6.4. TLDP Review Process

Before your document is accepted to the LDP collection it will undergo at least three formal reviews. These reviews include a technical accuracy review, a language review and a metadata review. All new documents must pass these reviews before being accepted into the collection.

When you feel your document is finished, email a copy to the submit mailing list (<submit@en.tldp.org>). Please include the title of your document and "Final Review Required" in the subject line of your email. A team of volunteers will be assigned to your document for each of the reviews. It may take up to a week to gather a team who is qualified to review your document. Typically the technical review happens first, followed by the language review and finally the metadata review. Your reviewers will read your document give you feedback on whether or not they think your document is ready for publication in the LDP collection.

Your reviewers may have specific points that must be changed. Once you have made the changes submit your document back to your review team. They will review the document again and advise you on whether or not your document is ready for inclusion in the LDP collection. You may need to undergo several edits before your document is ready. Or it may not require any additional work. Be prepared to make at least one round of changes for both the technical and language reviews. Ideally this exchange will happen in the LDP's CVS to better track each of the changes that are made, and keep track of the most current version of your document.

Once your document has passed both the technical and language reviews, you may submit it by following the instructions in Section 6.5.

Comparing Two Source Files

Your reviewer may make changes directly to your source file, or they may put their suggestions in a separate email. If they are working with the source file directly, and your document is using DocBook XML, you may find XMLdiff useful to see the changes that your reviewer has made to your source file. It is a python tool that figures out the differences between two similar XML files, in the same way the diff utility compares text files. XMLdiff is available from http://www.logilab.org/projects/xmldiff.

For more information on what the reviewers will be looking for, please read the Linux Documentation Project Reviewer HOWTO.