Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt?

[Corin Royal Drummond <corin@studiochango.com>]

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



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