Episode 89: Charles on Writing

[MerelyJim]

Just a little feedback on the topic of Writing;

Every Word-Processor, Note-taking application, and text-editor should come with the following warning in big red block letters; WARNING: WRITING CAN BECOME ADDICTIVE. They should include it on typewriters too, if you want to go the analog route.

In order to compensate for poor grammar skills, I was told that I should try to imagine Winston Churchill speaking what I had written, and if it didn't fit, rewrite. I didn't have a whole lot of access to Churchill material as a lad, but there was access to the two funniest Brits to ever walk the planet; Douglas Adams and John Cleese. It got me through college, but oh, what a monster they created!

Write SOMETHING. Go to the Linux Mint Community website and read a HOWTO, to figure out the format, and take a shot at one yourself. Start a blog through Wordpress or Blogger. Post in the forums. Review a book. There's something you know that can be shared to the greater good, but without letting us know about it, you're a terminal with a broken connection.

If you choose to write material for a for-profit publication* [not a thing wrong with this...I don't mind sending your kids to college if you help me send mine, all economic equality aside], there's an Evergreen concept you might want to look at... Evergreen, like the tree, holds on almost forever. I bought a copy of "The Linux Cookbook [2nd edition]" by Michael Stutz back in 2006, or 2007. It's mostly command-line tips and tricks, all 852 pages of it, distro-agnostic, dog-eared and my GOTO book when things go wrong. This is the book that Scotty consults when Kirk says, "we need more power!" I bought a PDF copy of it last week so I could always have a copy of it on-hand. There's a lot of technology that quickly passes by the wayside, but the core - the kernal - of Linux, endures**.

* I will gladly buy well-written Linux information from publications. This is where I go when someone tells me to RTFM on a forum. I've easily spent twice as much in books on Linux than I've ever spent on the latest version of Windows operating system.

** Thanks to Dennis Ritchie, who didn't get enough credit when he was alive, and damn sure should be remembered now and in the future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cleese
http://community.linuxmint.com/
http://nostarch.com/lcbk2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie