The Linux Documentation Project (LDP) is a dormant an all-volunteer project that maintains a large collection of

GNU GNU () is an extensive collection of free software (383 packages as of January 2022), which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operat ...

and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

-related documentation and publishes the collection online. It began as a way for

hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

s to share their documentation with each other and with their users, and for users to share documentation with each other. Its documents tend to be oriented towards

experienced user A power user is a user of computers, software and other electronic devices, who uses advanced features of computer hardware, operating systems, programs, or websites which are not used by the average user. A power user might not have extensive tec ...

s such as professional system administrators, but it also contains tutorials for beginners.

History

The LDP originally began as an

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and data ...

site in 1992, but it went on the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...

MetaLab The Metalab is a hackerspace in Vienna's central first district.

in 1993. It is believed to have been the first Linux related website ever. Today, the LDP serves over 475 documents contributed by even more authors. About a dozen of them are book length, and most of those are available in print from major technical publishers including O'Reilly Media, O'Reilly. On 1 September 2008, LDP started a

wiki A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pub ...

to allow a better interaction with the authors and the users, with a plan to convert documentation to the wiki format and a list of pages to be ported. Presently (as of July 2020), the LDP is no longer active; the last entry under "Recent Changes" dates from 2016 to 2001-29, the last guide inserted from Mar 2014.

Content

The LDP published many HOWTO documents, which instruct a user on the specific steps to take to achieve a desired goal. These goals are sometimes very specific, such as configuring a particular modem, and sometimes very broad, such as how to administer a network for an

ISP An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

. Very broad topics were covered in the guides, which are book-length documents, usually on broad subjects such as security or networking. The LDP also published Frequently Asked Question ( FAQ) lists, man pages and other documents, as well as two

webzine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer maga ...

s, the

Linux Gazette ''The Linux Gazette'' was a monthly self-published Linux computing webzine, published between July 1995 and June 2011. Its content was published under the Open Publication License. History It was started in July 1995 by John M. Fisk as a free ser ...

and

Linux Focus ''LinuxFocus'' was a bi-monthly webzine covering Linux. It was part of the Linux Documentation Project, and a sister webzine of the ''Linux Gazette''. Each issue was published in a number of languages and was distributed free. History and profile ' ...

. Much of the LDP collection is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). Many other licenses are also used, as long as they are freely distributable. Current policy recommends the GFDL.

Linux Network Administrator's Guide The ''Linux Network Administrator's Guide'' is a book on setting up and running Unix networks. The first and second editions are freely available in electronic form under the GFDL. It was originally produced by Olaf Kirch and others as part of t ...

is one book in the series.

References

External links

The Linux Documentation Project

{{authority control Linux documentation projects How-to websites Mass media companies