[mv] Re: MiniVend Documentation/Book

[Mark Stosberg <mark@summersault.com>]

******    message to minivend-users from Mark Stosberg <mark@summersault.com>     ******


I think the big picture of why a Minivend book is in demand is because
it is expected to be a thorough and useable piece of documentation on
Minivend. If what happens is that people get organized and
collaboratively create a thorough a useable piece of documentation, I
think the effort will have succeeded, whether it is only published
online, or if it makes into book form. 
  I think tje perception with publishing in a paper book form is that
the authors get paid, and if it's published online and distributed for
free, then the authors don't. This doesn't necessarily have to be case,
it's just that the solution may have to be more creative. :)
  One solution is that people would each submit some documentation and
perform as editors simply for the "cause"-- to support the community the
supports them. 
  Perhaps another model could take something from the CSA model (more
info here: http://www.caff.org/caff/programs/ag_community.html). In this
model, a partnership is former between consumers and farmers. The
consumers buy a share of the harvest at the beginning of the season, and
then when the harvest comes, all the consumers get a share of the
harvest back. This gaves the farmer some capital, and some assurance
that his/her crops will sell. 
  I think a similar model that could be appropriate for the Minivend
Documentation project could the CoSource marketplace:
http://www.cosource.com/  
  Some folks can collaboratively agree to pay for minivend documentation
(in a somewhat legally binding way, I think), and then some other folks
can agree to take on the project for that the agreed upon amount. So if
a bunch of users agreed to pay $30 (or more!) each to fund the project,
some enterprising writers and editors might take the project on, knowing
they were guaranteed at least this fixed amount. 
  By focusing on a printed book rather than online documentation, we are
adding a lot of extra production and distribution cost to the project.
By targeting online documentation as the end result, we could take the
money saved on production, paper and shipping, and pay the authors and
editors more! (We could also save a good bit of paper, too).
  That said, I'm not totally "anti-book". I realize the format does have
it's own benefits and is sometimes a very format have documentation in. 

  Thanks,

    -mark

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