I hope these may be of use to somebody somewhere. As a perpetual newbie to NetBSD (and Unix in general) myself, I am often dismayed by the utter guru-ish language in most Unix documentation. So sometimes, once I get something up and running, and if it was a bit confusing, before going on, I shall write it down in plain English (if indeed, there be such a thing) for the benefit of others.
And further, I will often go so far as to re-enact it all over again so that I may include a maximum of detail. This, as I have long since learnt in my own career, is the only trusted way to document fully and completely. To do any less is to risk a sin of omission and so waste another’s time. I hate it when some does that to me. So I shall avoid it in my own turn. Enough said.
Have you figured out in NetBSD something that at first seemed difficult or confusing? Earn good karma by doing someone else a favor! Document it thoroughly. Preferably, start a log before you begin. Keep track of all your steps (in the first person, present tense) just as you do them.
Ex-post-facto, edit out only such wrong turns or dead ends as will not serve to enlighten. Write in plain English. Hold to a reasonably linear narrative without tangental observations. Just tell how to get the thing working, cookbook fashion. Expect that readers will study the concept only after first obtaining a working example. This, at least, is what I have striven here to do. I will gladly host your how-to here, with full credit to you, of course.
Then again, you might prefer a markedly different writing style, or to write about a different BSD. These too are equally welcome. I will be equally pleased to host them, or link to them elsewhere, but glathered under a separate grouping so as to maintain the distinction.
May these few contributions here be of use to someone somewhere. Please consider contributing to them. With ever more, easier-to-follow documentation written specifically for newbies, BSD (and especially NetBSD) may flourish and prosper all the more.
Respectfully,
Ĝan Ŭesli Starling
Kalamazoo, MI, USA
