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* Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
@ 2009-03-17  1:55 Wei-Wei Guo
  2009-03-17  2:33 ` Corin Royal Drummond
                   ` (2 more replies)
  0 siblings, 3 replies; 18+ messages in thread
From: Wei-Wei Guo @ 2009-03-17  1:55 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

Hi everyone,

After fighting with ConTeXt one month, I find it's too difficult. I have two years
experience of LaTeX. I never thought ConTeXt could be so difficult. Using ConTeXt
is like climbing a steep mountain, every step need extensive searching, reading,
and asking.

Sorry for the useless complain. I'm stuck by so many problems. I might be lack of
the basic knowledge of ConTeXt. Could someone tell me where I can find manuals or
papers that describe the logic of ConTeXt design and basics of ConTeXt programming.

Thanks in advance.

Best wishes,
Wei-Wei
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  1:55 Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt? Wei-Wei Guo
@ 2009-03-17  2:33 ` Corin Royal Drummond
  2009-03-17  8:16   ` Taco Hoekwater
                     ` (2 more replies)
  2009-03-17  7:57 ` Taco Hoekwater
  2009-03-17  9:03 ` Alan Stone
  2 siblings, 3 replies; 18+ messages in thread
From: Corin Royal Drummond @ 2009-03-17  2:33 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

Wei-Wei Guo wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> After fighting with ConTeXt one month, I find it's too difficult. I 
> have two years
> experience of LaTeX. I never thought ConTeXt could be so difficult. 
> Using ConTeXt
> is like climbing a steep mountain, every step need extensive 
> searching, reading,
> and asking.
>
> Sorry for the useless complain. I'm stuck by so many problems. I might 
> be lack of
> the basic knowledge of ConTeXt. Could someone tell me where I can find 
> manuals or
> papers that describe the logic of ConTeXt design and basics of ConTeXt 
> programming.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Best wishes,
> Wei-Wei
Many have voiced the same complaint.  I understand that Hans and every 
one are occupied with building MKIV (aka LuaTeX), and that documentation 
is not their highest priority.  There's the wiki, the wonderfully active 
mailing list, and what used to be decent docs from 2001/2002 timeframe.  
But yes, it's a steep hill to climb, made worth it only by the relative 
awesomeness of ConTeXt. 

If there is an existing strategy for creating documentation, I'd love to 
hear it. 

My feeling is it's it's time to pay someone to write some good docs.  
Someone who's not on the development team, who has experience writing 
technical documentation, and who can shepard list members into crowd 
sourcing some real documentation.  MKIV is stabilizing into usefulness, 
and now is a good time to start.  I suspect list members would donate to 
such a project, plus we could get some grant money (if that's not all 
dried up due to the global economy), and maybe some contribution from 
Pragma itself, and other orgs that depend on ConTeXt.  A patchwork quilt 
of financing, and a project coordinator/writer who sees their work as a 
labor of love, and a side job, could make this happen.  Even if we could 
only afford 10 hours of work a week, that could get a lot done. 

In terms of process, I think someone to comb the list archives for 
common problems and solutions, and wikify them would get the most bang 
for the buck initially.  These wiki entries could later be ConTeXtified 
into printed (and screen) docs, like Hans' awesome old manuals. 

Honestly, we've got smart people wasting time answering the same 
questions in different ways on the list, when they could be plugging in 
some of that time into writing docs for everyone.  And as useful as the 
list is, it's no substitute for manuals. 

If I understood ConTeXt I'd volunteer, but I'm a noob, so I'm feeling 
the same frustration as Wei-Wei.  I feel bad having to bug developers 
and advanced users every time I have a basic question.  It's inefficient 
and inelegant, though I much appreciate the access to great minds and 
the window into the development process this has given me. 

Pile on to this thread, if this is a burning issue for you, or you have 
some strategy or expertise to offer. 

Cheers,

Corin



___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  1:55 Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt? Wei-Wei Guo
  2009-03-17  2:33 ` Corin Royal Drummond
@ 2009-03-17  7:57 ` Taco Hoekwater
  2009-03-17  9:03 ` Alan Stone
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 18+ messages in thread
From: Taco Hoekwater @ 2009-03-17  7:57 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

Wei-Wei Guo wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 
> After fighting with ConTeXt one month, I find it's too difficult. I have 
> two years
> experience of LaTeX. I never thought ConTeXt could be so difficult. 
> Using ConTeXt
> is like climbing a steep mountain, every step need extensive searching, 
> reading, and asking.

