[linux-audio-user] some thoughts about Linux audio software documentation

[Pete Bessman]

At Sat, 14 Aug 2004 15:09:04 +0100,
tim hall wrote:
> 
> > I am *not* trying to look a gift horse in the mouth here, but if you
> > *really* want to help I think I have a better idea.
> >
> > Make some music (real music, finished stuff), and write docs on what
> > you had to do to make this music.  Start from the beginning:
> >
> > --What distro did you install, and on what hardware?
> >
> > --What configuration steps did you need to perform?
> 
> Done this and made a start on docs http://wiki.agnula.org
> 
> > --What applications did you use, and how did you install and configure
> >   them?
> 
> Dave Phillips has already made a damn good start on this one too.
> http://www.agnula.org/documentation/dp_tutorials/ I'm trying to
> figure out where the gaps are. No sense in duplicating effort.  The
> fact that you're on-list now saying YES! to documentation help makes
> me think that Specimen deserves some attention.

Yeah, I didn't know this info was even out there.  If these pieces
were synthesized into a cohesive whole and their existence advertised
in a public place that would make great inroads into acceptance.
Heck, the "synthesis" could just be one page with links to the
relevant docs in the recommended order of reading.

Another thing to consider is whether we can obviate the need for the
general installation and configuration docs.  There is no technical
reason, IMHO, why we can't have a pro-audio oriented distro that
requires the same low level of involvement as Knoppix.  This isn't
about pandering to drooling morons, but simply respecting other
people's time.  If a given task is so programmatic that we can write a
HOWTO for it in recipe format, I think that's an indication that the
computer should be doing this for the user automatically.

Well, that's actually a whole 'nother can of worms, I suppose, but I
think the gist is pertinent.

> I do make music with this software, but I have so far only really
> produced demos and test pieces, which aren't necessarily the best
> advert. I have already contributed some stuff to

That's still a *whole* lot better than nothing.  Back when specimen
was totally nascent, I saw my web stats literally triple just by
uploading a *crappy* demo of it in action.  After throwing "fighting
for" together, the numbers doubled from there and have held
relatively steady ever since.

-- 
Pete

www.gazuga.net

=====================================================================
"I saw the movie 'I, Robot' recently, a film based loosely on a book
written by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. In case you're not
familiar with Asimov's writing, here's a list of things the movie had
in common with the book:

* The title."

[maddox.xmission.com]
=====================================================================