discuss: Suggestion: AsciiDoc as a new format for submissions
Subject:
Re: Suggestion: AsciiDoc as a new format for submissions
From:
"Guru -" ####@####.####
Date:
27 Apr 2004 09:50:50 -0000
Message-Id: <Sea2-F13LT6yeLnHTXR0001b133@hotmail.com>
Hi,
"even though I am a LaTeX fan at heart."
Hmm, if you like LaTeX, have you tried using LyX? Chris's lyx-to-x scripts
are now (I believe) a accepted way to create documents for the TLDP because
they're submitted in docbook format (automatically generated).
However their setup while well-docmented is not easy.
http://www.karakas-online.de/mySGML/
I personally don't think its a bad idea, can you automatically convert this
AsciiDoc to a DocBook format or LinuxDoc?
Then what is the problem with accepting this as a format? I mean their's
nothing stopping this author from converting the AsciiDoc to LinuxDoc and
submitting it (and you might not even know the difference if its nicely
generated output).
Just my point of view...
Gareth
>From: "Scot W. Stevenson" ####@####.####
>Reply-To: ####@####.####
>To: ####@####.####
>Subject: Re: Suggestion: AsciiDoc as a new format for submissions
>Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 09:08:46 +0200
>
>Hello Emma Jane,
>
> > No it doesn't. This is one of the BIGGEST misconceptions about the LDP
> > submission process.
>
>Submission, yes. However, let's assume that you want to maintain your text,
>because nice people have given you all sorts of helpful feedback and you're
>the kind of person who believes that texts get better with every rewrite.
>And now let's go to
>
> > http://tldp.org/LDP/LDP-Author-Guide/html/process.html
>
>and take a look at entry 4.3.1:
>
>" You do not need to submit your initial document to the LDP in anything
>more
>than plain text! The LDP volunteers will convert your document to DocBook
>for you."
>
>So far, so good. But then if you read on:
>
>"Once it has been converted you will need to maintain your document in
>DocBook format."
>
>In other words: If you want to be part of the LDP, sooner or later you are
>going to have to learn DocBook. Later, in 5.4, we again have:
>
>"A new document may be submitted to the LDP in any format. Documents which
>are not in DocBook or LinuxDoc will be converted by a volunteer. The author
>is responsible for adding markup to any revisions which are made."
>
>Again, sooner or later, you are going to have to learn a markup language
>where you can't even write a single paragraph without using the dreaded
>pointy brackets. Not good.
>
> > If you'd like an easier markup language to work in than DocBook I
> > recommend taking a look at LinuxDoc.
>
>AsciiDoc is far simpler than LinuxDoc -- in fact, LinuxDoc is one of the
>markup languages AsciiDoc can be automatically converted into. I think I
>forgot to mention that. Unix man page format is another.
>
>Actually -- and I think this is true for the majority of authors -- I don't
>/want/ to have work in a markup language /at all/, even though I am a LaTeX
>fan at heart. I just want to write my text and concentrate on the content,
>and if it was up to me, I'd be using OpenOffice.org the same way I do for
>anything else that I can't use vi for. I certainly don't want to have to
>learn a hideously overfeatured markup language like DocBook just to be able
>to maintain a text for the LDP. One reason I haven't updated the Mock
>Mainframe HOWTO yet is because I feel nauseous at the very idea of the
>amount of markup required to just write a simple list. I'm sure other
>authors feel the same way.
>
>My point is that as great as DocBook might be for processing the finished
>texts, it is a pain in the rear as the primary format for authors who want
>to do more than submit a first version and then run. It is my feeling that
>the LDP is scaring off authors by requiring them to deal with DocBook in
>any
>form and even mentioning the name. However, I do understand that every
>author who does submit things in DocBook makes life that much easier for
>the
>volunteers who are running LDP and that there is a certain lack of people
>who would like to spend their lives converting plain text to DocBook. Which
>doesn't surprise me at all, I might add.
>
>AsciiDoc seems to be a way to get around this: It is a simple ascii-based
>format that takes minutes to learn and can be converted to DocBook for all
>the other voodoo stuff. In other words, it looks like a way that we can
>have
>our cake and eat it, too, and that is why I suggested that you and the
>other
>people who do most of the heavy lifting take a look at it.
>
>Since I am the one who brought it up, how about this: If you find that
>AsciiDoc can be included in the list of formats that are acceptable to the
>LDP for submission as well as for maintenance (!), I'll write a chapter for
>the Guide, including examples. Then, authors have the choice of either
>learning DocBook for maintenance or AsciiDoc, and everybody is happy.
>
>Thanks again for reading,
>Y, Scot
>
>--
> Scot W. Stevenson - Panketal, Germany
>
>
>______________________
>http://lists.tldp.org/
>
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