DDP vs LDP -- should be DDP + LDP
[This email contains a rant. It does not reflect any official
position of Debian of course! This is simply my opinion.]
In article <199811150800.IAA20706@linda.lfix.co.uk>, "Oliver Elphick" <olly@lfix.co.uk> writes:
> One curious thing is that there seems to be no link to the Linux
> Documentation Project manuals anywhere in Debian. No-one has
> packaged them, either.
What? Are you kidding?
The doc-linux-html package provides the current Linux HOWTOs, mini-HOWTOs,
and FAQs in HTML format. Alternatively, ASCII versions are provided
in the doc-linux-text package.
.
The version number reflects the month in which doc-linux-html was created.
.
All files are available at http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/ (with versions
in ASCII, DVI, HTML, postscript, and SGML)
> Lars Wirzenius has suggested that we should
> only refer to those, rather than rewriting them. I don't agree with
> that, because Debian has sufficient coherence and identity to
> deserve its own manuals, but it would certainly be useful to users
> to be referred to those documents and to the HOWTOs.
I would say that we should provide Debian documentation for
Debian-specific issues, and use (and maybe help improve) LDP rather
than try to replace it. That's the Debian ethic. Let's improve
documentation for *all* GNU users!
> As Lyno Sullivan has said, the main problem for a new user is
> finding out where to get information.
Oh, I totally agree. I'll plaster links all over the Installation
Document, insofar as we can.
However!
I think we're currently working in complete isolation from the
maintainers of the existing pool of LDP documentation. And I think
this is unacceptable. I don't go as far as Lars in saying there's no
need for *any* Debian documentation.
But I do agree with him that the following documents should be
*scrapped* and effort directed towards improving the LDP where
necessary. Or, if not scrapped, then written as if they were an
appendix to the relevant LDP or existing FAQs, i.e., only supplying
Debian-specific information.
Debian Tutorial
Debian User Reference Manual
Debian System Administrator's Manual
Debian Network Administrator's Manual
I hope I'm not insulting anyone. But I just think that these manuals
are 90% non-Debian-specific, currently, and I think it's a mistake and
a waste of our time to not work the wider community on these
documents.
Does anyone agree?
Would someone volunteer to liason and be the point person to
communicate with "upstream" LDP maintainers? Can work for the general
good of the LDP, as well as Debian?
We also need someone to go thru the LDP stuff and increase the
exposure of Debian, and accuracy of any existing information about
Debian, in those documents.
--
.....Adam Di Carlo....adam@onShore.com.....<URL:http://www.onShore.com/>
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