Just FYI, Azorin has pinned the manual in Tutorials after reading your post.
4 Likes
I agree with all your points. They are valid. Personally, I really like Zorin OS and I look forward to the next versions of it as well but the lack of documentation, really annoys me and I believe makes Zorin OS look less professional. It could probably even lead to me(or potentially other users)changing distros. If an issue for a new user arises, 7/10 times they have to post a thread in the forums. Many people do not want to do that. When I was researching Zorin OS, I found the lack of documentation very weird and originally I was very cynical of the OS. Eventually, after reading several user reviews on it, I decided to give it a try. That brings me to another point. Is Zorin OS(not the ultimate versions) fully open source? As in is it possible for a user to build the current public build of Zorin OS from the source code?
1 Like
Zorin OS, including Zorin OS Ultimate, is open source. If you wanted to and had the time and expertise, you could build a clone of Zorin OS Ultimate on your own.
As I understand it, Zorin OS is what the Zorin Group does full time. If they did not do it full time, we could only imagine the gaps between release dates and the silence that would cause. Choosing Ultimate supports this development, but Ultimate is not exclusive. It is a want, not a need.
Finding all the documentation: as you point out, is not so easy. Rather than search outside, I searched within by dissecting Zorin OS.
I have no intention of making a Zorin OS clone, don't get me wrong. But I would like to know how, just in case. Plus, it shows how very little I know and how much I have to learn. 
You are able to search the public packages included in Zorin:
As well as backtrace those to other open source, like GSConnect and Arc Menu.
1 Like
Hello:
My intention in referring to feedback and help has not been to criticize but rather, to contribute.
I have said it and I will continue to say it: I love Zorin Os, I love it, I have been using it professionally for more than two years.
I know how the Zoryn brothers started this project and I admire and respect them a lot for it. Moreover, I use them as an example in a subject I teach (I am a professor), where there is a section oriented to the creation of companies.
It is for all of the above that I want it to do better, to grow, to have a bigger community. I know you have limited resources, but I don't know if it would be so difficult to publish a few brief notes about what you are doing to keep the community informed. Reviewing the blog I can appreciate that, at the beginning, they maintained a more fluid communication.
Regards
3 Likes
The only problem is when @swarfendor437 pulls the Unofficial Z15 Manual down from his file share site as he has suggested when Z16 becomes mainsteam ZorinOS release.
It would be pretty epic if we could get together and update the manual for Zorin 16.
1 Like
DUDE, if we all got together writing a manual, in the troubleshooting section, I have to write (1) Have you tried turning it off and on again. lol
I rather prefer open forum support than manual.
Something like this : Manjaro or this : Tutorials - Manjaro Linux Forum
It is much easier to find, you can follow it step by step and easy to edit ( for moderators) Scrolling manual with 100 and more pages is boring
Hello:
Regarding the help manual I agree that it should not be similar to those old manuals of the 1990s, over 1000 pages, in shades of gray.
It should be divided into three sections: basic, intermediate, advanced.
It should also have a lot of explanatory pictures (diagrams), easy to understand for newcomers. Since most of them come from Windows, it should obviously be made clear how the two operating systems are similar and how they differ.
Regards
1 Like
Perusing the Zorin OS Website, I saw this:
Documentation listed on the website. I should have done a better job looking.
1 Like
I could not see any "Documentation" listed when I visited that link you posted above. Have I overlooked something?
I wonder if our definitions differ on Documentation... But clicking the link leads to a series of links to the launchpad repos for various components.
For example:
Which leads to the packages:
https://launchpad.net/~zorinos/+archive/ubuntu/stable/+sourcepub/12259488/+listing-archive-extra
Where you can check changelog, comments and even grab the package if you want or need it. The package itself contains the detailed Docs, just as you can find in /usr/share/doc
Yep. I think that is the case. The OP referred to need of a "help section" for newbies. Subsequent posts then referred to the merits of Swarf's Unofficial Manual i.e. User Manual or suggested alternative forms of the same, not the package documentation you have indicated.
Ah, I see. I was responding directly to taha_mcp's post here:
I had originally replied, but as I found that link above today, I was providing further follow-up on it.
2 Likes
Yeah thank you for the follow up. I'm baffled that I had not seen that yet.
1 Like
I believe, we should have it in the format of a Wiki, hosted on a domain with editing and history support. Something similar to how GitHub manages the wiki section would be fantastic. It'll be easy to search though. Finding relevant topic is going to be a breeze. And most importantly it will always be up to date. And also the whole document doesn't need to be re-written every time the 'manual' needs an update. A few new screenshots, and some minor edits to the text and Taadaa!!!
Who is up for it? We could get a team of collaborators together and work on it.
2 Likes
We need help and of course approval from devs. But as I can see, no words from devs in last month.
But yes, I want help also
Thanks for all of your comments and constructive criticism! After reading through this thread, we agree that there could be a lot of value in a one-stop resource with a much wider range of help documentation and tutorials than what's currently on our Help page and Tutorials & Guides section of this forum. It would certainly help to more closely achieve our mission of making Zorin OS friendly to all users – beginners and veterans alike.
We've decided that we'll develop a sub-site hosting a dynamic and easily browsable & searchable database of guides.
We will import the guides we have already published in the above existing resources in one location.
As well, we plan to import Open Source-licensed guides from other locations such as the System76 support articles and Arch Linux Wiki that are relevant to Zorin OS. That way, there will be a large library of helpful content accessible to all Zorin OS users from day one.
We're also planning to maintain a GitHub repo where all of the guides will live in Markdown format. That way, anyone will be able to contribute their guides in a pull request. After review by our team, these guides will be added to the public sub-site for everyone to view and benefit from.
It will be a living and breathing resource of content that will evolve over time, with the goal of making it easier for newcomers to get familiar with Zorin OS, without needing to post questions on the forum or spend time searching the web.
We're planning to start work on this after the stable release of Zorin OS 16 this summer, so stay tuned to our Blog to know more about it as soon as it's ready.
2 Likes
I don't know how much influence the Zorin OS team have on the Facebook Zorin Support group, but it really needs some administration staff to be online on Facebook. There can go days before anything gets approve in the group.
We don't run any Facebook groups, so this must be a community-run group which we don't have any control over.