12 Aug
2004
12 Aug
'04
1:14 p.m.
I care Dammit! :)
I think this is a valid point {& click).
As a relative greeny to most things linux, I have found the vortex of
info out there on some apps to be a show stopper many times. And then on
ones that do have documentation...does it tell me the things need to
actually know to make the software work?
It seems that most that can write code or develop applications aim at an
audience that should "understand where to look for a problem" and while
that's all okey dokey, especially since they ARE doing it for free in
most cases, it does not speak to attracting the masses to what has
become a formidable adversary to MS in more ways than just server
application! {at least that's what my ignorant perception of Linux was}
The forums and wikis are good...they help a lot. And folks in general
are just so very cool about helping. {quote: Jack_fst for e.g....not to
mention dozens of other things I got help with here for other stuff) but
they don't cover everything by a long shot. Sometimes I wont ask on here
because humble is not my best suite! :) And I can't figure it out in
many cases so It don't get to work! Who knows if that piece of software
wouldn't have changed the world!!! :) Or at the least, it might have
changed my world! And frankly many of these linux audio apps have done
just that...rock my freakin' world at a great rate of knots! And I get
out and gig at least a couple of times a month and get a LOT of interest
over the PC stuff...I have the best seat in the house to push this out
there...but we can make their journey easier today...
{quote: "ah grasshopper, when you have crossed the rice paper without
tearing it you will have learned" unquote}
On Thu, 2004-08-12 at 06:13, Dave Phillips wrote:
Greetings:
Recently I received a letter from a fellow who civilly noted how
atrocious is so much of the documentation for Linux audio software.
While that may be generally true it is also easy to point out specific
excellent docos, e.g., Snd, Csound, LilyPond, Rosegarden, etc., though
too at the same time it must be admitted that even those docs are not
necessarily the most well-organized. Perhaps this fellow's most damning
statement was made re: the HOWTOs available from the Linux Documentation
Project (LDP). I decided to check out the situation myself, and here's
what I found (the doc is followed by its last revision date):
Linux Sound HOWTO July 2001
ALSA Sound mini-HOWTO November 1999
Linux MIDI HOWTO May 2002
Linux MP3 HOWTO December 2001
Worse, the LDP's own documentation refers back to these out-of-date
pieces, making sure that readers continue to be misinformed. I mean no
critique of the excellent LPD, but it seems to me that as a community we
have an obligation to correct this situation. For all the talk about
improving documentation, here's a chance for anyone to get directly
involved. The format for these HOWTOs is simple and already laid out:
what's needed is currency, someone to correct and update the basic sound
& music oriented HOWTOs. Otherwise it might be better if we asked the
LDP to remove the docs in order to mitigate confusion.
Any comments ? Any takers ? Does anyone care ?
Best regards,
dp