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Date:      Sat, 04 May 2002 00:11:29 -0500 (CDT)
From:      "Brandon D. Valentine" <bandix@geekpunk.net>
To:        freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Difference between RELENG_* and RELENG_*_BP
Message-ID:  <20020503233143.S16006-100000@leto.homeportal.2wire.net>
In-Reply-To: <20020504001121.GA3310@ussenterprise.ufp.org>

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On Fri, 3 May 2002, Leo Bicknell wrote:

>At the end of the day, we need to lower the barrier to adding
>documentation, while increasing the quality.  Far from an easy task.

I agree with your point.  It would be nice to break down barriers to
documentation.  However, I don't think any of the suggestions so far are
feasible, for reasons others have already point out.

Moderated comment systems are very prone to low signal to noise ratios.
They simply make it /too/ easy for any passerby to add something.  This
often leads to a lack of forethought on the part of the submitter.  You
end up with lots of poorly formatted, poorly worded hints that might,
maybe help someone to get started solving their problem.  This obviously
doesn't help much.

As for Wiki's, they're strictly the playground of crank 'computer
science' theorist whack jobs.  The only people who post to Wiki's are
those who setup and maintain Wiki's.  Show me a Wiki which has made a
valuable contribution to the trust of human knowledge and I'll show you
Armageddon.

Maybe there is a way to break down a few barriers to creating better
documentation and to simplify code contributions sans commit privs.  Has
anyone seriously looked into setting up a Bugzilla database for FreeBSD?
I know we've got gnats, but gnats doesn't really provide any of the
Request for Enhancement/voting features that Bugzilla does.  FreeBSD
seems to have grown to a point where maybe some of Bugzilla's workflow
benefits could be realized.  The ability for developers and users to
vote for or against a specific feature certainly wouldn't hurt.  The
Bugzilla database could very easily contain a docs category where users
could post documentation submissions.  Other users looking for something
not already in the handbook or FAQ could then be directed to check the
bugzilla database for submissions.  There's even the possibility of a
special interface to the handbook which below each section links to
bugzilla entries associated with that section.  Users who click through
and find a documentation submission helpful could then add their vote to
it so that it gets pushed up high enough that people in the
documentation project see it, are aware that users out there are finding
it useful, and set about incorporating it into the official
documentation.

Brandon D. Valentine
-- 
"Time to resign from the human race, wipe those tears
from your lovely face.  Baby, wave to the man in the
ol' red caboose before all hell breaks loose."
                                     - Kinky Friedman


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