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Date:      Thu, 3 Jun 1999 23:12:28 -0700 (PDT)
From:      Doug White <dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu>
To:        Kent Boortz <kent@erlang.ericsson.se>
Cc:        questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Some FAQ's.....
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.03.9906032259130.774-100000@resnet.uoregon.edu>
In-Reply-To: <19990601121826J.kent@erlang.ericsson.se>

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On Tue, 1 Jun 1999, Kent Boortz wrote:

> Doug White <dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu> wrote:
> > I'm not sure I can do much with this since you're not specific enough.
> > 
> > I wrote this Q so I'm curious to know what exactly you're getting hung up
> > on.
> 
> What I'm "hung up on"? That I spend hours doing something that a
> simple man page, the handbook or FAQ could have saved me.

[doc gripes follow]

This is one of the big faults with open source projects -- no one wants to
get stuck writing docs. It's thankless work.  Free software doesn't have
the cash to pay someone to sit down and bang out 2,000+ pages of huge
brick manuals, so we have to work with what we can get our hands on.  

Another problem is the 'fish can't see water' syndrome.  Some of us work
with the system on a day to day basis on a highly technical level.  I
build -CURRENT on a workstation and read the -current mailing list, so I
stay up to date with pressing problems.  However, much of this info
doesn't bleed out to the general populace since we (I) just take note of
problem areas seamlessly.  I beileve this is the big area in FreeBSD that
could be fleshed bout, but I don't have the time to pursue this.  The
/usr/src/UPDATING file is a great move in the direction, but doesn't help
the -RELEASEs.

If you do have the time & energy to donate, by all means whip something
up.  That's how I started.  If you can mintain it for long periods, we can
arrange commit privs or something to get that info into the main doc tree.

<soapbox>
Too many people complain; not enough take action on their complaints.

You'd be surprised how far a PR with a patch attached goes.  Before you
get commit privs, http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/send-pr.cgi is your friend.
</soapbox>

Doug White                               
Internet:  dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu    | FreeBSD: The Power to Serve
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dwhite    | www.freebsd.org



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