You have a good point about not being in the "help" file... I'd like my dad to be able to do it too....
----- Original Message ----- From: "Derek Atkins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Jon Lapham" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Gnucash" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Linas Vepstas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 10:15 AM Subject: Re: First stab at gnucash-docs > Jon Lapham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > Derek Atkins wrote: > > > I honestly don't think we need to go into too much detail here. Just > > > point at the README file. Users need to know how to use their own > > > OSes -- it's not our job to teach them. > > > > Well, this is an important thing to hash out before I put any more > > work into these installation instructions! :) > > Agreed. > > > Do you think I should simply say "Download the gnucash source code, > > and read the README file for instructions on how to install GnuCash" > > in the installation section of the guide? It seems to me that we > > would really be turning off the non-geeks with that... > > Yes, that's what I think. We can also put up a web page at > gnucash.org all about "how to download and install Gnucash". > However, IMHO this does not belong in the gnucash help. > > > It would seem silly at first glance to include semi-detailed user > > friendly installation instructions in gnucash help (which requires a > > running gnucash installation to read). > > Exactly... I see that as very silly. > > > However, our documentation is > > in a format which would make for simple packaging into a book or other > > hard form (pamphlets, handouts, etc). For this situation, I think it > > would be nice to have instructions a non-ubergeek could understand for > > how to install the software. Also, you could imagine the situation > > where you are showing GnuCash off to someone, they want to install it, > > so you print the installation instructions out for them from the help > > window. > > Well, first, I expect most distributions already have gnucash. > it may not be the latest-and-greatest, but you already get > gnucash 1.8 when you install: Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, etc. > The fact that the docs _can_ be packaged as a book does not > imply they will be. > > Having said that, I agree with you about writing docs for > non-ubergeeks. I want gnucash to be usable by my parents, who are > anything BUT ubergeeks ;). OTOH, I do not believe that the online > help docs are the right place for such instructions. Go write a web > page that we can maintain at gnucash.org. That way people can read > it before they download gnucash. That's not silly at all. > > -derek > -- > Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory > Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board (SIPB) > URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/ PP-ASEL-IA N1NWH > [EMAIL PROTECTED] PGP key available > _______________________________________________ > gnucash-devel mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.gnucash.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-devel > > _______________________________________________ gnucash-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.gnucash.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-devel
