The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group "Blogging" Major Keary |
Have you caught up with (or have been caught up in) blogging? It is becoming a popular topic in the computer press, and seems to have quite a following. The term derives from a diminutive of weblog, blog, and is part of a new jargon, blogspeak, to coin a yet another blog word.
"A blog is a Web page that contains brief, discrete hunks of information called posts. Each post is uniquely identified by an anchor tag, and it is marked with a permanent link that can be referred to by others who wish to link to it." [Essential Blogging]
A weblog is a means of communication, is easy to create and maintain, is typically fast-moving and frequently updated, and has links to items (that may be stories, technical information, and so on) and weblog communities. Some blogs consist of no more than links. The use of blogs for community communication probably has great potential, but that is a social issue, which is not within the scope of Essential Blogging.
As with most Web technologies, there are two paths, client-side and server-side, with tools that suit one or the other. Most users seek client-side (desktop) solutions.
O'Reilly's Essential Blogging, which focuses on selecting and using weblog tools, presents a very good introduction to blogs and blogging. If you want an introduction to blogging and a guide to both client-side and server-side tools required for setting up and maintaining a blog, this is a good place to start. The authors (there are six of them) are well qualified and include creators of blogging software.
Server-side blogging requires more effort and the user has to "accept a more proactive role as maintainer of the system . [but] reap[s] the benefits of reliability, accessibility, and customisation". The book discusses Movable Type (free for personal use) as a server-side solution.
A selection of desktop clients are described with comparative notes on their respective features. Two desktop clients - Blogger (the most commonly used) and Radio Userland - are discussed in detail, and there is a chapter on Blosxom, a Unix client.
This is a book that presents ordinary users with all the information they need to set up a blog. Furthermore, it is written in plain language that does not require any special technical background. The authors don't pretend to have written a definitive reference, but focus on the essentials for Windows, Mac, and Unix/Linux users. An exceptionally practical text designed to establish a sound foundation in blogging.
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Cory Doctrow et al.:Essential Blogging ISBN 0-596-00388-9 Published by O'Reilly, 244 pp., RRP $69.95 incl. GST |
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Reprinted from the November 2002 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
