Ubuntu Server: "plain language" proofreading

[s-makin]

Task

Accessibility is important to us, and plain language is one important way that we can ensure our documentation is as clear and accessible as possible. We would therefore love to invite anyone with an interest in proof-reading to take a look at any of our content and help us to identify where we can do better.

I would like to start with our "Introduction to..." pages, since these (should) make an obvious entry-point for any user who wants to know more about a particular topic. The idea is that these pages should provide a high-level overview, with links out to the rest of our content in other Diataxis sections, or to external documentation or other resources where it makes sense to do so.

Please feel to claim pages from the list (below), according to your preference and time available! More than one person can work on this at the same time, so please just specify in your comment which pages you are interested in reviewing at any particular time.

Details

For this issue, you are welcome to submit your feedback against the Ubuntu Server documentation repository, either:

• as an issue listing any problems you've found, or
• as a pull request if you would like to suggest improvements directly against the text

This issue does not require any prior knowledge, and is purely about the clarity and understandability of what's presented. Even if it's a new topic, every term you see should be explained (or linked to an explanation), so that an interested reader would have any missing context in easy reach.

You are welcome to use the GitHub UI for this issue, if you prefer.

Context

The Ubuntu Server docs were recently migrated to GitHub/Read the Docs from their previous home on Discourse. We'd be grateful for any help on several issues that will help us to finalise this and provide a better experience for our contributors and readers.

Useful links

• Check out the Ubuntu Server contributing guide.
• If you are new to the Canonical Open Documentation Academy, you may also want to review the Getting Started content.
• If there are specific things you would like to learn, or want more experience on, I'm happy to bring forward other issues we have that fit with your goals.

Thanks in advance for your help!

The list of pages

(In alphabetical order, by page name)

• Active Directory integration
• backups
• Crypto libraries
• Databases
• eBPF
• High Availability
• Kerberos
• Mail Services
• Multipath
• Networking
• OpenLDAP
• Samba
• Security
• SSSD
• Virtualisation
• Web Servers
• WireGuard VPN

[birdstare]

Hi! I would like to take on this task! I did some plain language editing in a technical writing course and I would like some more practice. I think I can complete it by 2/14/2025.

[birdstare]

@s-makin hello! may I have this task?

[s-makin]

@s-makin hello! may I have this task?

Hi @birdstare, sorry about the delay -- I've been out of the office and just got back in today. Thanks for volunteering! Feel free to work on whichever page(s) you find most interesting. Please reply here to say which pages you'll be working on, since this will help to avoid merge conflicts if others pick up the same issue.

[birdstare]

@s-makin I'll start with:

Networking
Back-ups
Mail-services
Virtualization

Thank you!

[s-makin]

@s-makin I'll start with:

Networking Back-ups Mail-services Virtualization

Thank you!

That sounds brilliant, let me know if you need anything :)

[thornshadow99]

hi there,

i am an experienced technical writer who has signed the CLA.

may i edit a page? i'd like to try
"Active Directory integration." :)

yours,

rob t. (aka thornshadow99)
launchpad: academia-sapientae

[s-makin]

hi there,

i am an experienced technical writer who has signed the CLA.

may i edit a page? i'd like to try "Active Directory integration." :)

yours,

rob t. (aka thornshadow99) launchpad: academia-sapientae

Hi @thornshadow99, thanks for volunteering! You're very welcome to tackle that page. You can make your changes directly in the Ubuntu Server repository, and we have a contributing guide that will help you get started there. If you run into any problems please do let me know, I'll be happy to help :)

[thornshadow99]

hi there,
i am an experienced technical writer who has signed the CLA.
may i edit a page? i'd like to try "Active Directory integration." :)
yours,
rob t. (aka thornshadow99) launchpad: academia-sapientae

Hi @thornshadow99, thanks for volunteering! You're very welcome to tackle that page. You can make your changes directly in the Ubuntu Server repository, and we have a contributing guide that will help you get started there. If you run into any problems please do let me know, I'll be happy to help :)

I am finished with the "Active Directory integration" page. I ended up committing to my fork of the repository. I'm still figuring out GitHub, so beg pardon if that is not appropriate.

If you like, I can move to the "Crypto libraries" and "Databases" pages. :)

rob t. (aka thornshadow99)
launchpad: academia-sapientae

[s-makin]

I am finished with the "Active Directory integration" page. I ended up committing to my fork of the repository. I'm still figuring out GitHub, so beg pardon if that is not appropriate.

If you like, I can move to the "Crypto libraries" and "Databases" pages. :)

rob t. (aka thornshadow99) launchpad: academia-sapientae

Hi @thornshadow99, that sounds right :) the next step then is to go to the main Server documentation repo and open a pull request so we can pull in the changes from your fork. If you don't get a yellow banner at the top of the page prompting you to do so, you can go to the "Pull requests" tab and click on the "New pull request" button. If you need any help with the overall process, feel free to check out the getting started guide, and in particular the third section (working with git). If you get stuck, let me know :)

If you'd like to take a look at those other two pages in parallel that would be great :D I'll mark them as taken

[thornshadow99]

I am finished with the "Active Directory integration" page. I ended up committing to my fork of the repository. I'm still figuring out GitHub, so beg pardon if that is not appropriate.

If you like, I can move to the "Crypto libraries" and "Databases" pages. :)

rob t. (aka thornshadow99) launchpad: academia-sapientae

Hi @thornshadow99, that sounds right :) the next step then is to go to the main Server documentation repo and open a pull request so we can pull in the changes from your fork. If you don't get a yellow banner at the top of the page prompting you to do so, you can go to the "Pull requests" tab and click on the "New pull request" button. If you need any help with the overall process, feel free to check out the getting started guide, and in particular the third section (working with git). If you get stuck, let me know :)

If you'd like to take a look at those other two pages in parallel that would be great :D I'll mark them as taken

thanks. i will get to work on the other pages. i tried to open a pull request from the Server repo but could not figure out how to locate my branch. could you help?