STC Israel

How did I become a technical writer? I was studying mathematics and computer science at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. To make some extra money, I worked as a programmer for an oil production company. After a while, I found writing code rather boring and started to look for something more creative. At about the same time, I'd published a small book of poetry together with a friend. I wanted to combine my two worlds: hi-tech and writing. I suggested publishing a column devoted to the literary works of programmers to several Russian computer magazines. One of magazines offered me a job as a reporter and then as a columnist. Through this job, I formed a lot of contacts with Russian computer companies.

After graduating in 1990, a software developer offered me a job writing a user's guide and online help for a Russian word processing application. Unfortunately, the word processor was pushed out of the market due to a lack of piracy. Yes, you read this correctly. In Russia, piracy and popularity are synonymous. Usually you buy a pirated copy of a product and then, if you like it and plan to do some serious work with it, you buy the legal one. That's the way things work. Although I was paid good money for the job, I didn't think I'd continue with technical writing. I was far more interested in the Internet.

I'd created a website with the idea that I would be able to earn a living publishing ads at the site. The site contained stories, poems, articles, pictures, etc. And jokes, too. I also used to the site to publicize my experience with writing user guides, just in case. But there was a maximum of only twenty five hits a day, definitely not enough to be an attractive proposition for potential clients. However, when I removed all of the literary writing, there was more interest in the site. Within two weeks, I received ten offers of work, five of which turned out to be serious projects.

Each project was for a company which used only free-lance staff, including designers and programmers. I wrote user's guides and online help systems for a number of Russian applications. These included electronic translators, accounting applications, OCR software, system and cryptographic software.

During this period, I'd been working with a small group -some three or four people - that I'd formed to accept free-lance assignments.

This group developed into a fully-fledged company. Although there are many free-lance technical writers in Russia, I was the first to open a company specializing in professional technical writing services. One of the reasons there are so few independent small companies is that Russian companies are taxed very highly. Only very large companies with many products would have a technical writing department.

At Philosoft, we write user manuals and develop online help systems for different kinds of software, such as ERP, accounting, antivirus, security (HASP), personal information managers and others. We're not involved with DTP, which is usually sent to a company experienced in design. One of our major regular clients, is Microsoft, for whom we do a lot of translation and technical writing work. We developed several MS product tutorials for Microsoft CTECs (educational centers). We're familiar with a number of operating systems. In addition to Windows, we use Linux, MS DOS and its clone called PTS DOS. We adhere to a standard called GOST, which is equivalent to ISO 9000, for formatting, cross references, etc.

Hi-Tech in Moscow and other industrial cities is not typical of the rest of Russia. There are many outlying villages and towns which cannot even afford electricity. Although it's true that the population in Moscow is technologically on a par with its Western counterparts, the claim that was made recently that one out of every three people in Moscow owns a computer, is exaggerated. Russia entered the computer age only three or four years ago, which explains why we are using the most up-to-date software and operating systems. There wasn't very much old equipment which needed to be upgraded.

Interview with Mikhail Ostrogorskij
	Mikhail Ostrogorskij is the Executive Director of Philosoft, a Russian tech-writing company. He visited Israel in early August, 1999 and was interviewed by Patricia Carmel.
How did I become a technical writer? I was studying mathematics and computer science at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys. To make some extra money, I worked as a programmer for an oil production company. After a while, I found writing code rather boring and started to look for something more creative. At about the same time, I'd published a small book of poetry together with a friend. I wanted to combine my two worlds: hi-tech and writing. I suggested publishing a column devoted to the literary works of programmers to several Russian computer magazines. One of magazines offered me a job as a reporter and then as a columnist. Through this job, I formed a lot of contacts with Russian computer companies. After graduating in 1990, a software developer offered me a job writing a user's guide and online help for a Russian word processing application. Unfortunately, the word processor was pushed out of the market due to a lack of piracy. Yes, you read this correctly. In Russia, piracy and popularity are synonymous. Usually you buy a pirated copy of a product and then, if you like it and plan to do some serious work with it, you buy the legal one. That's the way things work. Although I was paid good money for the job, I didn't think I'd continue with technical writing. I was far more interested in the Internet. I'd created a website with the idea that I would be able to earn a living publishing ads at the site. The site contained stories, poems, articles, pictures, etc. And jokes, too. I also used to the site to publicize my experience with writing user guides, just in case. But there was a maximum of only twenty five hits a day, definitely not enough to be an attractive proposition for potential clients. However, when I removed all of the literary writing, there was more interest in the site. Within two weeks, I received ten offers of work, five of which turned out to be serious projects. Each project was for a company which used only free-lance staff, including designers and programmers. I wrote user's guides and online help systems for a number of Russian applications. These included electronic translators, accounting applications, OCR software, system and cryptographic software. During this period, I'd been working with a small group -some three or four people - that I'd formed to accept free-lance assignments. This group developed into a fully-fledged company. Although there are many free-lance technical writers in Russia, I was the first to open a company specializing in professional technical writing services. One of the reasons there are so few independent small companies is that Russian companies are taxed very highly. Only very large companies with many products would have a technical writing department. At Philosoft, we write user manuals and develop online help systems for different kinds of software, such as ERP, accounting, antivirus, security (HASP), personal information managers and others. We're not involved with DTP, which is usually sent to a company experienced in design. One of our major regular clients, is Microsoft, for whom we do a lot of translation and technical writing work. We developed several MS product tutorials for Microsoft CTECs (educational centers). We're familiar with a number of operating systems. In addition to Windows, we use Linux, MS DOS and its clone called PTS DOS. We adhere to a standard called GOST, which is equivalent to ISO 9000, for formatting, cross references, etc. Hi-Tech in Moscow and other industrial cities is not typical of the rest of Russia. There are many outlying villages and towns which cannot even afford electricity. Although it's true that the population in Moscow is technologically on a par with its Western counterparts, the claim that was made recently that one out of every three people in Moscow owns a computer, is exaggerated. Russia entered the computer age only three or four years ago, which explains why we are using the most up-to-date software and operating systems. There wasn't very much old equipment which needed to be upgraded. YK2? I'm more concerned with what will happen with the presidential elections in the year 2000. Mikhail welcomes contacts with Israeli tech-writers. Write to him at: mail@philosoft.msk.ru Check out his website at: http://www.philosoft.ru

Society for Technical Communication—Israel Chapter

Society for Technical Communication—Israel Chapter