[PLUG] THURSDAY: August PLUG Meeting: A brief history of software documentation

[Michael Dexter]

Portland Linux/Unix Group General Meeting Announcement

Who: Jennifer Rondeau
What: Back to the Future: A brief history of software documentation
Where: PSU, 1930 SW 4th Ave. Room FAB 86-01 (Lower Level)
When: Thursday, August 6th, 2015 at 7pm
Why: The pursuit of technology freedom
Stream: http://pdxlinux.org/live

The world of software development rightly demands an emphasis on the new 
and the innovative -- on doing things differently from how they’ve been 
done. The assumption is that newer is (almost) always better. But if we 
look only to the present and the future, we risk reinventing the wheel, 
failing to understand that we are all built on tradition, failing to 
learn everything that we could from the past.

This talk shows how documentarians can find inspiration in the past, 
build on it, and move forward. It tells some of these stories, and shows 
what they meant in historical context:

* The pre-history and dawn of software documentation -- how technical 
writers were hired, how they worked, what they made, the challenges they 
faced, and how their solutions continue to inform the work we do today

* The much longer history of teaching engineers to write documentation

* Efforts to make technical writing into an independent profession


Calagator Page: http://calagator.org/events/1250468578

Many will head to the Lucky Lab at 1945 NW Quimby St. after the meeting.

Rideshares Available

PLUG Page with information about all PLUG events: http://pdxlinux.org/
Follow PLUG on Twitter: http://twitter.com/pdxlinux

PLUG is open to everyone and does not tolerate abusive behavior on its 
mailing lists or at its meetings.

See you there!

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer