On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 3:25 AM, Matt Wilkie <[email protected]> wrote:

> In short, documentation is hard.

It's hard for everyone, not just open source.

> What is lacking, in my
> opinion, is focus. Not focus (so much)  for the master craftsmen, who
> have a vibrant and active bazaar in the inner courtyard, rather focus
> for the journeymen, apprentices, and tourists. The sometime visitors.

It's not for want of trying.  Leo is really quite different from most
editors/ides.  I have spent lots of time on the tutorial, but my
explanatory skills are probably not strong enough to do significantly
better.

> Simply put, there are too many websites. Too many places to look for
> documentation, a.k.a help. Too many places to find out what's
> happening and where Leo might, or might not, be going. Prune them all
> except one I say. Or burn the field and plant a new one.

I sympathize with this statement, but do not agree with it.

I think what some people are asking for is a way to understand Leo
without doing much work, and without carefully studying the
documentation that is there, and without trying it out.  That's not
likely to work.  Otoh, many people *have* "gotten" Leo, despite
less-than-perfect docs.

In fact, aside from the installation critique, which I have
incorporated into Leo's web site,  the criticisms here have not been
specific:  *this* sentence or paragraph is unclear; *this* question is
nowhere addressed.

I would like to conclude this discussion with yet another invitation.
If there is something *in particular* that is confusing or bothering
you, please ask about it here, that is, in a separate thread.  As
always, it's useful if you have done your homework and at least
glanced at the documentation first, but I don't make that a strict
rule--sometimes docs just seem overwhelming.

Edward

P.S.  I do not subscribe to the notion that users are primarily
responsible for improving docs.  That is, the reply, "all (doc)
patches gratefully accepted" is not an adequate answer to all
suggestions.  Imo, primary developers are foolish if they do not
incorporate specific improvements suggested by users.  It is usually
much more convenient for developers to update code and
docs--developers know about bzr and all the other procedural details
required.

EKR

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