From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.comp.tex.context/88101 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Gerben Wierda Newsgroups: gmane.comp.tex.context Subject: Re: State of documentation of ConTeXt? Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 11:59:32 +0200 Message-ID: References: <1642f57885676cbd1020027a2bff7c40.squirrel@webmail.xs4all.nl> <53C41372.7080802@wxs.nl> Reply-To: mailing list for ConTeXt users NNTP-Posting-Host: plane.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 7.3 \(1878.6\)) Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="===============1838157961==" X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1405418410 28858 80.91.229.3 (15 Jul 2014 10:00:10 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 10:00:10 +0000 (UTC) To: mailing list for ConTeXt users Original-X-From: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Tue Jul 15 12:00:05 2014 Return-path: Envelope-to: gctc-ntg-context-518@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from balder.ntg.nl ([5.39.185.229]) by plane.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1X6zWn-0006MH-Ct for gctc-ntg-context-518@m.gmane.org; Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:00:05 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by balder.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id A120510291 for ; 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Tue, 15 Jul 2014 11:59:33 +0200 (CEST) In-Reply-To: <53C41372.7080802@wxs.nl> X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1878.6) X-Ziggo-spambar: - X-Ziggo-spamscore: -1.1 X-Ziggo-spamreport: ALL_TRUSTED=-1, BAYES_00=-1.9, CHW1252=0.01, FLOATLET=1.8, HTML_MESSAGE=0.001, T_RP_MATCHES_RCVD=-0.01 X-Ziggo-Spam-Status: No X-Bayes-Prob: 0.0001 (Score 0, tokens from: ntg-context@ntg.nl, base:default, @@RPTN) X-CanIt-Geo: ip=212.54.42.164; country=NL; latitude=52.5000; longitude=5.7500; http://maps.google.com/maps?q=52.5000,5.7500&z=6 X-CanItPRO-Stream: uu:ntg-context@ntg.nl (inherits from uu:default, base:default) X-Canit-Stats-ID: 0VMqxXz26 - ade217cb6eaf - 20140715 (trained as not-spam) X-Scanned-By: CanIt (www . roaringpenguin . com) on 194.171.167.220 X-BeenThere: ntg-context@ntg.nl X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: mailing list for ConTeXt users List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Original-Sender: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.comp.tex.context:88101 Archived-At: --===============1838157961== Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="Apple-Mail=_177DDA79-456E-470B-BD55-82164B9A9044" --Apple-Mail=_177DDA79-456E-470B-BD55-82164B9A9044 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 On 14 Jul 2014, at 19:29, Hans Hagen wrote: > quite some sub-systems are described in their own manuals (fonts, = tables, xml, ...) and these manuals are quite up to date (and easier to = maintain than one big fat manual >=20 > also, additional documentation is something that users need to = participate in (just pick a topic) >=20 > even if it has high priority, that doesn't mean that those involved = have much free time left to do that next to their regular work (as usual = most development is done in spare time) >=20 > so, patience is needed, I like ConTeXt (still do, I liked its approach when I first encountered = it). But the project is more the ongoing private tinkering of a small = in-crowd (that communicates with some followers). ConTeXt is managed a bit like a small group of researchers sharing a = couple of complex and undocumented models/programs and tinkering with = them as they go along. It=92s an activity without formal design, but = with a lot of trial-and-error/testing. Given that status (and the fact that it has had that status for over a = decennium), I don=92t expect it to ever become a serious product that is = (semi-)professionally managed. I prefer content over management every = day, but something like this needs some minimal management. That = requires both time (=3Dmoney) and capabilities. Besides, the tinkering = researchers may not be inclined to do that, they want to tinker. BTW, you can=92t be serious asking the users to provide the = documentation, can you? G --Apple-Mail=_177DDA79-456E-470B-BD55-82164B9A9044 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=windows-1252 On 14 = Jul 2014, at 19:29, Hans Hagen <pragma@wxs.nl> wrote:

quite some sub-systems are described in their own manuals = (fonts, tables, xml, ...) and these manuals are quite up to date (and = easier to maintain than one big fat manual

also, additional documentation is = something that users need to participate in (just pick a = topic)

even if it has high priority, that doesn't mean that those = involved have much free time left to do that next to their regular work = (as usual most development is done in spare time)

so, patience is = needed,

I like ConTeXt (still do, I liked its = approach when I first encountered it). But the project is more the = ongoing private tinkering of a small in-crowd (that communicates with = some followers).

ConTeXt is managed a bit like = a small group of researchers sharing a couple of complex and = undocumented models/programs and tinkering with them as they go along. = It=92s an activity without formal design, but with a lot of = trial-and-error/testing.

Given that status (and = the fact that it has had that status for over a decennium), I = don=92t expect it to ever become a serious product that is = (semi-)professionally managed. I prefer content over management every = day, but something like this needs some minimal management. That = requires both time (=3Dmoney) and capabilities. Besides, the tinkering = researchers may not be inclined to do that, they want to = tinker.

BTW, you can=92t be serious asking the = users to provide the documentation, can = you?

G

= --Apple-Mail=_177DDA79-456E-470B-BD55-82164B9A9044-- --===============1838157961== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline ___________________________________________________________________________________ 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 : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___________________________________________________________________________________ --===============1838157961==--