Hi All, On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 6:34 PM, Shaun McCance <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Wed, 2010-07-07 at 17:13 -0400, Kyle Nitzsche wrote: > > > http://mdzlog.alcor.net/2010/07/06/weve-packaged-all-of-the-free-software-what-now/ > > [snip] > > > With which I agree in general. > > * on-disk docs might effectively be limited to only what is necessary to > > get started and get connected to the web (localized, of course). > > * run-time help links might instead display appropriate content in the > > browser. > > [snip] > > > Naturally, there are disadvantages, such as: > > * no internet connection = no help (beyond the minimal on-disk help) > > * umm.. any other disadvantages? > > A greater disconnect between applications and their help. Our > traditional help consists of islands of documents that are > largely separate from the applications they document. > > One of my current projects is a library for deeply integrating > help into applications. (It was Phil's idea, although he might > not realize it.) Imagine help buttons and menus automatically > populated with the most relevant content, searching for help > directly in the help menu, and on-board help blurbs that come > directly from the help and link into it for more information. > > These are the sorts of things that user assistance professionals > are dreaming about, but most help tool vendors are still stuck > in the 90s. We have the opportunity to blaze new trails with > free software. Stop playing catchup and make UA professionals' > mouths water. > > It's possible to have this sort of deep integration with cloud > content, but it's harder. I have no doubt that help will move > more and more to the web, but then, applications will move more > and more to the web as well. If we jump there too early without > thinking about how to really improve things, we'll lock ourselves > into an outdated and inadequate help model. > > -- > Shaun > > To be fair, I don' t think that the two approaches to help have to be mutually exclusive. What Shaun is talking about is awesome application-level help. There will still be a need for people who want that help content in different formats, whether they be manuals or help that is searchable on the web. As for on-disk vs. cloud/web-based content, I think having more web-based content is necessary now. We would still have the option of keeping on-disk help relatively light. For example, we could not include (as many?) screenshots in on-disk help as would be available in other formats. Also, as far as I know, Ubuntu is one of the few distros that ships a good amount of on-disk help at all. Fedora just ships their release notes in the main install, and OpenSUSE (I think) just features some sort of getting-started guide. Both have their other help available for download on their websites. Does anybody know how RHEL and SUSE have theirs set up? Do they have much "distro-specific" help in the base install? As for Apple and Microsoft, they may have a good amount of on-disk help, but they don't concern themselves with fitting all of their OS and applications onto a 700mb CDROM. For base installs they have DVD's and having some of their content accessible via the web. I bring up those comparisons not necessarily to say, "Oh, they do it that way, so that way is the best way," or to say, "Just do it however X group / company is doing it," but to set realistic expectations for us. I want us to be mindful of bandwidth / offline-access issues like the ones that Phil W. brought up, and want to give room for Shaun's application-level help ideas, but a better web-presence for Ubuntu help would also be a big step forward. Jim
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