This is not intended to put you down, but i could have answered all your
bib module questions with  'no', and that would have been a lot easier
to understand.

Best wishes,
Taco
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  2:33 ` Corin Royal Drummond
@ 2009-03-17  8:16   ` Taco Hoekwater
  2009-03-17 16:20     ` Rory Molinari
  2009-03-20  9:53     ` Jesse Alama
  2009-03-17  8:33   ` Xan
  2009-03-17 10:52   ` Wei-Wei Guo
  2 siblings, 2 replies; 18+ messages in thread
From: Taco Hoekwater @ 2009-03-17  8:16 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users



Corin Royal Drummond wrote:
> Many have voiced the same complaint.  I understand that Hans and every
> one are occupied with building MKIV (aka LuaTeX), and that documentation
> is not their highest priority.  There's the wiki, the wonderfully active
> mailing list, and what used to be decent docs from 2001/2002 timeframe. 
> But yes, it's a steep hill to climb, made worth it only by the relative
> awesomeness of ConTeXt.

You missed the reference manual rewrite effort (which is now in
remission mostly because of an extremely depressing lack of user
feedback).

  http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation

Best wishes,
Taco


___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  2:33 ` Corin Royal Drummond
  2009-03-17  8:16   ` Taco Hoekwater
@ 2009-03-17  8:33   ` Xan
  2009-03-17  8:36     ` Taco Hoekwater
  2009-03-17 10:52   ` Wei-Wei Guo
  2 siblings, 1 reply; 18+ messages in thread
From: Xan @ 2009-03-17  8:33 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

En/na Corin Royal Drummond ha escrit:
> Wei-Wei Guo wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> After fighting with ConTeXt one month, I find it's too difficult. I 
>> have two years
>> experience of LaTeX. I never thought ConTeXt could be so difficult. 
>> Using ConTeXt
>> is like climbing a steep mountain, every step need extensive 
>> searching, reading,
>> and asking.
>>
>> Sorry for the useless complain. I'm stuck by so many problems. I 
>> might be lack of
>> the basic knowledge of ConTeXt. Could someone tell me where I can 
>> find manuals or
>> papers that describe the logic of ConTeXt design and basics of 
>> ConTeXt programming.
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Wei-Wei
Yes, there is a hole in that way. I'm agree too.
> Many have voiced the same complaint.  I understand that Hans and every 
> one are occupied with building MKIV (aka LuaTeX), and that 
> documentation is not their highest priority.  There's the wiki, the 
> wonderfully active mailing list, and what used to be decent docs from 
> 2001/2002 timeframe.  But yes, it's a steep hill to climb, made worth 
> it only by the relative awesomeness of ConTeXt.
> If there is an existing strategy for creating documentation, I'd love 
> to hear it.
> My feeling is it's it's time to pay someone to write some good docs.  
> Someone who's not on the development team, who has experience writing 
> technical documentation, and who can shepard list members into crowd 
> sourcing some real documentation.
The problem is who. Who has this high technical knowledge and he/she is 
not developer?. People I know that have this high tech knowledge of 
ConTeXt is developer.
>   MKIV is stabilizing into usefulness, and now is a good time to 
> start.  I suspect list members would donate to such a project, plus we 
> could get some grant money (if that's not all dried up due to the 
> global economy), and maybe some contribution from Pragma itself, and 
> other orgs that depend on ConTeXt.  A patchwork quilt of financing, 
> and a project coordinator/writer who sees their work as a labor of 
> love, and a side job, could make this happen.  Even if we could only 
> afford 10 hours of work a week, that could get a lot done.
> In terms of process, I think someone to comb the list archives for 
> common problems and solutions, and wikify them would get the most bang 
> for the buck initially.  These wiki entries could later be 
> ConTeXtified into printed (and screen) docs, like Hans' awesome old 
> manuals.
Good idea.
Just a suggestion. If someone starts new documentation, it should be 
free. Now the "only" documentation for users is "ConTeXt manual", 
"Context, an excursion" (and some PracTeX journal and MAPS journal 
articles). These documents are copyrated by Pragma. And for the other 
hand the license of documentation of ConTeXt is Creative Commons 
Atribution Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0.

