USENET Cookbook
Encyclopedia
The USENET Cookbook was an experiment in electronic publishing
conducted by Brian Reid in 1985-1987, several years before the Web
. Reid distinguishes between electronic printing (the production of individual documents) and electronic publishing
(the full process including dissemination).
The USENET
cookbook
was a collaboratively-produced cookbook. Recipes were solicited from contributors worldwide. They were heavily edited
for style and content and distributed by email
weekly; later, they were distributed on the USENET
newsgroup
alt.gourmand. Recipes were distributed both as plain ASCII
text, and marked up
in troff
, a widely-available system on Unix
systems. Much of Reid's effort was devoted to the workflow
aspects of publication.
There were about 300 contributors and 13000 subscribers to its regular updates, and over 400 recipes collected. The recipes were shown copyrighted by the USENET Community Trust with the notice:
The recipes continue to circulate widely today on the Web.
Electronic publishing
Electronic publishing or ePublishing includes the digital publication of e-books and electronic articles, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. Electronic publishing has become common in scientific publishing where it has been argued that peer-reviewed scientific journals are in...
conducted by Brian Reid in 1985-1987, several years before the Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. Reid distinguishes between electronic printing (the production of individual documents) and electronic publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
(the full process including dissemination).
The USENET
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
cookbook
Cookbook
A cookbook is a kitchen reference that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions...
was a collaboratively-produced cookbook. Recipes were solicited from contributors worldwide. They were heavily edited
Copy editing
Copy editing is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of text. Unlike general editing, copy editing might not involve changing the substance of the text. Copy refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication...
for style and content and distributed by email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
weekly; later, they were distributed on the USENET
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
newsgroup
Newsgroup
A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on...
alt.gourmand. Recipes were distributed both as plain ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
text, and marked up
Markup language
A markup language is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text. The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts...
in troff
Troff
troff is a document processing system developed by AT&T for the Unix operating system.-History:troff can trace its origins back to a text formatting program called RUNOFF, written by Jerome H. Saltzer for MIT's CTSS operating system in the mid-1960s...
, a widely-available system on Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
systems. Much of Reid's effort was devoted to the workflow
Workflow
A workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps. It is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, a group of persons, an organization of staff, or one or more simple or complex mechanisms. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work...
aspects of publication.
There were about 300 contributors and 13000 subscribers to its regular updates, and over 400 recipes collected. The recipes were shown copyrighted by the USENET Community Trust with the notice:
Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the USENET copyright notice and the title of the newsgroup and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the USENET Community Trust or the original contributor.
The recipes continue to circulate widely today on the Web.
External links
- USENET cookbook archives at an ftp.digital.com mirror (original gone)
- alt.gourmand archives at Google Groups