Alan Lord wrote:
> I'm very happy with the results I've got and I wonder if I should write 
> it up as a hint, stick it on the wiki, or even (he hesitates to suggest 
> such a thing; such audacity!) try to get it in the book...
>
>   
<Snip> 

IMO, it's probably not for the book due to the limited audience and
maintenance burden, however, there are a few packages in BLFS that
remain in the book though similar.  I might be wrong abut that, but I
don't know (see below).  I'm not the one to ask about inclusion anyway,
I'm barely around anymore.  Now, if it's not selected for the book, it
is perfect material for the wiki or a hint.  I prefer the wiki now
days.  I'd hate to see the time you put into the write-up just get lost
in the archive of this list.  Somebody *will* need to do the same or
similar setup (else those projects wouldn't be around).  Additionally,
while wiki/hint/blfs material is directed at LFSers, that doesn't mean
it's limited to an LFS only audience if written correctly.  You can have
the maintainers link to the document in it's final form if it will help
somebody else down the line.

As far as a full critique:  Instructions and text look good overall, but
I still have no idea what Zaptel or Asterisk is used for or does.  I've
made no attempt to look on my own as I'm reviewing potential
instructions for BLFS.  In the opening paragraph for zaptel, I only
recognized T1,  so I've made a blind assumption that this is some
software to replace expensive telco equipment with inexpensive PC
hardware (maybe less expensive is a more accurate description, or I'm
completely off base).  This description might be fine, if I knew that it
was a support package for Asterisk.  Keep in mind that if I'm a user
reading BLFS, I'd have said no, I don't need this as soon as I seen 'T1'
and moved on to the next package.   Asterisk is completely lacking
introductory text.  Right now it's a package, I have no idea whether it
would be useful to me.

As far as the content of the instructions, I have two items to question
(short of not knowing what I'm discussing). 

First, the 640 perms on /etc/asterisk/*.  It seems to me that only the
asterisk user needs access to those files.  They do contain clear text
passwords, so 600 seems more suitable unless read perms are absolutely
needed by other users/daemons, or maybe make it a little more fine
grained specifically for the secrets.  The reasoning could be explained
better in the surrounding text or in the 'Command Explanations' section
for the page, which is also missing for the BLFS format.  I've also
never used the '=' parameter in a chmod, and it doesn't currently appear
in BLFS AFAIK, so it should be explained.

Second is the inconsistent formatting in this text version.  Some
instructions are indented while others aren't and line wrapping is not
accounted for. Plan on 72 characters in an email and 80 characters for
book instructions.  For the wiki's command blocks, wrapping is not an
issue, but I generally assume that wiki instructions will be used on a
text console which is typically 80 characters.  Otherwise it looks
pretty good without actually using the package.  And of course, for book
inclusion, you'd need to provide descriptions of all executables. 
Again, as far as whether it's suited for BLFS, that's up to the more
active editors.

I hope that helps.

-- DJ Lucas

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