> Watching my brother (ok, not very scientific!) use fruityloops to > write his music made me realise this : he's constantly using the > help because not everything is intuitive on these programs. > > Of course, ultimately the most important thing is the quality of the > documentation - something which doesn't really get the attention it > deserves on (nearly?) all OS projects - because > (a) coding is more fun, and most of us are doing this as a hobby > (b) those who write software have a knack for understanding it too - > something the general public does *not* have.. > Of course, I am guilty of this too.. ;-)
As an active documentation volunteer, I could share lots of horror stories about my attempts to work with Open Source projects. But here are the main problems as I see it... 1. If you don't contribute actual source code to an Open Source project, you are *persona non grata*. You will be disrespected (because you're too stupid to code) and eventually ignored. 2. Some Open Source programmers claim to never read user documentation. So to them, it's not important. See #1. 3. Programmers are usually very protective about their software's quality and will closely examine every patch submitted to them. But these same programmers will turn around and create a Wiki where any kiddie can submit incorrect/confusing/contradictory documentation. I think all Open Source projects should have someone who handles documentation. Don't set up a Wiki, you need someone who is responsible for making sure the documentation is complete, correct, and up-to-date. If you are an existing project and a documentation volunteer steps forward, treat them like they're part of the team. ===== -- kwconder at yahoo dot com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Sign up for SBC Yahoo! Dial - First Month Free http://sbc.yahoo.com