I think it's better if the new documentation were free: Creative Commons 
Attribution 3.0, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 or GNU 
Free Documentation License. It could estimulate more users than now. 
It's my opinion.

> Honestly, we've got smart people wasting time answering the same 
> questions in different ways on the list, when they could be plugging 
> in some of that time into writing docs for everyone.  And as useful as 
> the list is, it's no substitute for manuals.
Really how many people are using ConTeXt and how many developers are here?
For example, how many people are subscribing in this list: it could 
tells us what's the number of users.
> If I understood ConTeXt I'd volunteer, but I'm a noob, so I'm feeling 
> the same frustration as Wei-Wei.  I feel bad having to bug developers 
> and advanced users every time I have a basic question.  It's 
> inefficient and inelegant, though I much appreciate the access to 
> great minds and the window into the development process this has given 
> me.
> Pile on to this thread, if this is a burning issue for you, or you 
> have some strategy or expertise to offer.
> Cheers,
>
> Corin
Regards,
Xan (a simple user)


___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  8:33   ` Xan
@ 2009-03-17  8:36     ` Taco Hoekwater
  2009-03-17  8:47       ` Xan
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 18+ messages in thread
From: Taco Hoekwater @ 2009-03-17  8:36 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users



Xan wrote:
> En/na Corin Royal Drummond ha escrit:
>> Wei-Wei Guo wrote:
>>> Hi everyone,
>>>
>>> After fighting with ConTeXt one month, I find it's too difficult. I
>>> have two years
>>> experience of LaTeX. I never thought ConTeXt could be so difficult.
>>> Using ConTeXt
>>> is like climbing a steep mountain, every step need extensive
>>> searching, reading,
>>> and asking.
>>>
>>> Sorry for the useless complain. I'm stuck by so many problems. I
>>> might be lack of
>>> the basic knowledge of ConTeXt. Could someone tell me where I can
>>> find manuals or
>>> papers that describe the logic of ConTeXt design and basics of
>>> ConTeXt programming.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>
>>> Best wishes,
>>> Wei-Wei
> Yes, there is a hole in that way. I'm agree too.
>> Many have voiced the same complaint.  I understand that Hans and every
>> one are occupied with building MKIV (aka LuaTeX), and that
>> documentation is not their highest priority.  There's the wiki, the
>> wonderfully active mailing list, and what used to be decent docs from
>> 2001/2002 timeframe.  But yes, it's a steep hill to climb, made worth
>> it only by the relative awesomeness of ConTeXt.
>> If there is an existing strategy for creating documentation, I'd love
>> to hear it.
>> My feeling is it's it's time to pay someone to write some good docs. 
>> Someone who's not on the development team, who has experience writing
>> technical documentation, and who can shepard list members into crowd
>> sourcing some real documentation.
> The problem is who. Who has this high technical knowledge and he/she is
> not developer?. People I know that have this high tech knowledge of
> ConTeXt is developer.
>>   MKIV is stabilizing into usefulness, and now is a good time to
>> start.  I suspect list members would donate to such a project, plus we
>> could get some grant money (if that's not all dried up due to the
>> global economy), and maybe some contribution from Pragma itself, and
>> other orgs that depend on ConTeXt.  A patchwork quilt of financing,
>> and a project coordinator/writer who sees their work as a labor of
>> love, and a side job, could make this happen.  Even if we could only
>> afford 10 hours of work a week, that could get a lot done.
>> In terms of process, I think someone to comb the list archives for
>> common problems and solutions, and wikify them would get the most bang
>> for the buck initially.  These wiki entries could later be
>> ConTeXtified into printed (and screen) docs, like Hans' awesome old
>> manuals.
> Good idea.
> Just a suggestion. If someone starts new documentation, it should be
> free. Now the "only" documentation for users is "ConTeXt manual",
> "Context, an excursion" (and some PracTeX journal and MAPS journal
> articles). These documents are copyrated by Pragma. And for the other
> hand the license of documentation of ConTeXt is Creative Commons
> Atribution Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0.
> 
> I think it's better if the new documentation were free: Creative Commons
> Attribution 3.0, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 or GNU
> Free Documentation License. It could estimulate more users than now.
> It's my opinion.

