Re: [PATCH] xemacs-21.5: make man/xemacs-faq.texi ready to replace http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ content
8 p.m.
Adrian Aichner <adrian(a)xemacs.org> writes:
Hi All!
I have long wanted to resolve the duplication of FAQ between xemacsweb
and xemacs modules.
Now I got a plan.
Put symlinks in place under xemacsweb/FAQ for backward compatibility.
Maintain the FAQ in the xemacs module only from now on.
Here is the xemacs part of that patch to make this possible.
I'm working on the website changes now.
Here are some questions:
Should we continue to offer .txt and .dvi versions of the FAQ?
It takes some work to update these on our master websites and I'm
inclined to only offer HTML, either split by chapter, or as a single
document.
For the canonical version I intend to refer to the document view
ViewCVS.
Please let me know your thoughts on this.
Adrian
I intend to commit this shortly.
There shouldn't be much controversy about this, since it fixes
breakage of links image names for HTML output, and nothing else in the
xemacs-faq.texi.
The Makefile change is just an upgrade webmasters or other HTML
generators would care about.
Best regards,
Adrian
<204 lines deleted by Adrian Aichner>
--
Adrian Aichner
mailto:adrian＠xemacs.org
http://www.xemacs.org/
2:29 a.m.
New subject: [PATCH] xemacs-21.5: make man/xemacs-faq.texi ready to replace http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ content
>>>> "APA" == Adrian Aichner
<adrian(a)xemacs.org> writes:
APA> Should we continue to offer .txt and .dvi versions of the
APA> FAQ?
No. They just encourage people to refer to out-of-date material.
People who need them for some reason can make them easily enough.
In fact, I don't really see why we should offer HTML packaged for
download, for that matter, only on-line. (Maybe as part of the
general-docs package when it gets moved there.)
--
Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp
University of Tsukuba Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN
Ask not how you can "do" free software business;
ask what your business can "do for" free software.
9:47 p.m.
New subject: [PATCH] xemacs-21.5: make man/xemacs-faq.texi ready to replace http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ content
"Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen(a)xemacs.org> writes:
>>>>> "APA" == Adrian Aichner
<adrian(a)xemacs.org> writes:
APA> Should we continue to offer .txt and .dvi versions of the
APA> FAQ?
No. They just encourage people to refer to out-of-date material.
Well, they would serve people who want to read the FAQ offline, in
notepad, or on paper perhaps.
Anyway, they don't seem to have a strong lobby here.
People who need them for some reason can make them easily enough.
I have serious doubts about that one. People feeling the need for the
FAQ in .txt or .dvi form will probably not be the same people knowing
how to produce them.
Making the XEmacs editor easily installable with up-to-date docs (FAQ
being an important one) is probably the best service we can provide to
the world.
In fact, I don't really see why we should offer HTML packaged for
download, for that matter, only on-line. (Maybe as part of the
general-docs package when it gets moved there.)
I am leaning towards the radical approach of making the FAQ in the
http://www.xemacs.org/ sidebar link to the current beta FAQ, split by
chapter only, assuming it will have updated information about the
currently stable and beta XEmacs.
I would then put in a few relative symlinks on the master websites
(created by make init) to that new FAQ for backward compatibility with
released XEmacs versions advertizing
http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ/xemacs-faq.html, and explain this change in
the http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ/index.html page.
How about that?
--
Adrian Aichner
mailto:adrian＠xemacs.org
http://www.xemacs.org/
6:41 a.m.
New subject: [PATCH] xemacs-21.5: make man/xemacs-faq.texi ready to replace http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ content
> No. They just encourage people to refer to out-of-date
material.
Well, they would serve people who want to read the FAQ
offline, in notepad, or on paper perhaps.
Anyway, they don't seem to have a strong lobby here.
> People who need them for some reason can make them easily enough.
I have serious doubts about that one. People feeling the
need for the FAQ in .txt or .dvi form will probably not be
the same people knowing how to produce them.
Making the XEmacs editor easily installable with up-to-date
docs (FAQ being an important one) is probably the best
service we can provide to the world.
I agree.
I am leaning towards the radical approach of making the FAQ
in the http://www.xemacs.org/ sidebar link to the current
beta FAQ, split by chapter only, assuming it will have
updated information about the currently stable and beta XEmacs.
I would then put in a few relative symlinks on the master
websites (created by make init) to that new FAQ for backward
compatibility with released XEmacs versions advertizing
http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ/xemacs-faq.html, and explain this
change in the http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ/index.html page.
How about that?
Please do this. All my updating of the FAQ has been with the explicit
intention that there should be only one FAQ to rule them all and in the
darkness ... Oh never mind :) Anyway, here are the policies I followed for
updating the FAQ; I think we should make this official, and same policies
could apply to other docs, e.g. internals [maybe even XEmacs Ref and lispref
-- now that's a thought!]:
1. Supported versions include the beta version and the two
most recent supported versions of XEmacs. In this case
it's 21,5, 21.4 and 21.1.
2. There should be one FAQ for all supported versions.
3. The FAQ should include entries relevant to all versions,
even when such an entry is relevant to just one. Entries
relevant only to the older of the two stable versions go
into a "legacy" section at the back.
4. When there is a difference in functionality between the
versions that relates to the entry, it should describe
what to do in all supported versions -- or at the very
least, in both the current stable version and the
beta version.
5. Stuff older than any of the supported version should be
simply deleted, unless it's required for some historical
reasons (more likely to be of relevance to the Internals
manual). (Or, perhaps, moved into a separate
"obsolete" file -- NOT in the same file as the FAQ.)
1 p.m.
New subject: [PATCH] xemacs-21.5: make man/xemacs-faq.texi ready to replace http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ content
>>>> "APA" == Adrian Aichner
<adrian(a)xemacs.org> writes:
> People who need them for some reason can make them easily
> enough.
APA> I have serious doubts about that one. People feeling the
APA> need for the FAQ in .txt or .dvi form will probably not be
APA> the same people knowing how to produce them.
Maybe not, but I really think they'll reach for the HTML first.
People who want .txt or .dvi more than .html are going to be able to
learn how to produce them. The only sane alternative to HTML (outside
of XEmacs) is PDF, but that doesn't support hyperlinks in the viewers
I use, anyway.
APA> I am leaning towards the radical approach of making the FAQ
APA> in the http://www.xemacs.org/ sidebar link to the current
APA> beta FAQ, split by chapter only, assuming it will have
APA> updated information about the currently stable and beta
APA> XEmacs.
This is a good assumption.
APA> I would then put in a few relative symlinks on the master
APA> websites (created by make init) to that new FAQ for backward
APA> compatibility with released XEmacs versions advertizing
APA> http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ/xemacs-faq.html, and explain this
APA> change in the http://www.xemacs.org/FAQ/index.html page.
+1
--
Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences http://turnbull.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp
University of Tsukuba Tennodai 1-1-1 Tsukuba 305-8573 JAPAN
Ask not how you can "do" free software business;
ask what your business can "do for" free software.
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Adrian Aichner -
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Stephen J. Turnbull