discuss: LDP Process (was: Software-RAID-HOWTO)
Subject:
Re: [discuss] LDP Process (was: Software-RAID-HOWTO)
From:
####@####.####
Date:
23 May 2008 03:17:01 +0100
Message-Id: <432cd8760805221921l3ff15ce1n7cf1da9f56dd9b49@mail.gmail.com>
That's a good point, Karl,
I agree that sticking a whole book into a single HTML file is
generally a very bad idea, which necessitates linking from one page to
another. Granted, some linking (such as 'this is beyond the scope of
this document but you may want to look here for more information') is
good. Unfortunately, it's difficult to make rules which say 'links
should be useful' since people will tend to abuse links like some
authors abuse footnotes to carry on a narrative that they couldn't be
bothered to weave into the main line of their books, or not use them
at all.
The other problem, which I know some will argue is a non-redundancy
benefit to the Internet, is that people will use links to add
information they don't want to or can't type into the main article.
But yes, designing wikis around 'next' and 'previous' links would help
tremendously.
Maybe what's needed is a spidering rule: if a web spider will break a
computer trying to download the document, or it cannot rearrange the
pages into a flat document, then links are being used incorrectly.
On 22/05/2008, Karl O. Pinc ####@####.#### wrote:
>
> On 05/22/2008 08:23:45 PM, ####@####.#### wrote:
>
> First, wikis tend
>> to be cross-linked heavily which, at least for my feeble mind, makes
>> it very difficult to carve out a reading path which will reassure me
>> that I don't miss anything and that information progresses logically.
>
> The problem is not the cross-linking, it's the lack of "next" and
> "previous" links on each page, that A) are inverse functions, the
> next of the first page is the previous of the second, and B)
> reach every node. And of course a narrative that expects such
> links to be followed.
>
> Linking is good, IMO.
>
>
> Karl ####@####.####
> Free Software: "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
> -- Robert A. Heinlein
>