You missed the reference manual rewrite effort (which is now in
remission mostly because of an extremely depressing lack of user
feedback).

  http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation

That is GNU FDL.

> Really how many people are using ConTeXt and how many developers are here?
> For example, how many people are subscribing in this list: it could
> tells us what's the number of users.

About 500, IIRC.

Taco
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  8:36     ` Taco Hoekwater
@ 2009-03-17  8:47       ` Xan
  2009-03-17  8:50         ` Taco Hoekwater
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 18+ messages in thread
From: Xan @ 2009-03-17  8:47 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

En/na Taco Hoekwater ha escrit:
> Xan wrote:
>   
>> Good idea.
>> Just a suggestion. If someone starts new documentation, it should be
>> free. Now the "only" documentation for users is "ConTeXt manual",
>> "Context, an excursion" (and some PracTeX journal and MAPS journal
>> articles). These documents are copyrated by Pragma. And for the other
>> hand the license of documentation of ConTeXt is Creative Commons
>> Atribution Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0.
>>
>> I think it's better if the new documentation were free: Creative Commons
>> Attribution 3.0, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 or GNU
>> Free Documentation License. It could estimulate more users than now.
>> It's my opinion.
>>     
>
> You missed the reference manual rewrite effort (which is now in
> remission mostly because of an extremely depressing lack of user
> feedback).
>
>   http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation
>
> That is GNU FDL.
>
>   
You refer to this link 
[http://foundry.supelec.fr/plugins/scmsvn/viewcvs.php/context-reference/en/?root=contextman]??

Where is the license explicited? There is no README/LICENSE or analogous 
file and no head license in every .tex file.

Ooops, not: in  
[http://foundry.supelec.fr/plugins/scmsvn/viewcvs.php/context-reference/en/contextref.tex?root=contextman&view=markup] 
I see the license. Sorry

But should it put in every .tex file or in a LICENSE file? I'm not 
lawyer. Just a question.
>> Really how many people are using ConTeXt and how many developers are here?
>> For example, how many people are subscribing in this list: it could
>> tells us what's the number of users.
>>     
>
> About 500, IIRC.
>   
Thanks Taco.

Xan.
> Taco
> ___________________________________________________________________________________
> If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!
>
> maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
> webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
> archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
> wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
> ___________________________________________________________________________________
>   

___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  8:47       ` Xan
@ 2009-03-17  8:50         ` Taco Hoekwater
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 18+ messages in thread
From: Taco Hoekwater @ 2009-03-17  8:50 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users



Xan wrote:
> 
> But should it put in every .tex file or in a LICENSE file? I'm not
> lawyer. Just a question.

There is a COPYING in the one 'up' directory.  It would be good to
add a license pointer to every source file, that is true.

Best wishes,
Taco
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  1:55 Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt? Wei-Wei Guo
  2009-03-17  2:33 ` Corin Royal Drummond
  2009-03-17  7:57 ` Taco Hoekwater
@ 2009-03-17  9:03 ` Alan Stone
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 18+ messages in thread
From: Alan Stone @ 2009-03-17  9:03 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users


[-- Attachment #1.1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2283 bytes --]

On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 2:55 AM, Wei-Wei Guo <wwguocn@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,

Hi Wei-Wei,

Please enjoy what's underneath and give yourself a second chance to
reconsider your point of view...

> After fighting with ConTeXt one month,

Those who live are those who fight.
- Victor Hugo

> I find it's too difficult.

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and
write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
- Alvin Toffler

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.
- Henry Ford

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
- Chinese Proverb

 > I have two years
> experience of LaTeX.

How about acquiring a two year experience, and more, in ConTeXt ?  ;O)

> I never thought ConTeXt could be so difficult.

There are two ways of meeting difficulties: You alter the difficulties or
you alter yourself to meet them.
- Phyllis Bottome

> Using ConTeXt
> is like climbing a steep mountain, every step need extensive searching,
reading,
> and asking.

I've learned that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the
happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
- Unknown

When you reach the top, keep climbing.
- Unknown

> Sorry for the useless complain.

>From my own experience, amongst others, in this mailing list...

 Be your guest.  :O)

>I'm stuck by so many problems.

