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In typical MS fashion it didn't get good until 3 versions later, IE4, before getting proprietary vendor lockin with that piece of shit IE6.

If IE6 was such a piece of shit, as you put it, that implies that the other browsers at the time were much worse than that. You've inadvertently made a profound statement about the browser landscape of the day. IE6 rightfully earned infamy in its unnaturally long life even more repugnant is rampant revisionism. IE introduced a feature that is the foundation of today's web, some of you might be aware of the XMLHttpRequest object, for the non-developers it's like the force now, all around us. JavaScript support and performance, CSS support. Unfortunately this period had to occur, and it will occur again once these lessons are forgotten; Without the stranglehold IE6 eventually obtained, and more importantly stagnated the web with, the choices we have today wouldn't exist.

Their stupidity of not being able to down-grade IE or simultaneously install different versions so web developers could test ALL the various versions, forcing people to rely on hacks like SandBoxie, was absolutely retarded.

As much as it pains me to say Microsoft wasn't unique in this regard, as an aside, try installing multiple versions of Safari. Even the easy mode package managers don't support multiple versions of browsers out of the box (not to say it's difficult). Internet Explorer 6 released in 2001 following the launch of Windows XP. For those unfamiliar with their history, Web Development of that era revolved around IE and Netscape. With IE being the Chrome of its day (as in "works here, onward!") since the browser market was 90%+ IE and IE6 was supported on Windows 98, NT, and 2k. Low usage for potential targets results in a chicken and the egg problem. Low single digits just aren't a priority for many shops, see Opera.

Sandboxie came out in 2004ish and has its uses, especially on 32bit machines. However, for web development involving IE it's much easier to use MultiIE which has been around since 2006. IETester is worth another mention. Not to mention there are alternatives due to the ever growing number of devices and variants released year after year, requiring a different approach such as farms that show screenshots from targeted browsers. Regarding the hassle of Sandboxie, limiting yourself to one tool is pretty silly.

This is a little off topic. Since this criticism is being framed as a Microsoft issue you might be shocked to discover how apps and to a lesser extent websites, are developed and tested in 2015 on devices manufactured and supported by multiple vendors. This process requires physical devices, in many cases multiple to support the popular OS versions on them (there are other OS, but they're less than 8%). Think it's a hack to wrangle Sandboxes or multiple installations, try wrangling devices that let you only upgrade! But what about device simulators, one might ask? Oh yes, they do exist and they're improving but there isn't a substitute for deploying and testing on device. IE variants are a dwindling piece of the very large fragmentation pie.

Microsoft writing the browser from scratch, is too little, too late.

Too late for whom? W

LaTeX is excellent for journal and technical book publishing and some other applications, but it was not designed for collaboration over the Web, and for full multiformat output.

BookType, and its predecessor Booki, are designed for collaborative authorship around the world and for multi-format output, including HTML, PDF, print-on-demand, and others. The original development was sponsored by FLOSS Manuals, http://www.flossmanuals.net/ which creates manuals for Free Software applications. I have worked on manuals with them for How to Bypass Internet Censorship (now available in Arabic, Farsi, Chinese, Russian, and more), Firefox, the Linux command line, mifos microfinance software, and more, and they have dozens of other titles. FLOSS Manuals also pioneered the Book Sprint, collaborative writing of manuals by 8 or 10 people (writers, subject-matter experts, editors, artists, tech admins) gathered in a room, and several others (particularly proofreaders) over the Web within a week. We did the Censorship book from Monday morning to Friday evening in a rented house in upstate New York, ordered copies from Lulu.com, and then went out for dinner. Pics available, such as https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/102331710307773485600/albums/5634256041091466881/5634256041835752050

Since then I have become Program Manager for Replacing Textbooks at Sugar Labs, the Free Software and OER partner of One Laptop Per Child. The rationale for the program is that netbook and tablet computers such as the XO-3 cost much less than printed textbooks, and have many other advantages in any school system, but especially for poor children in developing countries. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_textbooks, http://booki.treehouse.su./ Our mission is to end poverty and the various other ills associated with it. This includes unnecessary disease, disability and death; oppression of the poor and minorities around the world; much of government corruption; and wars of oppression or plunder. Naturally, more is required than computers to accomplish all of this, but it cannot be done without giving every child unfettered access to information and to other people around the world. See, for example, http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2011/02/15/sharing-in-gaza/

Sugar Labs plans to host book replacements in every traditional school subject, and whatever else our students need, at every level of development in every language needed. I am currently working on an Algebra text where every math statement can be copied from the document and pasted into a software session to execute and if desired plot or graph. There are more than 100,000 other OER packages available at various other Web sites that we have listed. http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Open_Education_Resources

Booki was what there was before Booktype, and FLOSS Manuals used other software before Booki which I also used. The great thing about all this software is that many people can collaborate on a book online, then distribute in in multiple formats:

1). As a website
2). As a PDF that can be published as a print-on-demand book by Lulu or Create Space.
3). As an EPUB (which you can run Kindlegen on to create a MOBI for the Kindkle).
4). As a "newspaper".

