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<p>Shall we perhaps make some HacktionLab/TTFA t-shirts?</p>
<p>M</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 01/06/2026 15:24, m3shrom wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:1ddf3d79-df15-41f2-8b0d-4a4ac5d36540@riseup.net">
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<p>Hi there, </p>
<div class="moz-forward-container">This rather long post below by
me is worth sharing if only for the link to the original of this
ole house (not Shakin' Stevens!)<br>
<br>
But if you want to join for 1 month of discussion future of
community documentation (or at least flossmanuals) you can join
here. </div>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://lists.flossmanuals.org.uk/listinfo.cgi/community-flossmanuals.org.uk"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://lists.flossmanuals.org.uk/listinfo.cgi/community-flossmanuals.org.uk</a></div>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-forward-container">I would actually like to
collaborative an mimimal update to <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://archive.flossmanuals.org.uk/tech-tools-for-activism/"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://archive.flossmanuals.org.uk/tech-tools-for-activism/</a>
- perhaps we can table that for Nottingham?</div>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-forward-container">And can I just say how fooking
right we were about being farmed! Can we get a T shirt?</div>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><br>
</div>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><img
src="https://archive.flossmanuals.org.uk/tech-tools-for-activism/_booki/tech-tools-for-activism/static/being_farmed_badge_ttfa.png"
alt="" width="260" height="255" moz-do-not-send="true"></div>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><br>
nice one</div>
<div class="moz-forward-container">Mick</div>
<div class="moz-forward-container">-------- Forwarded Message
--------
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"
class="moz-email-headers-table">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap">Subject:
</th>
<td>FLOSS Manuals is 20 Years old today! Let's celebrate.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap">Date:
</th>
<td>Mon, 1 Jun 2026 15:12:43 +0100</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap">From:
</th>
<td>Mick Fuzz <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:mickfuzz23@gmail.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><mickfuzz23@gmail.com></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap">To: </th>
<td><a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="mailto:community@lists.flossmanuals.org.uk"
moz-do-not-send="true">community@lists.flossmanuals.org.uk</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<br>
<meta http-equiv="content-type"
content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>Hello friends, it's Mick here
from Floss Manuals.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>Floss Manuals is 20 years old
today. We've chosen the 1st of June as our celebration date
because it's the first time the project was captured by the
Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. Although I got in touch
with Adam Hyde our founder and he said it was actually Feb
:)</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>Over the last few months, me,
Martin Kean and Helen Varley Jamieson have been working on
improvements and updates to the Floss Manuals community
infrastructure. We'd like to use this anniversary as the
starting point for a month of community activity to help
reboot the network.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>The process of writing my PhD
using open documentation tools, I think, could align with a
new direction for Floss Manuals, which is, to me, to take
the plunge and move towards writing with static websites and
Git instead of a centrally managed, specialised content
management system as we have used before.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>This move is also practical. For
several years the French Floss Manuals community generously
took on the task of running Booktype on behalf of the wider
project, including the English-language community, and I'd
like to thank them for that work. They took the decision to
stop maintaining the platform in April 2024, which was
entirely understandable. Since then, the project has
effectively been on hold.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>The overhead of running and
maintaining systems such as Booki and Booktype has become
increasingly difficult to sustain after Floss Manuals became
a volunteer-run project. Moving towards static websites and
Git may offer a more sustainable path forward.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>As part of this post I'm also
including a link to a song called </span><em><span>This Old
House</span></em><span>. Some people in the UK will know
it as a Shakin' Stevens song, but I prefer the original
version. <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WhLhF12TBE"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WhLhF12TBE</a>
- check the lyrics, it's a bit darker than Shakie's take. </span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>Being involved with Floss Manuals
has sometimes felt a bit like looking after an old house.