I never believed I wouldn't make it - and perhaps that's why I've always
found work. I've always stuck at everything I've ever done. I absolutely
won't give up.
- Amanda Holden

> I might be lack of
> the basic knowledge of ConTeXt. Could someone tell me where I can find
manuals or
> papers that describe the logic of ConTeXt design and basics of ConTeXt
programming.

http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page

Getting Started and Documentation sections.

> Thanks in advance.
>
> Best wishes,
> Wei-Wei

Two others for the road...

If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing
anything very innovative.
- Woody Allen

Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again, and
you will grow stronger until you have accomplished a purpose - not the one
you began with perhaps, but one you'll be glad to remember.
- Ann Sullivan

Hope this helps,
Alan

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[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/plain, Size: 487 bytes --]

___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  2:33 ` Corin Royal Drummond
  2009-03-17  8:16   ` Taco Hoekwater
  2009-03-17  8:33   ` Xan
@ 2009-03-17 10:52   ` Wei-Wei Guo
  2009-03-19 14:14     ` luigi scarso
  2 siblings, 1 reply; 18+ messages in thread
From: Wei-Wei Guo @ 2009-03-17 10:52 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users


Yes, there are may fruitful pages in ConTeXt wiki. But all wiki resources have
the same problem: If you know what you are looking for, it's helpful. If not,
it would be a time hole. And I was told that MkIV progresses so fast that many
things in the current manuals are out of date. I don't know which manual I
should stick with. To make thing worse, there are so many places containing
ConTeXt tutorials and manuals(see the following list).

- wiki.contextgarden.net
- http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextman/
- http://context.aanhet.net/svn/contextman/
- http://www.pragma-ade.com/dir?path=

Those materials are scattered, overlapped and not complete. It makes new
users, like me, don't know what to read. If all those materials are put in
only one place and companying with two and only two complete manuals, one for
developer and one for user, it would be time saving for both users and
developers. Then the next time when I meet command like '\??pb', I could look
for it in manuals first, then wiki probably, then mail list. If I don't find
answer in those three places, I would know the command is not documented then
I could ask in the mail list without hesitating and worrying about wasting
other people's time.


To Taco: My emails don't mean any offense to you. You give me lots of help.
          I really appreciate it.

To Alan: Thanks, your proverbs are very inspiriting.

To Xan and Corin: Thanks for your understanding.


Best wishes,
Wei-Wei



Corin Royal Drummond 写道:
> In terms of process, I think someone to comb the list archives for 
> common problems and solutions, and wikify them would get the most bang 
> for the buck initially.  These wiki entries could later be ConTeXtified 
> into printed (and screen) docs, like Hans' awesome old manuals.
> Honestly, we've got smart people wasting time answering the same 
> questions in different ways on the list, when they could be plugging in 
> some of that time into writing docs for everyone.  And as useful as the 
> list is, it's no substitute for manuals.
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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___________________________________________________________________________________

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  8:16   ` Taco Hoekwater
@ 2009-03-17 16:20     ` Rory Molinari
  2009-03-18 22:00       ` David Wooten
  2009-03-20  9:53     ` Jesse Alama
  1 sibling, 1 reply; 18+ messages in thread
From: Rory Molinari @ 2009-03-17 16:20 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

Taco Hoekwater wrote:
> 
> Corin Royal Drummond wrote:
>> Many have voiced the same complaint.  I understand that Hans and every
>> one are occupied with building MKIV (aka LuaTeX), and that documentation
>> is not their highest priority.  There's the wiki, the wonderfully active
>> mailing list, and what used to be decent docs from 2001/2002 timeframe. 
>> But yes, it's a steep hill to climb, made worth it only by the relative
>> awesomeness of ConTeXt.
> 
> You missed the reference manual rewrite effort (which is now in
> remission mostly because of an extremely depressing lack of user
> feedback).
> 
>   http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation

Hi Taco,

I'm sorry that I haven't given much feedback on the documentation 
project.  I got through the Typography chapter, but then was so 
confounded by the Fonts chapter that I didn't feel able to give 
comments.  I will make another attempt.

