Winter Knight
Group: Members
Posts: 146
Joined: April 2006 |
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Posted: Aug. 27 2006,19:03 |
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DSL is badly in need of more documentation. Every twentieth post I read is a new user complaining about the lack of documentation in DSL. When I was a new user, I would have been turned off by DSL's lack of documentation, if not for the fact that I was a linux noob as well, and didn't know any better.
What documentation there is is spread out like a slut at Mardi Gras. How to make a DSL is a pdf file in the subdirectory of current. Tar.gz and uci is in the wiki. And unc is in a reply to a barely related post in Release Candidates. The difference between what these extensions are can only be inferred from a variety of sources.
The wiki has some info, but it is seriously out of date. Bootcodes are incomplete, as there are more now than there used to be. There are some wireless cards listed, but I can't add mine to the list because it is not a real wiki.
The main source of info for DSL is searching forums and asking questions. Searching forums and asking questions is fine, but it is relatively slow, and should not be a primary source of info. Also, when people answer questions, it doesn't last that long. Sure, it stays in the forums forever(?), but it will be asked again and again.
As a rule, a typical user should be able to install and start using a distro without asking any questions. Everything necessary, including potential roadblocks, should be in the docs.
The single, easiest thing the developers can do to improve documentation is opening the wiki. In its current state, it is not even fit to be called a wiki.
I predict that if the wiki was opened, documentation would just flow in. Some people will copy stuff right out of the forums and pdf docs. Others will write articles that no one knew needed writing, but after anyone reads it, will wonder why it wasn't written before. The bootcode list will be complete. The working wireless cards list will slowly get bigger and bigger. Whenever anyone asks if their wireless card works, or how to make a uci, or even sometimes why they are getting a certain error message, we can just point to the wiki. I can finally correct mikshaw's spelling error. (ootar.gz)
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