff: howto.txt is a new entry, no comparison available
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz/howto> cvs commit howto.txt
 RCS file: /home/markk/foo/howto/howto.txt,v
 done
 Checking in howto.txt;
 /home/markk/foo/howto/howto.txt,v  <--  howto.txt
 initial revision: 1.1
 done
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz/howto>



 To remove a file, use the cvs delete command.  You will need to check
 out the project, delete the file from the project directory, then use
 cvs delete and the filename, then use cvs commit to commit changes
 back into the main repository.


 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk> mkdir baz
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk> cd baz
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz> cvs co howto
 cvs checkout: Updating howto
 U howto/howto.sgml
 U howto/howto.txt
 cd hwayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz> cd howto
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz/howto> rm howto.txt
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz/howto> cvs delete howto.txt
 cvs remove: scheduling 'Howto.txt' for removal
 cvs remove: use 'cvs commit' to remove this file permanently
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz/howto> cvs commit .
 cvs commit: Examining .
 Removing howto.txt;
 /home/markk/foo/howto/howto.txt,v  <--  howto.txt
 new revision: delete; previous revision: 1.1
 done
 wayga.auroratech.com::/home/markk/baz/howto>



 The file is then removed from the repository.

 33..77..  DDiissttrriibbuuttiinngg yyoouurr ddooccuummeennttaattiioonn

 33..77..11..  BBeeffoorree yyoouu ddiissttrriibbuuttee

 Before you distribute your code to millions of potential readers there
 are a few things you should do.

 First, be sure to spell-check your document. Most utilities that you
 would use to write SGML (emacs, LyX, other text editors) have plug-ins
 to perform a spell check. If not, there's always the ispell program,
 installed in just about every distribution. Also use the sgmlcheck
 command with sgmltools to verify you have correct SGML tags.

 Second, get someone to review your documentation for comments and
 factual correctness. The documentation that is published by the LDP
 needs to be as factually correct as possible, as there are millions of
 Linux users that may be reading it. If you're part of a larger mailing
 list talking about the subject, ask others from the list to help you
 out.

 Third, create a web site where you can distribute your documentation.
 This isn't required, but is helpful for people to find the original
 location of your document.

 33..77..22..  CCooppyyrriigghhtt aanndd LLiicceennssiinngg iissssuueess

 In order for an LDP document to be accepted by the LDP, it must be
 licensed to allow for free (as in beer) distribution and publishing.
 As an author, you may retain the copyright and add other restrictions
 (for example, you must approve any translations or derivative works).
 A sample license is available at
 http://www.linuxdoc.org/COPYRIGHT.html
 <http://www.linuxdoc.org/COPYRIGHT.html>. If you choose to use the
 boilerplate copyright, simply copy it into your source code under a
 section called "Copyright and Licenses" or similar.  Also include a
 copyright statement of your own (since you still own it). If you are a
 new maintainer for an already-existing HOWTO, you must include the
 previous copyright statements of the previous author(s) and the dates
 they maintained that document.

 33..77..33..  SSuubbmmiissssiioonn ttoo LLDDPP

 Once your LDP document has been reviewed by a few people and you took
 into account their comments, you can release your document to the LDP
 in general.  Send an e-mail with the SGML source code (you may gzip it
 if you like) to [email protected] <mailto:ldp-
 [email protected]>.  If you don't hear anything in 7 calendar
 days, please follow up with an e-mail to make sure things are still in
 process.

 44..  SSttyyllee gguuiiddeess

 This isn't a hard and fast guide on writing good documentation (yet),
 but consider it a bunch of hints to help you along as you write.


 +o  Be clear. Everyone needs to know what you're talking about.

 +o  Use examples where possible. It lets everyone see what you're
    talking about.


 +o  Organize. Don't jump between unrelated topics in the same section.

 You can get many more hints from the LDP style guide located at
 http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/LDP-Style-Guide.html
 <http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/LDP-Style-Guide.html>.

 55..  FFAAQQss aabboouutt tthhee LLDDPP

 55..11..  II wwaanntt ttoo hheellpp tthhee LLDDPP.. HHooww ccaann II ddoo tthhiiss??

 The easiest way is to find something and document it. Also check the
 unmaintained HOWTOs and see if there is a subject there that you know
 about and can continue documenting.




 55..22..  ccoonntteenntt lliicceennsseedd??  II wwaanntt ttoo ppuubblliisshh aa ccoolllleeccttiioonn ooff LLDDPP ddooccuu--
 mmeennttss iinn aa bbooookk.. HHooww iiss tthhee LLDDPP

 Please see http://www.linuxdoc.org/COPYRIGHT.html
 <http://www.linuxdoc.org/COPYRIGHT.html>. Note that this is only a
 guideline to authors.

 55..33..  II ffoouunndd aann eerrrroorr iinn aann LLDDPP ddooccuummeenntt.. CCaann II ffiixx iitt??

 Contact the author of the document, or the LDP coordinator and mention
 the problem and how you think it needs to be fixed.

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