A how-to or a how to is an informal, often short, description of how to accomplish some specific task. A how-to is usually meant to help non-experts, may leave out details that are only important to experts, and may also be greatly simplified from an overall discussion of the topic. One of the earliest How-to books was published in 1519 by Thomas Wight and entitled, A booke of the arte and maner, how to plant and graffe all sortes of trees: With divers other new practise, by one of the Abbey of Saint Vincent in Fraunce by Leonard Mascall.
Contents |
The correct way to write it in English is "how-to", but it is common practice to write it as "HOWTO" in the Linux community.[1] This may be for stylistic consistency with the related terminology FAQ and README. Another possible reason is that this makes it easier to find a how-to in search engines like Google as searching with the words "to" and "how" does not necessarily deliver in relevant search results.[2]
How-tos have a long history as a way of sharing knowledge on the Internet, but are less successful than FAQs, manuals, recipes and guides[3] How-tos are very successful within Linux communities.[4]
In the beginning, most how-tos on the Internet were the result of a complex process in which an author wrote a how-to that readers would read. After 2001, user added content played a more and more important role on the internet in a trend that is widely referred to as Web 2.0. This had a profound impact on the way in which how-tos are spread on the internet. A number of websites choose the wiki model as a way of sharing knowledge on how-tos.
The acronym "101" is often used on how-tos and introductory tutorial