

A group of Finnish math teachers write an open textbook in a weekend hackathon - jerguismi
http://linja-aho.blogspot.fi/2012/09/a-group-of-finnish-math-teachers-write.html

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jpalomaki
Maybe the value is that you get quickly something that others can then start
improving in small steps.

I believe this kind of approach is good at solving the two main problems we
usually face in projects: 1) Getting started 2) Delivering at least something

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BenoitEssiambre
I hope their effort bears fruit. Writing textbooks is long and tedious, more
so than one would expect before actually sitting down and trying it. I had
hoped to help it happen with a web app I launched this year:

<http://www.bookvoid.com/>

I however, haven't been able to attract any serious content creator.

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merlinsbrain
"Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for
machines to execute." \- Abelson & Sussman, SICP, preface to the first edition
We know as a fact this is not followed. Code in a hackathon is usually proof
of concept for an idea, not launch ready code. Who needs a kernel/proof-of-
concept math book with all the existing content out there? Do more harm than
good IMO. Big plus point for the collaboration effort though, which probably
would not have happened otherwise.

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Valhe
Good point, however, there are no free textbooks that are made by
collaborative effort. This book is also free to edit, so teachers can take
parts out, add parts and so on.

This book is definitely written "for people to read". It is very clear and
understandable. One could think that a text book written over one weekend is
very messy and hard to read, but this was indeed not the case. The writers
especially focused on making the book as easy to understand as possible.

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norswap
Somehow, I don't think a textbook should be something you write in a hurry.

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wisty
No, it should be something which is written over decades, like the Linux
kernal.

But a good open-source core will be a nice starting point.

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taw9
Hence, they wrote a MATH text. Duh.

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danielharan
How long until some of the translation startups get this in just about every
language?

(If you have contacts with one, please forward the idea. Come on HN, let's
make this happen)

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itmag
Idea for startup: crowdfunded translation of open source content (including
textbooks).

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brackin
Much better than what I saw at a Hackathon earlier in the week. It was Tech
and Art (Dev's and artists collaborating) which was a great event. Though one
project was a 'Pastebin magazine' and consisted of them finding tweeted
pastebin links, putting them in Word/Indesign and printing them out.

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perfunctory
How long before we see "a group of doctors produces an open cancer cure in a
weekend hackathon".

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antidoh
Maybe never. But how about "a group of doctors produces an open cancer cure in
an ongoing collaboration."

Like the linux kernel.

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navs
This is great! I've been telling my father to try something similar for
Geology since textbooks are incredibly expensive in Fiji.

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Valhe
Wow! I wish the best of luck for you!

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protolif
Y U NO i18n?