Some examples of books I have created:

websites

http://en.flossmanuals.net/make-your-own-sugar-activities/

http://en.flossmanuals.net/como-hacer-una-actividad-sugar/

http://en.flossmanuals.net/e-book-enlightenment/

epub, mobi, and pdf

http://www.archive.org/details/MakeYourOwnSugarActivities

http://www.archive.org/details/ComoHacerUnaActividadSugar

http://www.archive.org/details/EBookEnlightenment

On the Kindle Store

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Sugar-Activities-ebook/dp/B0050VAHKW/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329414720&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Hacer-Actividad-Sugar-Spanish-ebook/dp/B0058DBRVA/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3

http://www.amazon.com/E-Book-Enlightenment-ebook/dp/B005BYST5I/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Bhakta-Jim-ebook/dp/B00730HE54/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329414780&sr=1-1

On Lulu

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/make-your-own-sugar-activities/12995552?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

And soon, The Life And Times Of Bhakta Jim on Create Space.

The Spanish book was translated from "Make Your Own Sugar Activities!" by a team of volunteers, mostly in South America, who likely had never met in person.

Don't underestimate what this software can do! It isn't perfect, but in time it will change how we author and publish books.

Booki was what there was before Booktype, and FLOSS Manuals used other software before Booki which I also used. The great thing about all this software is that many people can collaborate on a book online, then distribute in in multiple formats:

1). As a website
2). As a PDF that can be published as a print-on-demand book by Lulu or Create Space.
3). As an EPUB (which you can run Kindlegen on to create a MOBI for the Kindkle).
4). As a "newspaper".

Some examples of books I have created:

websites

http://en.flossmanuals.net/make-your-own-sugar-activities/

http://en.flossmanuals.net/como-hacer-una-actividad-sugar/

http://en.flossmanuals.net/e-book-enlightenment/

epub, mobi, and pdf

http://www.archive.org/details/MakeYourOwnSugarActivities

http://www.archive.org/details/ComoHacerUnaActividadSugar

http://www.archive.org/details/EBookEnlightenment

On the Kindle Store

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Sugar-Activities-ebook/dp/B0050VAHKW/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329414720&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Hacer-Actividad-Sugar-Spanish-ebook/dp/B0058DBRVA/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3

http://www.amazon.com/E-Book-Enlightenment-ebook/dp/B005BYST5I/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Bhakta-Jim-ebook/dp/B00730HE54/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329414780&sr=1-1

On Lulu

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/make-your-own-sugar-activities/12995552?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

And soon, The Life And Times Of Bhakta Jim on Create Space.

The Spanish book was translated from "Make Your Own Sugar Activities!" by a team of volunteers, mostly in South America, who likely had never met in person.

Don't underestimate what this software can do! It isn't perfect, but in time it will change how we author and publish books.

Booki was what there was before Booktype, and FLOSS Manuals used other software before Booki which I also used. The great thing about all this software is that many people can collaborate on a book online, then distribute in in multiple formats:

1). As a website
2). As a PDF that can be published as a print-on-demand book by Lulu or Create Space.
3). As an EPUB (which you can run Kindlegen on to create a MOBI for the Kindkle).
4). As a "newspaper".

Some examples of books I have created:

websites

http://en.flossmanuals.net/make-your-own-sugar-activities/

http://en.flossmanuals.net/como-hacer-una-actividad-sugar/

http://en.flossmanuals.net/e-book-enlightenment/

epub, mobi, and pdf

http://www.archive.org/details/MakeYourOwnSugarActivities

http://www.archive.org/details/ComoHacerUnaActividadSugar

http://www.archive.org/details/EBookEnlightenment

On the Kindle Store

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Sugar-Activities-ebook/dp/B0050VAHKW/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329414720&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Hacer-Actividad-Sugar-Spanish-ebook/dp/B0058DBRVA/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3

http://www.amazon.com/E-Book-Enlightenment-ebook/dp/B005BYST5I/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Times-Bhakta-Jim-ebook/dp/B00730HE54/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329414780&sr=1-1

On Lulu

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/make-your-own-sugar-activities/12995552?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

And soon, The Life And Times Of Bhakta Jim on Create Space.

The Spanish book was translated from "Make Your Own Sugar Activities!" by a team of volunteers, mostly in South America, who likely had never met in person.

Don't underestimate what this software can do! It isn't perfect, but in time it will change how we author and publish books.

Feel free to start one on http://booki.flossmanuals.net/ . The platform is quite good. I did think of starting such a project, but I just don't have the time to write/maitain such a book.