There have been things falling off it, services shutting
down, and periods where I haven't been able to repair or add
to things as quickly as they've broken. I've been a bit of a
caretaker. But it's a good old house, and it's a house
that's worth patching up.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>Of course, there's another thing
that's about to fall off the roof of the house.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>I recently received an email from
our hosting provider to say that they will no longer be
supporting the Mailman mailing lists that we've used
throughout much of Floss Manuals' history. So, beyond making
sure that we preserve and archive what's there, one of the
jobs that needs doing is working out what comes next for
community communications. </span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>This may actually be a good
opportunity to start again and let people choose what they
want to subscribe to, whether that's a low-traffic
announcements list, a more active community discussion list,
or something else entirely.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>I do already have an offer from
someone who can provide a Mailman list if we want to keep
things old school, but I'm also open to updating the
technology if there's a better approach. Email me directly
if you have a suggestion or offer.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>We've got another couple of
months before this mailing list reaches its end of life, and
in some ways that's helpful. I feel slightly hesitant about
generating a lot of traffic in people's inboxes if this
reboot discussion becomes active, and that's something we
can look at together. At least we know that there is an end
date for activity on this list, and that gives us a reason
to decide what comes next.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>Of course, if you'd rather not be
part of those discussions, the link to unsubscribe is at the
bottom of every email.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>In the coming weeks I'll write
more about the huge number of people who have contributed to
Floss Manuals and the equally huge body of work that has
been created over the last twenty years. I won't try to
start listing people or projects now.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>I'd also love it if other people
could chip in with their own memories, thanks, stories about
what they learned, or tributes to particular people who made
a difference to them along the way.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>I'd like to invite people to
write blog posts for us, or simply start thinking about what
they might want to remember and share. As part of this
reboot process I've migrated our previous blogs to a new
Hugo-based website, which is now available at: <a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://about.flossmanuals.net"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://about.flossmanuals.net</a></span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>It would be great to see that
site become a place where we can collect a bit more of the
history, memories and lessons from twenty years of Floss
Manuals.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>It would also be great to hear
where people are now. Floss Manuals has connected an rich
diversity and quantity of people over the years. I think
many people would be interested to hear what you've been
doing since, whether there are things you learned through
the project that stayed with you, and whether you see any
parallels between the work you're doing now and the work we
did together through Floss Manuals.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>On that note, I also want to
share some personal good news.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>Last Wednesday I successfully
defended my PhD thesis in a viva examination, which feels
like a pretty important milestone for me. </span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>Looking back, I can see a lot of
connections between that work and my involvement with Floss
Manuals. Many of the ideas that shaped the research,
particularly around collaborative working, open
documentation, participation and sharing knowledge, were
influenced by things I've learned through being involved
with this community over the years.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>The thesis is available online at
pump.jammlabs.org.uk. I still need to make a few final
corrections, but it's now in a form that people can read.
There's also a particular blog post related to the research
that I think may be of interest to people here, which I'll
share alongside it. </span></p>
<blockquote>
<h3><i>A Future for non-linear FLOSS Manuals<span
class="hx-absolute -hx-mt-20"
id="a-future-for-non-linear-floss-manuals"></span></i> </h3>
<p><i>While most manuals in FLOSS Manuals have been linear,
there have also been ones which were more complex in
structure. For example, some have been about process,
exploration, and a kind of pick-and-mix approach. A good
example of this is Digital Foundations, which moves
between guided instruction and open-ended experimentation
rather than forcing a single path through the material<br>
From </i><span><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://pump.jammlabs.org.uk/blogs/meeting-middle/"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://pump.jammlabs.org.uk/blogs/meeting-middle/</a></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>I'd genuinely be interested to
hear where other people have ended up, what projects you're
involved in these days, and whether Floss Manuals played any
part in shaping the path that got you there.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>I'll also share some of the
technical changes that have been made, along with some of
the new approaches to publishing that we're experimenting
with. I'll do that in a way that invites discussion, because
I don't think there's only one way forward and I'd be
interested to hear different views on how we should approach
these things.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>So, given those teasers of
different directions for discussion, that's probably enough
for this celebratory post.</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>Feel free to chip in with your
thoughts and responses in any way you want by hitting "reply
all".</span></p>
<p class="isSelectedEnd"><span>nice one<br>
cya<br>
Mick</span></p>
<p><br>
</p>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
<pre wrap="" class="moz-quote-pre">_______________________________________________
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</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Mike Harris
+44 07811 671 893
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://mbharris.co.uk">https://mbharris.co.uk</a> - <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://hacktionlab.org">https://hacktionlab.org</a> - <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://xtreamlab.net">https://xtreamlab.net</a></pre>
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