On Saturday 14 August 2004 05:54 pm, Pete Bessman wrote: > At Sat, 14 Aug 2004 15:09:04 +0100, > > tim hall wrote: > > > I am *not* trying to look a gift horse in the mouth here, but if you > > > *really* want to help I think I have a better idea. > > > > > > Make some music (real music, finished stuff), and write docs on what > > > you had to do to make this music. Start from the beginning: > > > > > > --What distro did you install, and on what hardware? > > > > > > --What configuration steps did you need to perform? > > > > Done this and made a start on docs http://wiki.agnula.org > > > > > --What applications did you use, and how did you install and configure > > > them? > > > > Dave Phillips has already made a damn good start on this one too. > > http://www.agnula.org/documentation/dp_tutorials/ I'm trying to > > figure out where the gaps are. No sense in duplicating effort. The > > fact that you're on-list now saying YES! to documentation help makes > > me think that Specimen deserves some attention. > > Yeah, I didn't know this info was even out there. If these pieces > were synthesized into a cohesive whole and their existence advertised > in a public place that would make great inroads into acceptance. > Heck, the "synthesis" could just be one page with links to the > relevant docs in the recommended order of reading. > > Another thing to consider is whether we can obviate the need for the > general installation and configuration docs. There is no technical > reason, IMHO, why we can't have a pro-audio oriented distro that > requires the same low level of involvement as Knoppix. This isn't > about pandering to drooling morons, but simply respecting other > people's time. Amen to that. Really, turnkey systems is where it's at for commercial studios. That and leasing, which is pretty standard in a business where you have to stay current or die. >If a given task is so programmatic that we can write a > HOWTO for it in recipe format, I think that's an indication that the > computer should be doing this for the user automatically. > > Well, that's actually a whole 'nother can of worms, I suppose, but I > think the gist is pertinent. > > > I do make music with this software, but I have so far only really > > produced demos and test pieces, which aren't necessarily the best > > advert. I have already contributed some stuff to > > That's still a *whole* lot better than nothing. Back when specimen > was totally nascent, I saw my web stats literally triple just by > uploading a *crappy* demo of it in action. After throwing "fighting > for" together, the numbers doubled from there and have held > relatively steady ever since.