draft notice text

[Karsten Wade]

On Sun, 2004-09-19 at 00:42, Dave Pawson wrote:
> On Sun, 2004-09-19 at 06:40, Karsten Wade wrote:
> 
> > > I gather you're speaking for rhel Karsten?
> > 
> > Never let it be said that I speak for RHEL ... :) ... I speak for myself
> > only, unless otherwise stated.
> 
> In which case my question remains, modified.
> Are fc documents being processed by 'todays' tools, i.e. xslt
> and the current docbook stylesheets?

Are you asking me to open up the FDP Makefile for you?  Ok ...

Fedora documentation is processed using xmlto and a custom XSL that
relies upon the standard DB XSL with some modifications (mostly
different Booleans, iirc).

fedora-docs/xsl/main-{pdf,html}.xsl


> > Because the answer is, what are you talking about?, Fedora is not using
> > the SGML toolchain.
> 
> You refer to them so regularly Karsten, I'd presumed you were using
> them?

I'd have to do an archives search, and I'm not going to :), but I'm
pretty sure I usually refer to the SGML toolchain when explaining the
history behind a practice that has been carried over to Fedora docs.

In other words, people such as you ask why we do something, and in part
of explaining that, I give the history.  Understanding where you came
from is an essential part of understanding where you are today.

> > My explanation of how a company can get locked into using an aging
> > system because of the difficulty of change should be explanation
> > enough.  It is a common enough occurrence.
> > 
> > If you don't understand the example, perhaps it's because you haven't
> > experienced it yet?  It's far easier for an individual to change systems
> > than for a company.
> I used DSSSL and SGML for about 12 months, then XML and its tools
> started to appear. 
>   I have seen what I called the 'blue' effect though. 
> I find it repugnant, and rarely justifiable in terms of cost.

*shrug*  Welcome to the real world, Dave.  I'd also reckon that in terms
of the real world, you are wrong that it is 'rarely' justifiable in
terms of cost.  I'm not an ROI expert, but I've done a fair number of
enterprise assessments, and it's hard to ever know what the exact cost
of an existing system.


> > PDF is wanted.
> In the fc2 documentation? I haven't seen any. 

Right, I believe there has been a problem with working conversion to
PDF?

>  Is the current fop in use?

No.  Again checking in the Makefile, we are using xmlto and a custom
XSL.  It's not perfect.  Hence the discussion to use different tools.

> > > I'm not personally bound to the dead tree method of documenting, but
> > many of our readers are. 
> Fedora readers?

Yes.

- Karsten
-- 
Karsten Wade, RHCE, Tech Writer
a lemon is just a melon in disguise
http://people.redhat.com/kwade/
gpg fingerprint: 2680 DBFD D968 3141 0115  5F1B D992 0E06 AD0E 0C41