From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.comp.tex.context/48451 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Corin Royal Drummond Newsgroups: gmane.comp.tex.context Subject: Re: Is there anything like developer's manual for ConTeXt? Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:33:54 -0600 Message-ID: <49BF0C12.90707@studiochango.com> References: <49BF0323.90807@gmail.com> Reply-To: mailing list for ConTeXt users NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; Format="flowed" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1237257346 30129 80.91.229.12 (17 Mar 2009 02:35:46 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:35:46 +0000 (UTC) To: mailing list for ConTeXt users Original-X-From: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Tue Mar 17 03:37:03 2009 Return-path: Envelope-to: gctc-ntg-context-518@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from ronja.vet.uu.nl ([131.211.172.88] helo=ronja.ntg.nl) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1LjPAl-0003vk-2I for gctc-ntg-context-518@m.gmane.org; Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:36:55 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id C83E81FD09; Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:35:30 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from ronja.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (smtp.ntg.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 12408-03; Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:34:56 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from ronja.vet.uu.nl (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0F7021FCE9; Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:34:56 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 37D6B1FCE9 for ; Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:34:55 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from ronja.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (smtp.ntg.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 20983-01-2 for ; Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:34:46 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from filter1-til.mf.surf.net (filter1-til.mf.surf.net [194.171.167.217]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id E65381FCE8 for ; Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:34:46 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from spunkymail-a6.g.dreamhost.com (mailbigip.dreamhost.com [208.97.132.5]) by filter1-til.mf.surf.net (8.13.8/8.13.8/Debian-3) with ESMTP id n2H2Yjxw032184 for ; Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:34:46 +0100 Original-Received: from [10.0.1.39] (unknown [189.162.1.208]) by spunkymail-a6.g.dreamhost.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 70184109F28 for ; Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:34:15 -0700 (PDT) User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.19 (X11/20090103) In-Reply-To: <49BF0323.90807@gmail.com> X-Bayes-Prob: 0.0001 (Score 0, tokens from: @@RPTN) X-CanIt-Geo: ip=208.97.132.5; country=US; region=CA; city=Brea; postalcode=92821; latitude=33.9269; longitude=-117.8612; metrocode=803; areacode=714; http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.9269,-117.8612&z=6 X-CanItPRO-Stream: uu:ntg-context@ntg.nl (inherits from uu:default, base:default) X-Canit-Stats-ID: 194567750 - cc5c8bab12b0 X-Scanned-By: CanIt (www . roaringpenguin . com) on 194.171.167.217 X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at ntg.nl X-BeenThere: ntg-context@ntg.nl X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.11 Precedence: list List-Id: mailing list for ConTeXt users List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Errors-To: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at ntg.nl Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.comp.tex.context:48451 Archived-At: 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 ___________________________________________________________________________________