This is the exact goal of the FLOSS Manual. The site allows a PDF to be generated from the current status of the manual. I've been encouraging people not to reply solely on the images and patches, but to describe things in text as well in order to ensure its searchability.
One caveat, however, is that FLOSS documentation tends to follow the FLOSS software model of multi-authorship. Therefore, things get filled in as people have the drive to do so. The "professional", single-author model seems just as uncommon in the docs as it does in the software itself, so be careful what kind of standards you apply. Or you could go out and pay for something "professional"... ;-)
D.
On 6/7/10 11:20 PM, Jim Aikin wrote:
What one wants, I think, is a single PDF file that, in the absence of an index, can be searched for text strings, and that is conceived and written in a linear, coherent manner.