Cheers,
Rory

> 
> Best wishes,
> Taco
> 
> 
> ___________________________________________________________________________________
> If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!
> 
> maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
> webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
> archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
> wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
> ___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
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___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17 16:20     ` Rory Molinari
@ 2009-03-18 22:00       ` David Wooten
  2009-03-19 13:48         ` Michael Bynum
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 18+ messages in thread
From: David Wooten @ 2009-03-18 22:00 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users


On Mar 17, 2009, at 9:20 AM, Rory Molinari wrote:

> Taco Hoekwater wrote:
>> Corin Royal Drummond wrote:
>>> Many have voiced the same complaint.  I understand that Hans and  
>>> every
>>> one are occupied with building MKIV (aka LuaTeX), and that  
>>> documentation
>>> is not their highest priority.  There's the wiki, the wonderfully  
>>> active
>>> mailing list, and what used to be decent docs from 2001/2002  
>>> timeframe. But yes, it's a steep hill to climb, made worth it only  
>>> by the relative
>>> awesomeness of ConTeXt.
>> You missed the reference manual rewrite effort (which is now in
>> remission mostly because of an extremely depressing lack of user
>> feedback).
>>  http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation
>
> Hi Taco,
>
> I'm sorry that I haven't given much feedback on the documentation  
> project.  I got through the Typography chapter, but then was so  
> confounded by the Fonts chapter that I didn't feel able to give  
> comments.  I will make another attempt.
>
> Cheers,
> Rory

Hi, I'd like to second what Rory said. I was delighted by my first  
reading of the typography chapter, and had not seen the font chapter  
until you posted the link above, Taco. I'm also sorry not to have  
chimed in before.

Dave

___________________________________________________________________________________
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maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-18 22:00       ` David Wooten
@ 2009-03-19 13:48         ` Michael Bynum
  2009-03-19 13:57           ` Aditya Mahajan
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 18+ messages in thread
From: Michael Bynum @ 2009-03-19 13:48 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

Can someone post a link to the actual reference manual rewrite Taco
was talking about?  I don't see anything on
http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation that looks like
a reference manual in progress.

Mike



On Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 6:00 PM, David Wooten <dw@trichotomic.net> wrote:
>
> On Mar 17, 2009, at 9:20 AM, Rory Molinari wrote:
>
>> Taco Hoekwater wrote:
>>>
>>> Corin Royal Drummond wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Many have voiced the same complaint.  I understand that Hans and every
>>>> one are occupied with building MKIV (aka LuaTeX), and that documentation
>>>> is not their highest priority.  There's the wiki, the wonderfully active
>>>> mailing list, and what used to be decent docs from 2001/2002 timeframe.
>>>> But yes, it's a steep hill to climb, made worth it only by the relative
>>>> awesomeness of ConTeXt.
>>>
>>> You missed the reference manual rewrite effort (which is now in
>>> remission mostly because of an extremely depressing lack of user
>>> feedback).
>>>  http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation
>>
>> Hi Taco,
>>
>> I'm sorry that I haven't given much feedback on the documentation project.
>>  I got through the Typography chapter, but then was so confounded by the
>> Fonts chapter that I didn't feel able to give comments.  I will make another
>> attempt.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Rory
>
> Hi, I'd like to second what Rory said. I was delighted by my first reading
> of the typography chapter, and had not seen the font chapter until you
> posted the link above, Taco. I'm also sorry not to have chimed in before.
>
> Dave
>
> ___________________________________________________________________________________
> If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to
> the Wiki!
>
> maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl /
> http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
> webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
> archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
> wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
> ___________________________________________________________________________________
>
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-19 13:48         ` Michael Bynum
@ 2009-03-19 13:57           ` Aditya Mahajan
  2009-03-19 23:32             ` Curious Learn
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 18+ messages in thread
From: Aditya Mahajan @ 2009-03-19 13:57 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

On Thu, 19 Mar 2009, Michael Bynum wrote:

> Can someone post a link to the actual reference manual rewrite Taco
> was talking about?  I don't see anything on
> http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation that looks like
> a reference manual in progress.

The links are after the big note saying that we are working on the rewite 
of the manual. Feel free to change the formatting to make it more 
prominent.

