discuss: Thread: TLDP is currently the subject of a slashdot discussion

FYI
http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/07/04/18/2312218.shtml

Karl ####@####.####
Free Software:  "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
                  -- Robert A. Heinlein

On Thu, Apr 19, 2007 at 09:36:32AM EDT, Karl O. Pinc wrote:
> FYI
> http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/07/04/18/2312218.shtml

Good point .. as a new user of linux .. the only reason I subscribed to
this list is that I needed more information about the formatting of
docs .. Hoped I might plunder some useful tools.. 

As to the current relevance of the howtos .. what can I say .. so many
of them were last updated in the 20th century .. 

Thanks,
cga

cga2000 said on Fri, Apr 20, 2007 at 10:12:35PM -0400,:

 > As to the current relevance of the howtos .. what can I say

``I volunteer'' is something you can say!!

I have no claims to be a very active or productive volunteer  but I
do whatever litter I can.

Also, TLDP is [at least to me] an aggregation of independent works,
from several contributors and that is ulinke a software project with
innumerable contributors. There are bound to be some / several
differences from other free software projects. 

-- 
 Mahesh T. Pai <<>> http://paivakil.blogspot.com/
From The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906) [devil]:
  LAWYER, n.  One skilled in circumvention of the law.

On Sat, Apr 21, 2007 at 12:58:42AM EDT, Mahesh T. Pai wrote:
> cga2000 said on Fri, Apr 20, 2007 at 10:12:35PM -0400,:
> 
>  > As to the current relevance of the howtos .. what can I say
> 
> ``I volunteer'' is something you can say!!

Please do not <snip> in the middle of a sentence.

It is not only rude but could also be viewed as dishonest.

In the context of the link that Karl posted, which you also suppressed,
all I meant is that as an outsider my general impression is that the
times have changed and the LDP has fallen behind. 

Five years ago the LDP was the place to go when you needed accurate
documentation that focused on one particular aspect of Linux .. As a
result, or was it also a cause, of this popularity .. the LDP was the
place where authors wanted to be published. 

Maybe I am mistaken, but I have a feeling this is no longer the case.

Apologies to anyone on the list who might have perceived my remark as a
criticism of TLDP contributors, past or present.

[..]

Thanks,
cga

On Sat, Apr 21, 2007 at 01:00:58PM -0400, cga2000 wrote:
> Five years ago the LDP was the place to go when you needed accurate
> documentation that focused on one particular aspect of Linux .. As a
> result, or was it also a cause, of this popularity .. the LDP was the
> place where authors wanted to be published. 

Wrong.  7 years ago I sat at the LDP booth in Montreal and almost
every visitor complained about stale documentation at LDP.
Unfortunately, it's even worse now.
> 
> Maybe I am mistaken, but I have a feeling this is no longer the case.

			David Lawyer

On 4/22/07, David Lawyer ####@####.#### wrote:
> On Sat, Apr 21, 2007 at 01:00:58PM -0400, cga2000 wrote:
> > Five years ago the LDP was the place to go when you needed accurate
> > documentation that focused on one particular aspect of Linux .. As a
> > result, or was it also a cause, of this popularity .. the LDP was the
> > place where authors wanted to be published.
>
> Wrong.  7 years ago I sat at the LDP booth in Montreal and almost
> every visitor complained about stale documentation at LDP.
> Unfortunately, it's even worse now.

Everybody complained, noone helped... This is a problem.

I can see every discuss threads about LDP are very active apart
from documentation process and documentation itself.

We need strategy, not red tape.

S.

Sergiusz Pawlowicz wrote:

> I can see every discuss threads about LDP are very active apart
> from documentation process and documentation itself.
> 
> We need strategy, not red tape.

many doc don't need really updates. Distro-specific is better done on 
distro-specific places...

jdd


-- 
http://www.dodin.net
Cécile, esthéticienne à Montpellier
(à domicile)
http://gourmandises.orangeblog.fr/

On 4/22/07, jdd ####@####.#### wrote:
> Sergiusz Pawlowicz wrote:
>
> > I can see every discuss threads about LDP are very active apart
> > from documentation process and documentation itself.
> >
> > We need strategy, not red tape.
>
> many doc don't need really updates. Distro-specific is better done on
> distro-specific places...

I am not sure, collecting docs in one place allows freedom and easiness
of choice of the right software.

S.

The problems discussed on this thread sound all too familiar. First, TLDP is a victim of its own success: it created a huge set of documents and people began to expect that they'd be updated and that the set would keep increasing.

Updating a document is a lot less fun than writing it the first time. I found that out doing some free docs. I was not a very reliable updater, I have to admit.

And part of it is the old free-rider problem.

Andy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sergiusz Pawlowicz" ####@####.####
To: ####@####.####
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 8:10:59 AM (GMT-0500) America/New_York
Subject: [discuss] TLDP is currently the subject of a slashdot discussion

On 4/22/07, jdd ####@####.#### wrote:
> Sergiusz Pawlowicz wrote:
>
> > I can see every discuss threads about LDP are very active apart
> > from documentation process and documentation itself.
> >
> > We need strategy, not red tape.

<snip>