I'll correct myself - I didn't actually say I removed the offending docs - but it would have been a safe bet that as soon as I found out I broke something; I'd fix first, discuss after.
Anyways... Thanks for explaining your position - I don't mind the strong opinion, I just didn't understand why. I like standards but not they need to evolve from time to time and keep practicality in mind. For me at least PDFs suck on a computer. They are great after they are printed on paper. HTML is much handier and usually better suited to reading on a computer screen. I don't buy the out of date problem -You could say the same thing about linuxcnc it's self. The PDF docs are made from the same source so you could make the same argument. as long as the docs update at the same time as the machine controller - that's about as good as you can ask for. Having HTML docs available 'offline' is not an either/or decision - if you wish to ignore the installed docs be my guest. but: Incorporating docs into a screen is pretty darn easy with HTML, looks good and is easy to navigate with touch screens. If I was making a control panel for a big machine I might want to limit net surfing ability and build it as a kiosk. I hate equipment that only has online docs - if I have no internet, I can't read the docs! Jim's docs really added a polished look to the project. As you stated - a separate package of HTML docs could serve the purpose too. In this way the screen could check internet and if there was none use the installed docs. I liked your not-the -90s argument - I feel the same way about PDFs :) Thanks Chris ________________________________ From: Rod Webster <r...@vmn.com.au> Sent: November 22, 2020 4:11 AM To: EMC developers <emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net> Subject: Re: [Emc-developers] Offline Sphinx HTML docs in project Sorry if I come across as aggressive. I am very strong about sticking to standards even if they are near obsolete. Really the standard for distributing documents for off line consumption is PDF. HTML belongs on a server out on the internet. To place it on a user's PC without a web server on there too is not desirable in my view. Don't forget that PDF stands for portable document format. Its designed to be created and distributed in a non changing format. HTML isn't. In my view the correct choice has been made. To add HTML to the user is just not appropriate. I find it is fine to navigate the web site docs from my machine via the internet. There may be a case for a user to build the HTML docs to place on an internal server to be served by Apache,Nginx or IIS if they don't want to give their machine's Internet access. But that creates a source of data redundancy vs the more up to date docs on the web site. That is not desirable from a systems perspective. You could end up chasing an error with out of date documentation with an incorrect solution. But its not the 90's now. I've even got light bulbs that connect to the internet and update their firmware. And I have a press brake that updates itself too. Why fight it? Rod Webster *1300 896 832* +61 435 765 611 VMN® www.vmn.com.au<http://www.vmn.com.au> On Sun, 22 Nov 2020 at 13:48, Chris Morley <chrisinnana...@hotmail.com> wrote: > They _were_ removed already - because they broke the packaging. > I already mentioned that. > > The whole point of this email is to figure out what to do to get the > wanted behavior. > You seem to be a bit aggressive against it and I don't understand why. > Other people have asked for HTML docs - we even build them. > Seems we just don't distribute them. > > I am just building a deb package from sources and I can see that only PDF > docs are built. > I'll see what happens if i change that to HTML ... > > Chris > ________________________________ > From: Rod Webster <r...@vmn.com.au> > Sent: November 22, 2020 3:30 AM > To: EMC developers <emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net> > Subject: Re: [Emc-developers] Offline Sphinx HTML docs in project > > Really, the non compliant HTML docs should be removed and bought in line > with the Linuxcnc authoring environment regardless of how obsolete our > standards are. There is no place for making exceptions to suit one author. > The standard should only change if its applied across the board. > > Rod Webster > *1300 896 832* > +61 435 765 611 > VMN® > www.vmn.com.au<http://www.vmn.com.au> > > > > On Sun, 22 Nov 2020 at 13:14, Chris Morley <chrisinnana...@hotmail.com> > wrote: > > > > > On 2020-11-21 5:59 p.m., Rod Webster wrote: > > > Can't programs (like qtdragon) reliably reference the official > published > > > docs for the version of Linuxcnc they were deployed with? > > > > I don't think so. They of course they can reference them on the net - > > but that's not helpful if you are offline. > > > > I'll have to install linuxcnc on a system and see if the compiled HTML > > docs are on it. > > > > > Surely that solves the problem and ensures the docs are always up to > > date. > > > There is no way I want to depend on offline docs when the living up to > > date > > > current docs exist. > > > > The 'offline' docs would be as up to date as the linuxcnc package is. In > > QtDragon's case they were actually very similar to our docs and I would > > prefer they be the same source. So maybe I'm asking how to create Sphinx > > HTML docs from our sources that can be included as installed files. > > > > Some of this is a similar problem that translations have- the process > > of making of docs/translations for a certain part (say qtdragon) is too > > big/difficult for the average person. I'd also say the docs are looking > > a bit dated these days - I must say the sphinx docs look very sharp. > > > > > > Chris > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Emc-developers mailing list > > Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers > > > > _______________________________________________ > Emc-developers mailing list > Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers > > _______________________________________________ > Emc-developers mailing list > Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers > _______________________________________________ Emc-developers mailing list Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers _______________________________________________ Emc-developers mailing list Emc-developers@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-developers
