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Subject:
netslaves article
From: David Merrill ####@####.#### Date: 8 Mar 2001 15:04:31 -0000 Message-Id: <20010308100325.B19159@lupercalia.net> I'm going to `waste' bandwidth by quoting an article that ran on netslaves, at http://www.netslaves.com/comments/983976069.shtml The state of documentation is far better than she indicates, but there is *some* truth in what she says. Even though she is very wrong on some points, she correctly outlines our challenge - making our HOWTOs more accessible and readable for non geeks. So, without further ado... Linux Must Have Documentation Human Beings Can Consume The HOW-TOs and FAQs are funny. They're written in some strange moon language. Other moon language speakers can read these things with ease. They meet in dark rooms and exchange plans for the domination of their world in their strange moon language script. Unfortunately, for the rest of us, moon language was only offered as a graduate option and we were too busy jerking off in classes studying caching schema in NUMA machines to get around to taking it. Who wrote these things? The thing about Linux documentation is that it backs the oft-blabbered fallacy that engineers, as a whole, cannot communicate with the outside universe and those that can have some sort of strange gift from the Heavens. These bits and pieces of documentation are so difficult to read that one would think they were summonings for Dread Cthulhu. "Install a video card, summon an Elder God! The joke is on you! Ha ha ha!" Worse, when faced with a problem, where does one have to go? That's right. The HOW-TO files. There is a standard engineering paradigm where all systems must be fully specified and documented. Linux is not fully specified and documented. It is fragmented, with bits and pieces of information available, written by those who were disciplined enough, crazy enough, or plain bored enough to write up documentation. Sure, one can go out and drop a bunch of cash on O'Reilly books or one of the many "Linux in a minute" books, but those books don't help when a piece of hardware goes kaput, or a new application has gone ahead and wiped out the system partition. Again. Without some comprehensive, available documentation, Linux will /always/ be simply a hobby operating system and never taken seriously. Polish, professionalism, and clear documentation counts for more than any geek will give it credit. Certainly, the whole "cathedral and bazaar" model makes everyone warm and fuzzy, but it doesn't lead to comprehensive documents on how to use and abuse the system targeted to be read and used by consumers. Strong documentation is worth a million dollars, but, right now, looking over most of the HOWT-TOs, these documents and five bucks can get you a tripple latte mocha at Starbucks. -- Dr. David C. Merrill http://www.lupercalia.net Linux Documentation Project ####@####.#### Collection Editor & Coordinator http://www.linuxdoc.org Finger me for my public key Hell is empty and all the devils are here. -- Wm. Shakespeare, "The Tempest" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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