Subject:
Re: [discuss] Modernization/Re-Design of Website
From:
"paul.hendricksen" ####@####.####
Date:
24 Apr 2011 02:18:00 +0100
Message-Id: <BANLkTimfwLiqWeYFDiNtXnC6tdCU7aD6PQ@mail.gmail.com>
We are all that is left of the “old-school” way of thought. Back in
1999-2000 it was very easy to go to TLDP and look up anything that we needed
to use, maintain, and develop our, then current, distributions. But with
the rise of the “more out of the box,” concepts like Gentoo, Ubuntu, and Red
Hat the LDP is falling behind and is, quite frankly, very out dated.
New users are using desktop based Linux distros, like Ubuntu, for the ease
of use and in some cases might even have the same Linux distro installed as
a server on a remote computer. Because all the documentation that they need
for configuration is on the software’s web site, they don’t even look twice
at the LDP.
If we want it to stay alive, if we want it to be useful and more appealing
to the newer generations of Linux users, we need to update it from the
ground up. That means scrubbing each document, in a round robin, updating
it and keeping a changelog. Wiki is a group-oriented piece of software that
keeps track of changes, the authors, and is very easy to use.
The first step is to get out of this “old-school” mentality. Linux needs to
get to the level that the Mac OS has gotten to for the desktop market. We
need to get our server-based Linux distributions to the _ease of use_ that
is seen in the Microsoft world, not saying we need it to emulate it in every
way. People want to see functionality at the easiest cost in time.
Steps:
1) Create a bottom-up atmosphere advocating the education of Linux, the
history, and preservation of it’s use. Developing up-to-date HOWTOs,
promoting both collaboration and community.
2) Scrub the HOWTOs, generalize them, and create sub-groups of more
distro-oriented mini-HOWTOs
3) Develop a clean, functional, and easy to navigate Wiki site that
requires Authors to register to add/update/edit. Polls to ask what is
needed, what should be written, and what should be added.
All of you have great points, with the exception of bullying, I think this
discussion went very well. We all see a need for change, hence the reason
we all spent the majority of the day talking this over. Lets make it happen
and do something about it rather than just talk. I’ll put in the time to
help.
-Paul
On Sat, Apr 23, 2011 at 13:40, Borden Rhodes ####@####.#### wrote:
> Sorry for that interlude, everyone. I hope you found it entertaining
> but let's try to keep the bullying under control.
>
> I know that the original thread was to discuss artwork but beautifying
> the site isn't going to help much if there's nothing for that pretty
> artwork to present. One of the problems I think the LDP has is in
> carving out a niche. A lot of the wikis are hardware specific and/or
> grossly outdated. Perhaps we're best to leave driver and hardware
> configuration howto to the driver writers? I think external linking
> in this case would make the most sense (although, in my experience,
> driver documentation leaves a lot to be desired and might need LDP
> supplements).
>
> Secondly, most distros provide fairly decent documentation about their
> respective quirks. I know that Debian often rewrites the upstream
> documentation because they package things (like exim) such that the
> default documentation doesn't work. So, perhaps it's not necessary
> for us to maintain distro-specific documentation unless, of course, it
> applies on a general level. Hence, we can simply drop the 'Fedora' or
> 'Debian' label in howtos.
>
> There's also niche documentation like the
> Avr-Microcontrollers-in-Linux-Howto recently submitted. It makes
> sense to me to give these kinds of howtos a home where they'd
> otherwise get lost in Google searches and/or archived on sites like
> The Gadgeteer. I don't know. That's just my thinking.
>
> I currently use Wikipedia to learn about general concepts like udev,
> ext4 vs. reiserfs, gstreamer vs. xine, etc. Perhaps the LDP could
> take a greater role in these sorts of conceptual topics? The biggest
> problem I have is in trying to figure out which technology has
> succeeded another technology. I think to new Linux users this is the
> biggest source of confusion (since it was for me) and I'd often get
> forum replies to the effect of 'yeah, that package you're trying to
> use isn't maintained anymore. You're looking for...' The other area
> I think the LDP could use a greater emphasis is on solving common
> problems or explaining the man pages to commonly-used application -
> all of which I turn to Google for right now.
>
> Just some thoughts. Rick, please make good on your promise to be 'way
> past dealing with' me and don't respond unless you have something
> helpful to say AND can word it nicely.
>
> With thanks,
>
> Borden
>
> ______________________
> http://lists.tldp.org/
>
>
