discuss: Looking for guidance/suggestions for possible large documentation project
Subject:
Re: Looking for guidance/suggestions for possible large documentation project
From:
David Merrill ####@####.####
Date:
17 Nov 2001 11:12:02 -0000
Message-Id: <20011117061013.D26507@lupercalia.net>
On Fri, Nov 16, 2001 at 04:42:43PM -0500, Justin Yackoski wrote:
> I'm interested in possibly creating a new howto of significant length
> for a possible college senior project. I am a junior currently, so I
> have plenty of time to plan, and I would probably not start any
> significant work until at least June or sometimes this summer. I have a
> fair understanding of the Mandrake distro, and have been using it for a
> significant part of its existance, and have either tinkered with or
> currently use more or less every server or application that I can think
> of which doesn't involve the core network stuff (dns, advanced routing,
> clustering), although I'm also interested in that. I've read through
> the LDP Authoring Guide and looked at the current howtos/guides,
> unmaintained docs, etc., so I have a pretty good idea of what is already
> there and what isn't. I know that as with many distros, Mandrake's
> documentation is well, not much to brag about. I have thought about
> doing something detailing every step of the install process from
> standard Mandrake CD's, setting up most (or all) common servers,
> customizing basically everything someone would normally need to
> customize, setting up both servers and clients, etc. I have not found
> anything exactly like this, although I have found some howtos/guides on
> some aspects in broader scope or that are similar in some regards. The
> goal of this would be different because I would intend it to primarily
> focus on *everything* from putting in the CD's (or connecting to the ftp
> server) to fully running servers & workstations. I am much more
> familiar with the quirks of Mandrake than other distros, but would not
> *at all* be opposed to later including notes about other distros or
> expanding it to cover them. I of course don't want to duplicate
> documentation which already exists, nor do I want to create
> documentation for a need which isn't really there. I would appreciate
> any suggestions or guidance as to how to refine this topic or whether it
> would be beneficial.
I read the other replies. Consider writing a meta-document that walks
the user through all the steps, but branches off into the standard
HOWTOs where appropriate. You write the glue stuff that is needed to
make it a coherent whole. It is almost always better to contribute to
an existing HOWTO than to write an entirely new one that is a
significant duplication.
Maybe someday we could do the same for other distributions.
--
Dr. David C. Merrill http://www.lupercalia.net
Linux Documentation Project ####@####.####
Collection Editor & Coordinator http://www.linuxdoc.org
Mother, I feel you under my feet
Mother, I hear your heartbeat
Mother, I hear you in the river's song,
Eternal waters flowing on and on
-- Dianne Martin (Windsong)
