DocTable--

[John Fleck <jfleck inkstain net>]

Folks -

We've lack of a DocTable has become a problem. With a GNOME2
release around some nearby corner, things have begun slipping through
the cracks, and miscommunication about who's doing what has caused
some recent difficulties.

In addition, my sense is that there are some folks out there who want
to know what they can do to help get GNOME2's docs out the door, but
there's no central place to look for information about what's been
done and what needs to be done.

With that in mind, I introduce DocTable--:

http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp/doctable--.html

It's just one big flat file with tables listing all the packages, and
all the apps inside them, with information about the following:

  * writer
  * written (a yes/no thing)
  * edited (another yes/no thing)
  * omf [1] (another yes/no thing)
  * build [2] (another yes/no thing)

I realize it lacks the high-tech gloss of Lampadas [3] or the low-tech
gloss of our old DocTable, but it embodies all the information
that's splattered across my desk on scraps of paper and across my hard
drive in various files. Now you all can help me keep track of what's
done and what needs to be done. This is just a quick tool to help us
get GNOME2 out the door, and I hope we can throw it away soon in
favor of something that's actually good. But for now, we need
*something*.

It lives in cvs at web-devel-2/content/projects/gdp. We all can
update it. (Updates to the file are immediately posted to d.g.o.)

It needs some additional love:

 I haven't listed the individual apps in three of the big packages:
 control-center, gnome-applets and gnome-games. Could the people
 responsible for those packages go through and update their bits?

It also shows the holes where work is needed to finish up the
release. Among the key areas, as shown by the table:

  gconf-editor: needs someone to stay in touch with the developers and
  start working on docs when it's ready.

  gedit, eog: needs someone to work with the Sun people to make sure
  their docs get incorporated correctly, and that OMF and build stuff
  is taken care of.

  OMF files[1]: There are a ton of OMF files to be updated to new
  ScrollKeeper goodness.

Just like with the old DocTable, send email to the list before you
start something, so we don't end up with duplicated effort. Unlike the
old DocTable, it would be great if people would actually use this and
try to update the bits they're working with so everybody knows what's
going on. :-)

Thanks,
John

[1] A "yes" here means the OMF file has been converted to the new
format required by ScrollKeeper > 0.3.8. Essentially none of that has
been done except for a few in gnome-utils, as you can see.
[2] This means converted to the new build system, which Jody Goldberg
and Dan Mueth and I are still working out, so nothing here has a "yes"
next to it.
[3] Lampadas is the new docs management system under development by
the Linux Documentation Project folks. More on this in a moment.
-- 
John Fleck
jfleck inkstain net (h) jfleck abqjournal com (w)
http://www.inkstain.net http://www.abqjournal.com

"You don't want to die with the music still in you."
 - John Gardner