discuss: Some ideas for TLDP
Subject:
Re: Some ideas for TLDP
From:
Daniel Pocock ####@####.####
Date:
9 Jan 2016 12:59:15 +0000
Message-Id: <5691044F.9090604@pocock.pro>
On 09/01/16 13:18, J. S. Evans wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Where is TLDP today? Looking at the site, I see some really good information
> and a lot of info that is plainly outdated. Really, when was the last time
> anyone needed a guide for setting up a 3-button serial mouse in Linux? I
> wonder if it is time to see some changes to the site and introduce new
> content.
>
> Some suggestions & talking points:
>
> - Move away from DocBook 4 to something a little more modern and preferably
> user friendly like LyX.
I started the RTC Quick Start Guide using DocBook 4 and then moved to
DocBook 5. I've also worked on Monitoring with Ganglia using DocBook.
I agree it presents some challenges but it also provides opportunities
to do more advanced things, work with other tools, etc.
Instead of simply looking at LyX or other options, maybe also consider
ways to help people get started more quickly with DocBook
There are many lightweight wiki markup syntaxes appearing these days.
While they all look simple, it is extremely confusing to move between
them and remember all the permutations of how to write a hyperlink.
> I'm sure someone will bring this up from the FAQ (written in 2004)
>
> Q: DocBook is too hard to learn for a LyX user like me. Why do you use it?
>
> A: It's not just LyX users that say this, but here's the answer... There are
> hundreds of documents in our collection. We have one set of scripts to convert
> each of these documents into human-readable formats (HTML, PostScript and
> PDF). We use these scripts not only to save time, but also to keep our
> collection visually similar, as requested by many of our readers (read
> http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/30/0041253 for more information.
> DocBook is a very descriptive markup language specifically desgined to describe
> technical documentation. Always under active development, DocBook is be used
> to output a variety of formats, including HTML pages, slide shows, PDF and
> PostScript for printed materials. We are always interested in hearing about
> scripts or tools for converting text to DocBook. Please read the Author Guide
> and contribute your ideas to the "Discuss" mailing list. LyX users should also
> read http://www.teledyn.com/help/XML/lyx2db/t1.html for more information.
>
> The problem with this is that DocBook 4 is really friggin old. No, you can't
> export LyX or OpenOffice/LibreOffice to it anymore because it is an outdated
> version of the DocBook standard. Rather than rewriting the scripts to use
> DocBook 5, why not find a better standard?
>
> - Find a way to grow enthusiasm for the project. Looking at the stats for the
> existing mailing lists, it looks like most of them haven't had any new traffic
> in years. Some going back to 2008 and before. TLDP is an amazing idea, why
> aren't we utilizing it for it's maximum value?
I contacted the mailing list some time ago about the RTC Quick Start
Guide. The discussion was very brief and I still have no idea whether
the guide would become part of TLDP.
> - Articles, books, guides, etc that are > 5 years old from the present should
> be put into an archives section of the site, but never ever deleted. Who
> knows when some poor slob really will need to use a 3-button serial mouse?
> Information is always needed, but it doesn't need to be on the front page.
TLDP also has a very, very outdated guide to Linux VoIP
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/VoIP-HOWTO.html
It is largely obsolete, it may actually undermine TLDP to keep
distributing things like that. When I started RTC Quick Start Guide, I
didn't really use anything from the old VoIP HOWTO. Maybe there needs
to be some clear way to distinguish older guides that are obsolete from
those that remain useful despite the passing of time.
> - Replace pluckerDB with epub. It just makes sense.
>
> What I love about TLDP is the same as what I love about Linux, the GPL, and
> free software. I love the fact that there are no ads. Never change that. The
> site is smooth and easy to navigate. Mostly what I propose is to see more
> content and make it easier for that content to be added.
>
> Best Regards,
> J.S. Evans
