[Xapian-discuss] Writing a Quick Start Guide to Xapian

[Andrew Betts]

I would also be interested in this, and happy to contribute from my experience of developing a number of Xapian powered sites, the most complex of which is http://tilt.ft.com.  I'm also based in London.

> Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:16:08 +1200
> From: Olly Betts <olly at survex.com>
> Subject: [Xapian-discuss] Writing a Quick Start Guide to Xapian
> To: xapian-discuss at lists.xapian.org
> Message-ID: <20110727111607.GA3346 at cavity>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> 
> Google are holding a GSoC "Doc Camp" this year the week before the
> annual mentor summit - the dates for Doc Camp are 17-21 October, and the
> location is Google HQ in Mountain View, California, USA.
> 
> A major part of this will be several Book Sprints for writing Quick
> Start guides for specific organisations taking part in GSoC.  They're
> currently inviting proposals, and I'd like to submit one.  I took part
> in a book sprint of this format in 2009, and have been wanting to hold
> one to do a "Xapian book" ever since.  The issue has been how to get
> enough people together in one place, and this seems a good opportunity,
> particularly as a Quick Start guide would fix one of the weaker aspects
> of the current docs.
> 
> Details are at the URL below, but a key thing to note is that
> participation is open to *ANYONE*, not only those involved as mentors
> this year.  Google are offering to pay for food and accommodation costs,
> and you can also apply for some or all of your travel costs.  It's right
> before the mentor summit, so if you're attending that (for Xapian or
> another org) transport costs aren't an issue anyway.  The URL is:
> 
> https://sites.google.com/site/docsprintsummit/home
> 
> As part of the proposal, we can nominate up to 5 people.  It would be
> good to have a range of familiarity with Xapian - we clearly need there
> to be at least one person with plenty of Xapian experience in the team
> to ensure the content is accurate, but we also really need some people
> who are fairly new to Xapian and are better able to put themselves in
> the shoes of the people who most need such a book.
> 
> We need to submit a proposal before 5th August, so we have a week and a
> bit.  So if you can be available that week and are interested, or would
> just like to know more, please get in touch.
> 
> Cheers,
>     Olly