Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 12:43:23 -0700 From: Doug Wellington <doug@sun1paztcn.wr.usgs.gov> To: Sean Kelly <kelly@fsl.noaa.gov> Cc: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org, doug@sun1paztcn.wr.usgs.gov Subject: Re: Let's hack on the Handbook! ..my ideas... Message-ID: <9607121943.AA00232@sun1paztcn.wr.usgs.gov> In-Reply-To: "Your message of Fri, 12 Jul 1996 12:45:47 CST." <199607121845.SAA07765@gatekeeper.fsl.noaa.gov>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Previously: >[re: three separate manuals] >Sounds like a reasonable division, but is there enough material to >support it? I really don't think so. I agree that there isn't enough material YET. Maybe my delusions of grandeur are getting ahead of me... ;-) >Huh? Are you looking at the same handbook? I don't see *any* >programming help in the whole thing (looking at >http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/handbook.html). >[EDIT!] >Perhaps we use separate definitions for programmer's info ... where is >this stuff?!? Hmmm, yes, we must use separate definitions... I look at the Handbook and see programming info in chapter 4.2 (ports) and I consider section IV to be almost completely programming. I don't think users would have much interest in section IV and most system administrators won't care about it except for maybe chapters 19 and 21. (Of course, sometimes the distinction between programmer and administrator does get blurred...) ;-) There are indeed many many areas that need to be covered before we can have three "complete" Handbooks. However, I think now is the time to determine the structure the documentation will be in, now and for the future, BEFORE we get too much data to easily manipulate... >I don't know for sure, but I think most people who get FreeBSD for >development already know what they're doing. Probably... And I would also like for FreeBSD to appeal to those who don't know. I think there are a lot of people who WANT to program, but who can't afford the cost (and the learning curve!) of Windows and VC++ or a Mac with whatever their latest tools are. (Eeek, that reminds me, both my MSDN and VC++ subscriptions are up this month and I have to come up with more than $700 if I want to renew!) I think FreeBSD is a step ahead because we have "professional" books like the new 4.4BSD Design book and like Rich Stevens' TCP/IP Illustrated, Vol 2 that explain the code we have. Linux doesn't have that. (As if that matters anyway...) >And all the other people are using FreeBSD to provide Internet services. Hmmm, then am I the only one who decided to just "use" it to write papers and to dial in to an ISP? Who are we trying to appeal to with FreeBSD, an elite core of programmers? Should we just put a statement in the introduction to effect of, "If you just want to have an operating system to learn and use, why don't you try Linux instead..."? >More important to me would be a part >(or separate handbook) devoted to providing Internet services. >[SNIP] >That would also help make FreeBSD a better ``selling'' platform. >Internet services are hot and we should capitalize on that. Absolutely. And there are two aspects to that. I see FreeBSD as a good (excellent!) platform for providing services, and I also see it as a good platform for USING those services. I also think that if we can get a broader installed base, then we'll be able to talk people (Netscape, Matlab, Mathematica, Word Perfect, etc) into providing native apps... -Doug Doug Wellington doug@sun1paztcn.wr.usgs.gov System and Network Administrator US Geological Survey, Tucson, AZ Project Office According to proposed Federal guidelines, this message is a "non-record". Hmm, I wonder if _everything_ I say is a "non-record"...? FreeBSD and Apache - the best real tools for the virtual world! Check out www.freebsd.org and www.apache.org...
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?9607121943.AA00232>