Re: The Ultimate Help System

[David Merrill <david lupercalia net>]

On Mon, Mar 19, 2001 at 04:17:55PM -0600, Kevin Breit wrote:
> Tom,
> 	That actually seems very good.  It's actually something we should try to 
> do...Gnome 2.0?
> 	A comment though.  I'd like to see more online documentation (ala 
> Microsoft's help center) instead of on the system.  This has a few advantages 
> and a few disadvantages.
> 	Advantages: Keeping documentation updated online tends to be very easy to 
> update.  I release some new <application>Dia</application> documentation, I 
> don't need to wait till the next release to get the latest documentation.  I 
> just update it on the web, and its there, ready to go.  This also creates a 
> central place for help.  A user knows that they can always go to 
> help.gnome.org and get help for all the Gnome applications.
> 	Disadvantages: Not everyone has an internet connection.  I need help getting 
> say...gppp or whatever going.  But the docs are online.  Bad combo.  You also 
> have version problems.
> 	What I'd recommend doing is having a central database that is online and 
> each program will come with its own documentation.  Then the database will 
> have archives of all the documentation, and will have errata on the docs with 
> the fixes applied to the online documentation.  So the user will select what 
> version they got, and then it'll display the latest documentation for that 
> version.
> 	Comments?

Sounds like scrollkeeper. :-)

-- 
Dr. David C. Merrill                     http://www.lupercalia.net
Linux Documentation Project                   david lupercalia net
Collection Editor & Coordinator            http://www.linuxdoc.org
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It appears that PL/I (and its dialects) is, or will be, the most widely
used higher level language for systems programming.
		-- J. Sammet