Know of any UNIX style guides/manuals?

[curious]

Hi! I've been writing documentation for Windows-based systems for several years now. I'm presently writing for a UNIX-based system and trying to capture company-wide styles and standards. I could use the Microsoft Manual, but a UNIX-based one would suit better. Does anyone know of any? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Medievalist]

Hi! I've been writing documentation for Windows-based systems for several years now. I'm presently writing for a UNIX-based system and trying to capture company-wide styles and standards. I could use the Microsoft Manual, but a UNIX-based one would suit better. Does anyone know of any? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


I tend to use the Sun guide, which you can purchase here (http://www.sun.com/books/catalog/sun_tech_pub.xml) with some use of the Apple Style guide in terms of usage issues (rather than, say, technical terms). The Apple guide is here (http://developer.apple.com/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/APStyleGuide/AppleStyleGuide2006.pdf)

[curious]

Thanks for your reply! I'm assuming both the guides you mentioned are for UNIX-based systems? I thought there would be guides available, but I hadn't found anything on Google or Amazon.

If you, or anyone else, knows of other UNIX-based guides available, please let me know. I'd like to compare as many as possible to see what would fit us best. Thanks!!

[Medievalist]

Thanks for your reply! I'm assuming both the guides you mentioned are for UNIX-based systems? I thought there would be guides available, but I hadn't found anything on Google or Amazon.

If you, or anyone else, knows of other UNIX-based guides available, please let me know. I'd like to compare as many as possible to see what would fit us best. Thanks!!

I think there's a Gnu Style Guide as well, and of course you should take a look at the man pages for your particular Unix dialect--the man style guide may be of use to you.

[curious]

Do you know the exact title of the Gnu Style Guide? I can't find it on Amazon. Also, is the man style guide part of the Gnu one or a separate guide? If it's separate, do you know the exact name of it?

Thanks for your help!

[Moondancer]

How hard or easy do you want? There's a "Unix for Dummies" book somewhere... I'm positive there is... I remember seeing it listed somewhere... perhaps you can find it on the Dummies' site. However, the Dummies line of books tend to be very low level.

[Medievalist]

The Dummies book won't help with style in terms of documentation style, but the idea of a unix novice writing documentation is, well, frightening.

You might spend some time learning the basics, first.

The built in documentation of a Unix system (of any flavor) is in the form of man pages, short for manual. These are plain text pages, but they do have a specific set of style guidelines.

Try opening a terminal window in the system in question and typing help man; see what you get.

The Gnu Style Guide is here (http://www.gnu.org/doc/Press-use/GNU-Press-styleguide.pdf).

You'll likely find that any unix dialect has a similar document; try searching for X style guide, where X is replaced by the name of the particular dialect.

[Moondancer]

The Dummies book won't help with style in terms of documentation style, but the idea of a unix novice writing documentation is, well, frightening.



unh huh... But there is one.

[curious]

Thanks for your input. I should have given more detail initially. My team writes documentation for end-user products (i.e. online Help, user manuals, bulletins, and computer-based training). We don't write specs or any development documentation, so my not knowing UNIX isn't really frightening. Since the UNIX GUI is so very different from Windows GUI, I'd hoped to find style guides based on UNIX GUI rather than the Microsoft Manual I'd been using.

Thanks again for your input and advise. I'll check on all the guides you suggested.