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| Title: | Online Bookbuilding |
| Notice: | This conference is write-locked: see note 1.3. |
| Moderator: | VAXUUM::UTT |
|
| Created: | Fri Aug 12 1988 |
| Last Modified: | Mon Jul 15 1991 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 440 |
| Total number of notes: | 2134 |
83.0. "Open Software Publishing Tools Group Announcement" by DECWET::SERACK (Ken Serack) Mon Feb 13 1989 17:36
DIGITAL INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: Open software publish- DATE: 10-February-1989
ing community FROM: Craig Kosak
DEPT: Open Software Pub-
lishing Tools Group
EXT: (206) 865-8773
LOC: ZSO1
ENET: DECWET::KOSAK
SUBJECT: Open Software Publishing Tools Group
The Open Software Publishing Tools Group (OSPTG) is con-
tacting you because you are a member of the open software
publishing community. The community includes documentation
groups supporting OSF platforms, engineering groups that
design and develop documentation tools, marketing groups
that maintain connections with customers and ISVs, inter-
nationalization groups, educational groups, and individ-
uals who, via VAX Notes conferences, have expressed an in-
terest in the process of providing user information for the
open software environment. If you know of other individ-
uals and groups who might be interested in this process,
please feel free to forward this message to them.
OSPTG is chartered to supply publishing tools that run on
OSF platforms. The tools include the DECwindows Bookreader.
Our group reports to Ken Western, Open Software Publica-
tions Manager.
This document describes our charter. We'd like your feed-
back on our goals and what we have to do to meet them. Specif-
ically, we'd like to hear about any requirements your group
might have for publishing tools that run on OSF platforms.
Page 2
Because we view ourselves as a service organization for groups
that supply documentation for OSF systems, we believe it's
important to follow up on your concerns and ideas. After
you've had a chance to review our charter and goals, we'd
like to set up either a telephone conference or a meeting
to discuss your input.
In the meantime, we welcome your questions, comments, and
input. We have established a VAX Notes conference (DECWET::OPEN-
PUB-TOOLS) as a forum for your comments and ideas; we en-
courage you to follow it and contribute to it. If you pre-
fer, you can call or send electronic mail. Please feel free
to forward this message to other people you think might be
interested in it.
Page 3
Open Software Publishing Tools Group
Request for Requirements
Charter
The Open Software Publishing Tools Group (OSPTG) is a ser-
vice organization chartered to serve its clients by address-
ing the specific needs of groups that produce documenta-
tion for an open systems environment.
Our short-term mission is to develop a system that allows
DIGITAL internal publishing groups to place OSF documen-
tation online.
Over the long term, we will work with the OSF publishing
community and related groups to arrive at an industry-standard
online publishing solution.
We develop solutions in close coordination with CUP Engi-
neering and other DIGITAL groups.
The Open Software Publishing Tools Group is part of the OS/SB
Publications branch of Corporate User Publications, and is
located in the OS/SB Bellevue facility.
Who are We?
The following are members of the Open Software Publishing
Tools Group:
o Craig Kosak
o Mary Beyer
o Kate O'Shea
o Ken Serack
o Michael Tardiff
Page 4
Who are Are Clients?
We view our group as a service organization for other groups
that are providing documentation for software running on
OSF systems. Our clients include the following groups:
o OS/SB publications
- DECwest
- Spit Brook
- Palo Alto
- Europe
o NaC documentation
o DECwindows documentation
o SDT documentation
o Core Applications Group (CAG) documentation
o Internationalization and translation
o Educational Services
o DIGITAL ISVs
Goals
The Open Software Publishing Tools Group has the follow-
ing goals:
o Provide document processing and online access systems
that run on OSF platforms
o Provide documentation and support for these systems
o Preserve DIGITAL's existing investment in ULTRIX, DECwin-
dows, and DECnet documentation source code
o Be able to interchange documentation source code among
groups
o Provide migration to the SGML source coding format
Page 5
o Facilitate communication and involvement with the OSF
publishing community
o Accept the output of a variety of WYSIWYG document-creation
applications, along with markup language input
o Support traditional UNIX documentation, such as the ref-
erence pages (manpages)
o Use, modify, or extend existing tools and applications
whenever possible
o Develop a highly modular system that evolves readily to
adapt to changing requirements, new technology, and adopted
standards
o Develop tools and systems that are compatible with stan-
dards endorsed by the Open Systems Foundation (OSF) and
other relevant standards groups
o Accommodate the publishing environments and needs of tar-
geted DIGITAL OSF ISVs
o Work with the OSF to encourage the adoption of our so-
lutions as industry standards
Our initial plan is to port the VMS DECwindows Bookreader
to OSF, and provide a system that accommodates the ditroff
-mu and -man, SDML, and SGML source code formats; runs on
OSF platforms; and produces Bookreader, Postscript, and ref-
erence page (manpage) files.
Your Ideas and Requirements
We'd like to discuss with you your ideas and requirements
for publishing tools for OSF platforms. To start the pro-
cess of identifying requirements, we're providing some ques-
tions that we'd like you to consider. The questions are adapted
from the form used by product groups going through Phase
0. You can use them as a guide for formulating comments and
requirements.
Page 6
o Please identify the group you represent, and what kind
of work that your group is doing.
o If you represent a documentation group, what documen-
tation tools are you using now?
Please be as specific as possible, and include any spe-
cial graphics products.
o If you represent a documentation group, are there other
specific documentation tools you are considering using
in the near future? If so, what are they?
o Do you plan to deliver documentation online?
o Have you identified any requirements for tools that sup-
port online documentation for an OSF platform? If so,
provide a brief description of your requirements.
Please feel free to attach a more detailed description
of any requirements.
o Does your project schedule depend on the availability
of additional OSF publishing tools?
o If these tools provide added value to your organization
or to a product, please describe this added value.
o In what time frame do you need OSF publishing tools?
o Are there additional reasons for including this request?
Please describe any additional reasons.
o Rate the importance of including each requirement us-
ing the following scale:
1. Essential
2. Important
3. Desirable
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