Aditya
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17 10:52   ` Wei-Wei Guo
@ 2009-03-19 14:14     ` luigi scarso
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 18+ messages in thread
From: luigi scarso @ 2009-03-19 14:14 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

There is also,
but is still a work-in-progress
http://groups.foundry.supelec.fr/modules/
-- 
luigi
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-19 13:57           ` Aditya Mahajan
@ 2009-03-19 23:32             ` Curious Learn
  2009-03-19 23:57               ` Aditya Mahajan
  0 siblings, 1 reply; 18+ messages in thread
From: Curious Learn @ 2009-03-19 23:32 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: ntg-context

Aditya Mahajan <adityam <at> umich.edu> writes:


> > Can someone post a link to the actual reference manual rewrite Taco
> > was talking about?  I don't see anything on
> > http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation that looks like
> > a reference manual in progress.
> 
> The links are after the big note saying that we are working on the rewite 
> of the manual. Feel free to change the formatting to make it more 
> prominent.


Aditya, are you  talking about the svn-repository link. That link seems to be
broken. When I click on it, I get a message saying "address not found"

Thanks


___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-19 23:32             ` Curious Learn
@ 2009-03-19 23:57               ` Aditya Mahajan
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 18+ messages in thread
From: Aditya Mahajan @ 2009-03-19 23:57 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: mailing list for ConTeXt users

On Thu, 19 Mar 2009, Curious Learn wrote:

> Aditya Mahajan <adityam <at> umich.edu> writes:
>
>
>>> Can someone post a link to the actual reference manual rewrite Taco
>>> was talking about?  I don't see anything on
>>> http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation that looks like
>>> a reference manual in progress.
>>
>> The links are after the big note saying that we are working on the rewite
>> of the manual. Feel free to change the formatting to make it more
>> prominent.
>
>
> Aditya, are you  talking about the svn-repository link. That link seems to be
> broken. When I click on it, I get a message saying "address not found"

Maybe supplec is down at the moment. You can browse the files at 
http://context.aanhet.net/svn/contextman/context-reference/en/ but it only 
contains the pdf of the font and typography chapters (they are also linked 
from the main page).

Aditya
___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
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archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

* Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?
  2009-03-17  8:16   ` Taco Hoekwater
  2009-03-17 16:20     ` Rory Molinari
@ 2009-03-20  9:53     ` Jesse Alama
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 18+ messages in thread
From: Jesse Alama @ 2009-03-20  9:53 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: ntg-context

Taco Hoekwater <taco@elvenkind.com> writes:

> Corin Royal Drummond wrote:
>> Many have voiced the same complaint.  I understand that Hans and every
>> one are occupied with building MKIV (aka LuaTeX), and that documentation
>> is not their highest priority.  There's the wiki, the wonderfully active
>> mailing list, and what used to be decent docs from 2001/2002 timeframe. 
>> But yes, it's a steep hill to climb, made worth it only by the relative
>> awesomeness of ConTeXt.
>
> You missed the reference manual rewrite effort (which is now in
> remission mostly because of an extremely depressing lack of user
> feedback).
>
>   http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Main_Page#Documentation

Could we add that manual to the minimals?

Jesse

-- 
Jesse Alama (alama@stanford.edu)

___________________________________________________________________________________
If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki!

maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context
webpage  : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net
archive  : https://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/
wiki     : http://contextgarden.net
___________________________________________________________________________________


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 18+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2009-03-20  9:53 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 18+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2009-03-17  1:55 Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt? Wei-Wei Guo
2009-03-17  2:33 ` Corin Royal Drummond
2009-03-17  8:16   ` Taco Hoekwater
2009-03-17 16:20     ` Rory Molinari
2009-03-18 22:00       ` David Wooten
2009-03-19 13:48         ` Michael Bynum
2009-03-19 13:57           ` Aditya Mahajan
2009-03-19 23:32             ` Curious Learn
2009-03-19 23:57               ` Aditya Mahajan
2009-03-20  9:53     ` Jesse Alama
2009-03-17  8:33   ` Xan
2009-03-17  8:36     ` Taco Hoekwater
2009-03-17  8:47       ` Xan
2009-03-17  8:50         ` Taco Hoekwater
2009-03-17 10:52   ` Wei-Wei Guo
2009-03-19 14:14     ` luigi scarso
2009-03-17  7:57 ` Taco Hoekwater
2009-03-17  9:03 ` Alan Stone

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