From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id 87496e39 for ; Sat, 17 Nov 2018 20:36:45 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id CFD34A2723; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 06:36:44 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A6443A26E9; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 06:36:24 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 81C4CA26E7; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 06:36:17 +1000 (AEST) Received: from imap.thunk.org (imap.thunk.org [74.207.234.97]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 0CB8293FC6 for ; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 06:36:12 +1000 (AEST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=thunk.org; s=ef5046eb; h=In-Reply-To:Content-Type:MIME-Version:References:Message-ID: Subject:Cc:To:From:Date:Sender:Reply-To:Content-Transfer-Encoding:Content-ID: Content-Description:Resent-Date:Resent-From:Resent-Sender:Resent-To:Resent-Cc :Resent-Message-ID:List-Id:List-Help:List-Unsubscribe:List-Subscribe: List-Post:List-Owner:List-Archive; bh=n/nDxAYAKDsQ3Ztn3kdi/4mN1PEyjHA0DHPivPl6tos=; b=Yp6pGR/mvGLggPeOiAwXE2z8Nw 3XMXEJOdaIH/2rNHx5B+/M1jXW7vVeajb6IFb3teO2FPXn3DUacXsudxlzSYU5tU/xAtPipqoacNB cU8N03xGzHzUAdJZ+2oqxMtjLBWP0ochbMef9TdZoUm+1Kb9OhvUV3E/hDWx24RLM1Gk=; Received: from root (helo=callcc.thunk.org) by imap.thunk.org with local-esmtp (Exim 4.89) (envelope-from ) id 1gO7K2-0002fe-5Y; Sat, 17 Nov 2018 20:36:06 +0000 Received: by callcc.thunk.org (Postfix, from userid 15806) id 38B237A0467; Sat, 17 Nov 2018 15:36:02 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2018 15:36:02 -0500 From: "Theodore Y. Ts'o" To: Kurt H Maier Message-ID: <20181117203602.GA32299@thunk.org> References: <201811160003.wAG03mlF139232@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU> <20181116045016.GK3341@mcvoy.com> <201811171814.wAHIErpp025616@freefriends.org> <20181117182108.GA15914@wopr> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20181117182108.GA15914@wopr> User-Agent: Mutt/1.10.1 (2018-07-13) X-SA-Exim-Connect-IP: X-SA-Exim-Mail-From: tytso@thunk.org X-SA-Exim-Scanned: No (on imap.thunk.org); SAEximRunCond expanded to false Subject: Re: [TUHS] man-page style X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: tuhs@tuhs.org, doug@cs.dartmouth.edu Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" On Sat, Nov 17, 2018 at 10:21:08AM -0800, Kurt H Maier wrote: > On Sat, Nov 17, 2018 at 11:14:53AM -0700, arnold@skeeve.com wrote: > > > > The man page authors / tech writers at Sun were paid to write man > > pages, and learned / were taught how to do it well. The Linux stuff is > > done by volunteers. You're comparing apples and oranges. > > How do we kill this meme? Linux is open to contribution by volunteers > but the overwhelming majority of the work done on the OS for *at least* > the last ten years has been by professionals who are paid to work on > Linux. This is true. Alas, very few of these professionals are technical writers. The business model and incentives are different, furthermore resources such as StackExchange don't exist tend to disincentivize companies from investing in tech writers --- with notable exceptions being documentation specific to Red Hat, SuSE, etc. With commercial products that have competition, prospective customers can say, "SunOS documentation isn't sufficiently thorough! I'm switching to VMS so I can have that wall of three ring binders" :-) Without that competition, companies are less incentivized to divert resources to luxuries like documentation --- and the commoditization of Unix-like systems has reduced the available resources that companies have available when they are trying to make budgeting decisions. (Although I will say, speaking of budgeting decisions, the amount of human resources I've sent consumed in IBM Fall Plan and Spring Re-Plan would, if converted from managers and senior engineers to tech writers, be enough for a truly awesome amount of documentation. My condolences to my friends at Red Hat who will soon be getting to enjoy the wonders of IBM corporate processes. :-) - Ted