Chris, I don't deny that people need to know how to navigate through tasks. What I neglected to add to my e-mail, is that "navigation knowledge" is better learned from "flash" type clips, rather than through dozens of pages of text and still-graphics. Perhaps what is needed is a standard for how documentation is produced to make it easier for users to learn from - something along the lines of: - A concepts and architecture document - An installation clip - Tutorial clips - Task oriented clips I'm just bemoaning the fact that as technology becomes increasingly complex, the level of documentation has correspondingly risen. The quality of such documentation, however, has declined; there isn't a single reason one can blame, but interspersion of concepts & tasks in documents is one factor. By separating them & using appropriate media, perhaps we might address some of these shortcomings as an industry. Arshad Noor StrongAuth, Inc. Christopher Blizzard wrote: > The documentation that we have available covers both "how to navigate > [with the] GUI" and "how things work." All the way from an overview of > how to build your LDAP tree down to a reference of the internal config > settings that drive the directory server. > > I suspect that you're saying that you prefer documents that are low > level descriptions of how the system works, and we do have those. But > you're not the only market. There's a fair number of ways that people > tend to directory servers. > > --Chris > > On Fri, 2005-12-02 at 08:32 -0800, Arshad Noor wrote: > >>For what its worth, while I have not worked with OpenLDAP at all, I >>vigorously support Howard's argument for concise, precise & clear >>documentation. The state of technical documentation today is >>pathetic - designed more for people to navigate GUI's than to impart >>information about how things work. Its reminiscent of cotton candy >>- a lot more air than content. Another artifact of the Microsoft >>age.... >> >>Arshad Noor >>StrongAuth, Inc. >> >> >>Howard Chu wrote: >> >> >>>Yes, the OpenLDAP documentation is sparse, and this is a fatal flaw. >>>Yes, what documentation exists is terse, and this is a vital strength. >>>Nobody likes to spend time wading thru docs, and there's nothing gained >>>from saying in 5 sentences what can be stated in only one. Certainly we >>>need to work on expanding the scope of the documentation to cover the >>>numerous holes. But good documentation is concise and to the point, and >>>the docs I've written are precise. There may be a problem with imprecise >>>readers, who skim and skip over things when every single word is >>>crucial, but that's not our fault. >>> >> >>-- >>Fedora-directory-users mailing list >>Fedora-directory-users at redhat.com >>https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-directory-users > > > -- > Fedora-directory-users mailing list > Fedora-directory-users at redhat.com > https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-directory-users
