LINMO

FAQ: LINFO

Q: The Linux Information Project web site looks old fashioned, like something from ten years ago. Why don't you update it and make it more modern looking?

A: The Linux Information Project (LINFO) web site was not designed to be fashionable or to compete with sites that have a lot of fancy Flash graphics, pop-ups, wikis, blogs and other trendy technologies. Vast numbers of such sites are already available for people who are interested in them. It is not that LINFO is anti-fashion; rather, it is just that it is based on a very different philosophy which has higher priorities than trying to look or behave like other sites.

Q: Is the LINFO web site basically the same as a text-only version of a web site, such as used to be popular but which are rarely seen these days?

A: No. Any similarity is just superficial. Text-only versions of web sites were created mainly by just stripping the original site of images and most formatting. In contrast, the LINFO site was designed from the ground up to combine the best attributes of hard copy (i.e., printed on paper) books with the advantages of the web to make it as useful as possible to the widest potential audience.

Q: Why don't you add a search capability to the LINFO site? That would make the large amount of information in it much more accessible.

A: This misses the point about the LINFO site. It is true that the site provides a huge amount of information; however, providing useful information is only half of its purpose. The other half, which is not obvious on casual inspection, is an attempt to organize and present a large amount of information in a more efficient and intuitive manner than on conventional sites such that a search mechanism is of little added use. This will be explained in detail in a forthcoming page.

Q: What is the relationship between LINMO and The Linux Information Project?

A: LINFO was developed for two main purposes. One was to provide a comprehensive and highly accessible source of information about Linux and other free software (i.e., software that is free in both a monetary sense and with regard to use). The second was as an experiment in how to provide a large quantity of high quality information about a specific topic so as to maximize its usefulness and convenience for the greatest possible number of users (including those with widely divergent levels of knowledge about the topic, those living in regions with slow or erratic Internet connections, those accessing the content via alternative devices and those for whom English might not be their primary language). The success of this experiment has led to the development of the LINMO (linked information modules) project. LINFO is the first example of a large-scale web site that comes close to being LINMO-compatible.

Q: How successful is The Linux Information Project?

A: There are various ways to measure success. If measured in terms of the number of visits or hits, LINFO is quite successful. The site already attracts a large (thousands per day) and growing number of visitors from around the world despite the facts that it is still far from complete and that little has been done to publicize it.

If measured in terms of how users have benefited, it has also been rather successful, based on feedback from users. For example, some of the material is already being used in a number of schools as well as by large numbers of students for self-study. Moreover, it has been successful in that it has led to the development of LINMO, which might in the long run be its greatest success.

Q: What accounts for this success?

A: Several things. One is that the topic is of great interest to many people around the world. Another is the site's increasingly comprehensive nature. A third is that the site has been developed to maximize usefulness and usability, rather than to attain some other goal such as maximizing advertising revenue or profitability. Usability can be defined as the convenience, efficiency and satisfaction with which a product can be used by a wide range of people under a variety of circumstances.

Q: The LINFO site looks extremely simple. Is there some reason for that?

A: Yes, it is extremely simple, at least superficially. This seeming simplicity is really the absence of unnecessary complexity; a major benefit is increased usability.

Q: Is there some subtlety or depth behind the simplicity?

A: Yes, a great deal. And it should be mentioned in this context that creating simplicity can often be far more challenging, but much more rewarding, than creating unnecessary complexity.

Q: What were the most difficult problems that were encountered in developing LINFO?

A: Certainly at the top of the list is the immense amount of time and effort involved. Especially near the beginning, the task of creating the vast number of articles that would be required seemed almost insurmountable. Also, there was the problem that this project involved some uncharted territory; that is, it required considerable thought to determine how to do a number of things that may not have been done before. Although each of these may seem small in itself, they can become fairly large and complex when looked at in the aggregate.

Q: Its home page states that LINFO is still in beta. Why is this and when will the beta phase be finished?

A: It is still in beta (i.e., an experimental stage) because a number of minor issues remain to be fully addressed or finalized. A major requirement for coming out of beta has been the formal expression of the underling model and guidelines for implementing it; this requirement is being satisfied with the launching of LINMO.

Q: Is LINFO fully compliant with the LINMO guidelines?

A: No, there are several sections and features that do not yet conform. This is largely the result of experiments that were conducted at an earlier stage in the development of the site. Non-compliant sections and features will eventually be modified or eliminated.

Q: How far along is LINFO and when will it be completed?

A: LINFO is well advanced. It already contains in excess of 600 completely original pages, and a number of the most challenging articles have already been written. However, it is still less than half completed in terms of the total number of pages needed to provide fairly comprehensive coverage of the topic. Moreover, all of the existing pages will have to be carefully reviewed at least once and some will undoubtedly require substantial rewriting. It could easily take two or three more years to get anywhere near completion.