On Sun, Oct 10, 2004 at 04:42:17PM +0000, Paul Waring wrote:
> I thought gentoo-wiki.com did this for forum threads whereas the main
> gentoo.org web site was for rubber-stamped, up-to-date documentation?
> (at least that's the response I got when I asked about it at the UK
> meet).
I actually never really took the time to check out gentoo-wiki (it's not an
official Gentoo project even though the name might suggest it). I'm not sure
but I believe the gentoo-wiki uses the FDL as license for it's
documentation. The Gentoo Documentation Project requires the CC-BY-SA
license. And since a wiki might make it difficult to track authors it's
quite difficult to take information from the wiki and publicize it on
gentoo.org
But that's not why I don't take the wiki as a source...
I frequently visit the forums for information; people tend to be less
bounded by rules on the forum and therefore easily write whatever they feel
like writing about. Sometimes this leads to very interesting information.
I focus on the forums mainly because I'm used to them. So it's not like I
hate the wiki :)
The forums, for me, provide a place to see what the users find most
difficult with Gentoo or it's installation process. It gives me a good
feeling about how the community thinks, what they want and how they act.
Based on various threads I can create a document that helps people as much
as possible.
The wiki is a place where knowledgeable users try to write documentation on
aspects they find important enough to share with the rest of the world.
While this certainly is a noble target, it isn't always based on the
problems users have.
I don't copy information from the "Documentation, Tips & Tricks" section of
the forums; I copy information from the other forums, from lengthy threads
which are eventually resolved by some magical yet thoughtfull idea that a
user brought. And sometimes the answer is so damned clearly stated that I
can only ask the user's permission to reproduce it fully in a document.
Wkr,
Sven Vermeulen
--
Documentation & PR project leader
The Gentoo Project <<<
http://www.gentoo.org >>>