From owner-freebsd-doc  Wed Aug 30  8:15:53 2000
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Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 15:45:08 +0100
From: Nik Clayton <nik@freebsd.org>
To: Jim Mock <jim@FreeBSD.ORG>
Cc: "Bruce A. Mah" <bmah@FreeBSD.ORG>, freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject: Re: HARDWARE.TXT vs. {i386,alpha}/RELNOTES.TXT
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References: <200008291834.e7TIYFm20218@bmah-freebsd-0.cisco.com> <20000829204112.A5240@luna.osd.bsdi.com>
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In-Reply-To: <20000829204112.A5240@luna.osd.bsdi.com>; from jim@FreeBSD.ORG on Tue, Aug 29, 2000 at 08:41:12PM -0700
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On Tue, Aug 29, 2000 at 08:41:12PM -0700, Jim Mock wrote:
> On Tue, 29 Aug 2000 at 11:34:15 -0700, Bruce A. Mah wrote:
> > Could someone explain to this newbie why we maintain separate lists
> > of  supported hardware in HARDWARE.TXT vs. {i386,alpha}/RELNOTES.TXT?
> 
> I've never been able to figure this out either.

Me either (certainly predates me).  Feel free to nuke it.

> > It seems to me we ought to have this information in one place only,
> > but maybe I'm missing something.
> 
> Agreed.
> 
> While I'm on the subject, I also think that Appendix F in the handbook
> (PC Hardware Compatibility) should die, and the Supported Hardware
> section of the install chapter should be what's kept up-to-date.  Either
> that or the exact opposite -- rip the hardware out of the install
> chapter and put it in the appendix.  Whichever is chosen doesn't really
> matter -- the point is, we only need one, and if it's not updated
> regularly, it's fairly useless anyway.

Agreed.  In my ideal world, Appendix F becomes the official supported
hardware list.  HARDWARE.TXT is generated by a process that does 
something like

     cp ...../handbook/hardware/chapter.sgml .
     cat doctype.sgml chapter.sgml | jade -foo -bar -baz ... > chapter.html
     w3m -dump chapter.html > HARDWARE.TXT

I'm handwaving somewhat, but you get the idea.  HARDWARE.TXT in the 
repository should say:

    DO NOT TOUCH THIS FILE.  IT IS GENERATED AUTOMATICALLY FROM THE 
    HANDBOOK, GO AND EDIT THE HANDBOOK INSTEAD!

N
-- 
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