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1 \documentclass[12pt,letterpaper]{article}
2 \addtolength{\hoffset}{-0.5in}
3 \addtolength{\textwidth}{1.0in}
4
5 \addtolength{\voffset}{-0.425in}
6 \addtolength{\textheight}{1.6in}
7
8
9 \author{Peter J. Hutnick}
10 \title{The Free Curriculum Project Primer}
11 \date{\today}
12 \begin{document}
13
14 \maketitle
15
16 %\tableofcontents
17
18
19 \section{What is the Free Curriculum Project?}
20
21 We want to tell you what the Free Curriculum Project (FCP) is, but we
22 have to explain copyleft first. Copyleft serves as the core idea of the
23 project.
24
25 \subsection{Copyleft}
26
27 The Free Software Foundation, the author of the license we use, says
28 the following about copyleft (at
29 http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/copyleft.html):
30
31 \begin{quote}
32 To copyleft a program, we first state that it is copyrighted; then we
33 add distribution terms, which are a legal instrument that gives everyone
34 the rights to use, modify, and redistribute the program's code or any
35 program derived from it but only if the distribution terms are
36 unchanged. Thus, the code and the freedoms become legally inseparable.
37
38 Proprietary software developers use copyright to take away the users'
39 freedom; we use copyright to guarantee their freedom. That's why we
40 reverse the name, changing ``copyright'' into ``copyleft.''
41 \end{quote}
42
43 This refers specifically to software, but the concepts all translate
44 directly to any copyrighted work.
45
46 It is important to understand that all materials contributed to the FCP
47 remain the copyrighted work of the \emph{original author}.
48
49
50 \subsection{Our Vision}
51
52 FCP aims to create a truly first rate curriculum and accompanying course
53 materials, and distribute it Freely under the terms of the GNU Free
54 Documentation License. So the FCP consists of people who spend some time
55 creating a Free set of Kindergarten through High School course
56 materials.
57
58
59 \subsection{Free?}
60
61 You might have noticed the unusual capitalization of Free in the
62 previous section. The Free Software community has adopted this
63 colloquialism to mean free as in freedom.
64
65 When you see Free, think \emph{liber}, when you see free, think
66 \emph{gratis}. Sometimes we say, ``free as in freedom.'' We often
67 illustrate the difference by saying, ``free as in free speech'' as
68 differentiated from ``free as in free beer.'' We often drop the second
69 free, like:
70 \begin{quote}
71 ``Is Internet Explorer$^{tm}$ free as in speech?''
72 % Can anyone tell me how to make letters upright in math mode and/or how
73 % to do a superscript outside math mode?
74
75 ``No, but it is free as in beer.''
76 \end{quote}
77 In speech we often pronounce Free as, ``Capital `f' free.''
78
79 \section{How Can I Help?}
80
81 \subsection{Time}
82
83 Anyone with a reasonable command of the English language and even a
84 passing interest in education can help the FCP.
85
86 Proofreading has the lowest barriers to entry. We actively seek advice
87 from teachers and parents who homeschool. Anyone who knows (or is
88 willing to learn) \LaTeX{} and is willing to donate some time can help
89 with assembling documents from unformatted submissions.
90
91 We hope to find sources of public domain materials we can use to
92 kick-start the project. We need researchers to track such materials
93 down.
94
95 \subsection{Texts}
96
97 The single biggest task we face is writing textbooks. Everyone has some
98 topic in which they are particularly interested or skilled. We gladly
99 accept submissions of any scale. If you only have time to write a
100 treatment or an outline, or if you only have the expertise to write a
101 single chapter we will gratefully accept it. You needn't have a
102 master's degree. We don't reject submissions that aren't masterpieces.
103
104 \subsection{Join Us}
105
106 If this sounds interesting please visit us at http://www.nongnu.org/fcp
107 where you can get the latest information about our project. Becoming a
108 member is easy; subscribe to the mailing list and introduce yourself.
109
110 \bigskip
111 \bigskip
112
113 \noindent Copyright \copyright{} 2004 Peter J. Hutnick.
114 Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in
115 any medium, provided this notice is preserved.
116
117 \end{document}
118

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