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<p>Hi there,</p>
<p>That would be great if you could share. </p>
<p>I wonder if you would be interested in this project? I imagine
you could be able to contribute something. </p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://about.flossmanuals.org.uk/post/_hugo-manual-proposal/">https://about.flossmanuals.org.uk/post/_hugo-manual-proposal/</a></p>
<p>thanks<br>
Mick </p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 05/06/2026 22:16,
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:a.praetorius@serapath.de">a.praetorius@serapath.de</a> wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CADPDqjHe8i99fzY=x6LGowvmindSeDhJATc4mPiH=qaiT94unA@mail.gmail.com">
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<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:monospace">I
followed the link and on <a
href="https://gitlab.com/flossmanuals/fm_en_splash/-/work_items/25"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://gitlab.com/flossmanuals/fm_en_splash/-/work_items/25</a>
it seemed this doesnt exist and is a goal?<br>
If that's so, I recently made a little repository (it's still
on github though), where a scientific paper style pdf is
generated from markdown and a website could be generated as
well.<br>
If that's of interest, I can share it.</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 1 Jun 2026 at 15:25,
m3shrom <<a href="mailto:m3shrom@riseup.net"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">m3shrom@riseup.net</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p>Hi there, </p>
<div>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><a
href="http://lists.flossmanuals.org.uk/listinfo.cgi/community-flossmanuals.org.uk"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://lists.flossmanuals.org.uk/listinfo.cgi/community-flossmanuals.org.uk</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I would actually like to collaborative an mimimal
update to <a
href="https://archive.flossmanuals.org.uk/tech-tools-for-activism/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://archive.flossmanuals.org.uk/tech-tools-for-activism/</a>
- perhaps we can table that for Nottingham?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>And can I just say how fooking right we were about
being farmed! Can we get a T shirt?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><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><br>
nice one</div>
<div>Mick</div>
<div>-------- Forwarded Message --------
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0">
<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 href="mailto:mickfuzz23@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><mickfuzz23@gmail.com></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="BASELINE" align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap">To:
</th>
<td><a
href="mailto:community@lists.flossmanuals.org.uk" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">community@lists.flossmanuals.org.uk</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<br>
<p><span>Hello friends, it's Mick here from Floss Manuals.</span></p>
<p><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><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><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><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><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><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
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WhLhF12TBE"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WhLhF12TBE</a>
- check the lyrics, it's a bit darker than Shakie's
take. </span></p>
<p><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><span>Of course, there's another thing that's about to
fall off the roof of the house.</span></p>
<p><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><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><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><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><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><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><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><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
href="http://about.flossmanuals.net" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">http://about.flossmanuals.net</a></span></p>
<p><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><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><span>On that note, I also want to share some personal
good news.</span></p>
<p><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><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><span>The thesis is available online at <a
href="http://pump.jammlabs.org.uk" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">pump.jammlabs.org.uk</a>. 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
id="m_-2850308704439439474a-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
href="https://pump.jammlabs.org.uk/blogs/meeting-middle/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://pump.jammlabs.org.uk/blogs/meeting-middle/</a></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><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><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><span>So, given those teasers of different directions
for discussion, that's probably enough for this
celebratory post.</span></p>
<p><span>Feel free to chip in with your thoughts and
responses in any way you want by hitting "reply all".</span></p>
<p><span>nice one<br>
cya<br>
Mick</span></p>
<p><br>
</p>
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</blockquote>
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