About FLOSS Manuals
FLOSS Manuals (FM) is a network of communities and individuals that produces and maintains original documentation about Free Software. See our front page of manuals here - https://flossmanuals.org.uk (please note our new URL and update your links)
Current activities
FLOSS Manuals is undertaking a reboot of the process of publishing to bring back the potential to revive existing manuals. And wider technical activity including.
- Publising using static websites: including Hugo, MKdocs.
- Using epubs as a publishing foundation for existing manuals that exist in that format.
- Reviving community activity with guest blog posts and video calls
Background and purpose
Historically, FLOSS Manuals operated through a number of language communities (operating under their own legal structures and and managed by independent organisations), including: English, Finnish, French with some project sites serving Farsi and Dutch.
Currently the work of FLOSS Manuals has turned towards maintaining and updating where needed the existing manuals. To do this a more decentralised working process is being trialled.
FLOSS Manuals was established to address a widespread lack of high-quality, freely available documentation explaining how to use Free Software. The core idea from the beginning was to distribute the means of producing manuals, textbooks, and teaching materials by making it easy for people to collaborate on the creation of comprehensive texts about Free Software.
Rather than relying on a single editorial centre, FLOSS Manuals focused on enabling communities to organise their own documentation work, often in their own languages, while sharing tools, processes, and publishing infrastructure. This approach positioned documentation as a form of collective cultural production closely aligned with the values of Free and Open Source Software itself.
Early development
The English-language FLOSS Manuals site was online in May 2007 and was officially launched at Montevideo Time Based Arts in Amsterdam in October 2007.
The Farsi-language FLOSS Manuals site was launched in 2008, the same year the project initiated its first Book Sprints. In subsequent years, French and Finnish language communities became active, further extending the project’s multilingual and international scope.
Collaborative writing and Book Sprints
An important part of FLOSS Manuals’ practice was the development and use of Book Sprints. These were short, intensive collaborative writing events designed to produce complete manuals within a matter of days. Book Sprints brought together authors, editors, designers, and facilitators to work collectively, moving from initial outline to finished publication in a highly structured but open process.
FLOSS Manuals also experimented with Sprint Conferences, where multiple Book Sprints ran in parallel. These approaches allowed the project to produce documentation rapidly while strengthening relationships between contributors and reinforcing a shared sense of purpose around free documentation.
Support and infrastructure
Over its active period, FLOSS Manuals was supported by a range of organisations that contributed hosting, development support, facilitation, and early funding. These partnerships enabled the project to experiment with new publishing models, develop collaborative writing tools, and sustain an international network of contributors over time.
Aspiration
Aspiration has supported FLOSS Manuals in many ways, including reviewing Booki and providing facilitation services for combined events such as the Google Summer of Code Social Summit.
http://aspirationtech.org
Greenhost
Greenhost is a Dutch ISP that provides the majority of hosting services for FLOSS Manuals.
http://www.greenhost.nl
Seravo
Seravo has contributed to the development and continued maintenance of tools used by FLOSS Manuals and helped support the technical frameworks for the Finnish and French FLOSS Manuals communities.
http://seravo.fi/
Sourcefabric
Sourcefabric has supported FLOSS Manuals by providing development assistance and promoting the project.
http://www.sourcefabric.org
Digital Pioneers
Digital Pioneers provided strong moral support and initial technical development funding.
http://www.digitalpioneers.org/