On Wed, 5 Sep 2012, Richard Owlett wrote:

> While slogging through Linux documentation (sic, or should that be sick
> ;<), I've been recalling what the chairman of the freshman English program
> said of my writing ability 50 years ago - "Hopeless".

> Comments? TIA

   Two truisms that might actually be true are that scientists make poor
programmers (see old FORTRAN code) and that programmers can't write good
documentation. The latter may come from being too close to the application.

   There's no reason why any of us cannot clean up and clarify documentation
for any open source tool ... including the OS. I've done this on several of
the critical applications I use (e.g., LyX, GRASS) and no one's offended by
my offerings.

   Unfortunately, poor writing skills are endemic in the broader business
world, too. And let's not go into the results of our local school systems
...

Rich

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