Nice how they include the link for the "dead tree" version but the online version is much harder to find. Here it is http://en.flossmanuals.net/kde-guide/

Nice, thanks. Here is a direct link to the PDF:
en.flossmanuals.net/_booki/kde-guide/kde-guide.pdf

And EPUB:
en.flossmanuals.net/_booki/kde-guide/kde-guide.epub

Nice how they include the link for the "dead tree" version but the online version is much harder to find. Here it is http://en.flossmanuals.net/kde-guide/

Nice, thanks. Here is a direct link to the PDF:
en.flossmanuals.net/_booki/kde-guide/kde-guide.pdf

And EPUB:
en.flossmanuals.net/_booki/kde-guide/kde-guide.epub

Nice how they include the link for the "dead tree" version but the online version is much harder to find. Here it is http://en.flossmanuals.net/kde-guide/

Nice, thanks. Here is a direct link to the PDF:
en.flossmanuals.net/_booki/kde-guide/kde-guide.pdf

And EPUB:
en.flossmanuals.net/_booki/kde-guide/kde-guide.epub

The web page view works better if you just want to take a look at the doc: http://en.flossmanuals.net/kde-guide/_all/

Hi gbjbaanb We used the Booki platform which does all the heavy lifting of generating the PDF/ePub/publishing to lulu. It's quite easy to use although we found the editor to be a bit quirky and requested that the developers improve it. You can create revisions of manual just like you would in real books, you can clone existing manuals and work on them although I've been told that a way to merge changes back into a manual is coming soon ( Just like you fork code, make changes and merge it back together ). You can do all of the above and more here : http://booki.flossmanuals.net/

Nice how they include the link for the "dead tree" version but the online version is much harder to find. Here it is http://en.flossmanuals.net/kde-guide/

89 Pages $10, seems a bit pricey. Heres the PDF URL: http://en.flossmanuals.net/_booki/kde-guide/kde-guide.pdf

The Android operating system doesn't just lack an integrated IPsec VPN client

someone should actually do come fact checking before posting these stories. http://en.flossmanuals.net/basic-internet-security/ch050_vpn-on-android/

But wouldn't fact checking drive away the shills and their sock puppets? Besides - despite all the evidence to the contrary - it must be true. Surely SoulFree wouldn't publish bullshit media releases disguised as "stories".

After all the referenced author author has modestly announced his company are front-runners for the 2012 (my how time flies) Security Products Global Bullshit, sorry I mean, Excellence Award.

Though I'm betting McAffee and Windows 95 might beat them (like a rented mule).

The Android operating system doesn't just lack an integrated IPsec VPN client

someone should actually do come fact checking before posting these stories.
http://en.flossmanuals.net/basic-internet-security/ch050_vpn-on-android/

While it doesn't have as much detail as this book, the FLOSSmanuals manual on Blender is a quite good introduction that's a bit more concise and to the point (and free).

> I wish they'd just written an ebook
You mean something like this one? http://en.flossmanuals.net/theoracookbook

Check out the FLOSS Manuals model and Book Sprint methodology at http://www.flossmanuals.net/ . I got paid for my work on How to Bypass Internet Censorship (now available in Farsi, Russian, and Chinese!). Eight of us in a room and three others online wrote, edited, and illustrated the English original in five days, and published it in PDF and print-on-demand on the fifth day.

Think of it as Extreme Documentation with pair writing, frequent refactoring, and so on.

I looked but could not see any reference to FLOSS Manuals in the replies to this post. It's early days but they have an interesting approach to the problems mentioned in the post. http://en.flossmanuals.net/

hi, you could consider starting a free manual or text book in FLOSS Manuals. It was mentioned before above, however there was no detail given on the process. Essentially you can use FM to author by yourself or in collaboration, a text licensed under a free license. We have a very good tool set for authoring online and we can output material to print ready pdf for resale on lulu.com or anyother print on demand or online resale outlet (if you wish you can take your content through the amazon sales chain as well). There is a manual on FLOSS Mnaulas if you want to know more : http://www.flossmanuals.net/flossmanuals... adam (founder of FM)

Yeah, I'd like to know where that figure comes from. According http://en.flossmanuals.net/TheoraCookbook/HTML5 which is linked to by the article, only Firefox 3.5 (which definitely doesn't have a 24% marketshare) natively supports Theora. And all the browsers that don't natively support it support it via a Java plug-in.

I assume the other 76% of browsers support Death Panels instead?

Look no further than http://flossmanuals.net. Check out the GNU/Linux Command Line manual, the new Ogg/Theora manual and also the "How To Bypass Internet Censorship" manuals for examples of what their platform is capable of (alongside a sense of the energy of the FM community).

Note there are three core publishing options: HTML, PDF and print-on-demand.

If you look at the FLOSS Manuals website you can read a number of Open Source manuals for Open Source software in both HTML and PDF form (IIRC) and if you want a hard copy it redirects you to lulu.com where you purchase a hard copy. It seems to work well for those guys.
You could probably email them and ask them about their experiences.