discuss: Software-RAID-HOWTO
Subject:
Re: [discuss] Software-RAID-HOWTO
From:
David Greaves ####@####.####
Date:
14 May 2008 23:51:48 +0100
Message-Id: <482B6F17.1040607@dgreaves.com>
So Rick, I'll attempt to answer all your emails here...
Since you seem to be somewhat upset then let me modify my jocular tone and point
out that I have spent a lot of time voluntarily writing linux documentation,
both the linux-raid wiki and, if you look at the credits at the bottom of the
git documentation:
http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/
and I also helped start:
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
So you should see, I hope, that I do have some credibility and do my fair share
in the linux documentation community.
We are not enemies; we should be friends!
My main objective is to provide accurate information to linux users about RAID.
Nowadays more and more new linux users use RAID to protect their digital photos,
home videos, TV shows and more - I want to help them keep these things safe...
I've been an active participant in the linux-raid community for 3 or 4 years; I
set up the wiki after a lot of complaints about the HOWTO. I considered
maintaining it but I just don't have time - Wikipedia showed us how a community
can manage it's documents as a group and, after consulting the linux-raid lead
developer and the community, I adopted that model. It's not as rigorous as the
HOWTO but it can be changed more easily - more Bazaar than Cathedral.
Sometimes a HOWTO is a great solution - for RAID, today, we felt it was not.
So eventually I decided (with the linux-raid community's blessing) to put up a
wiki at the OSDL site. (In case some readers aren't aware, the OSDL employs a
certain Linus Torvalds ... not a fly-by-night URL in other words). I'm sure I
looked for an LDP wiki back then but I don't recall seeing one.
I'm afraid that maintaining 'LDP' was not on my radar before tonight. I'm sorry.
Nonetheless, I did make every effort whilst setting up the wiki to allow the
updated howto section to be collected into one page to allow it to be published
by LDP and similar sites. I felt that if others wanted to translate then I'd try
and facilitate that.
So why am I even here? On the LDP discuss list?
Simple, LDP comes up highly on Google and as such is seen by loads of new users.
Users who then come to the linux-raid list asking why the HOWTO is 4 year out of
date and often plain wrong.
Please don't misunderstand - I'm not actually here to submit a HOWTO.
I joined the list simply to suggest that you stop publishing misinformation and
giving the impression it's valid and (still) blessed by the people who wrote the
actual code. I'm sorry but it's not.
It was supposed to be a simple courtesy request.
I honestly expected you to be delighted that there is a new document and answer
"Of course we will - sounds sensible to us, after all the HOWTO is 4 years old
and out of date - we'll deprecate it and point people off to your link".
I also expected you to say "Who the hell are you? Some Tom, Dick or Harry with a
website?". I was prepared to answer that (and I thought I did).
What I didn't expect was for you berate me for not writing a HOWTO and to claim
some authority over the linux-raid documentation. I suggest that you've
forgotten what the LDP is for: providing the best docs you can to help people;
not creating a big list of HOWTOs no matter the accuracy.
I am sad for LDP that no-one wants to maintain the RAID HOWTO. Maybe that's
telling in itself - maybe not.
I myself do not have time; however - as I suggested to Borden - I will assist
anyone who wants to take text from the wiki and publish it via LDP.
But if you want to help the community then can I please ask you to listen to them...
So, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot.
Now I've restated my case would you please consider noting in the HOWTO header
that the Software RAID HOWTO is out-of-date and that as of 2008, readers may be
better of consulting the community managed wiki at the osdl URL.
Thank you in advance for your professional and community minded response.
David
PS Bug report: I still get each post to the list echoed back at me as a
syntactically invalid Majordomo command post.
