Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 16:01:11 -0800 From: Rich Morin <rdm@cfcl.com> To: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: documenting /dev/* Message-ID: <p0500191fb651e0b3823a@[192.168.168.205]>
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At 9:41 PM +0000 12/4/00, Nik Clayton wrote:
>This is now wandering out of the realm of -doc material, and more like
>material for -hackers, or -arch. I say that not because I want to get
>offtopic chat off -doc (although that's not a bad reason) but because
>you're likely to get an audience in those two lists that can give better
>feedback on this sort of proposal.
Well, I realized that it might be considered as being off-topic when I
sent it, but I can give you some reasons why I sent it, anyway:
* The very list of /dev/* devices that I sent in earlier (which I
believe IS on-topic) is the starting point for the database that
would drive the script to create /sdev.
So, this could be seen as motivation (if any is needed :-) for
helping to get the list correct and complete. Also, the folks
on this list may have been following the earlier discussion,
which the folks on -arch and -hackers certainly will not.
* The underlying motivation for documentation is to make things
comprehensible to humans, particularly uninitiated ones. Whereas
a system designer might compromise comprehensibility for function,
a documenter (in general :-) would not.
In this particular case, where a directory tree is being built
for the explicit use by humans (as opposed to programs, which
work fine with /dev), I claim that /sdev _is_ documentation,
even if it looks like directories and files. It certainly is
as close as /usr/share/examples/etc, which also walks the line
between functionality (spare copies of important files) and
documentation (e.g., README.examples). Speaking of which, do
you have any reaction to my rework of the latter file?
In any case, if you want this discussion off the list, you win...
-r
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