[ZDP] OpenContent issues

[Robert O'Connor]

Renamed from
Subject: Re: [ZDP] It's there!

> > Perhaps we should consider copyright licenses for this kind of
> > thing. Perhaps Open Content is something? I should go read
> > www.opencontent.org :) Though would this work in the light of our future
> > bestseller on Zope? (getting a bit maniacal here :)

I like the "open content" idea.
It fits well with "open source" ZOPE.

> The upcoming O'Reilly book about DocBook by Norm Walsh
> (http://nwalsh.com/docbook/) will be published as 'open source'...
> ...Open content is very appropriate for tech docs because it allows anyone
> to fix it and use it in other docs. It can only help the cause.
> My philosophy is that you do the doc, give it to the community, then it
> is no longer yours. Criticism, changes, etc are directed toward the doc,
> not the author (who no longer owns it). I think this should be a
> requirement for docs placed on ZDP.

I agree with this requirement.

So,  hypothetically lets say that O'Reilly publishes
"The Zen of Zope" based on the work of the ZDP group.

*Who gets the credit and ultimately the money?
* Is the money put in a fund to support the ZDP site
  and perhaps DigiCool and others for the use of
  proprietary products such as ZTables?  Or is the
  money distributed to the contributors?

The real benefit of ZDP is with the proper collaborative structure,
(Using ZOPE of course) documentation can be
developed quickly and accurately.

Zope also needs books so that it gains mindshare and
becomes popular.  A half dozen books available at
the local Barnes and Noble would be fabulous.

-Bob OConnor bob@rocnet.com