Re: Successor to DocBook

[Joachim Noreiko <jnoreiko yahoo com>]

--- Matthew East <mdke ubuntu com> wrote:
> This isn't really a criticism, but I'd really like
> to know why docbook
> has been rejected as inadequate for the
> implementation of a modular help
> system. I'm not attached to a particular format as
> such, but I think
> that now that some good work has been put in to
> supporting docbook, I'd
> like to see a move away from it justified more
> carefully.

I agree that there's a potential timing issue.
However, the current tools being developed are surely
flexible enough that to support a new XML format,
similar to DocBook, the changes wouldn't be that
drastic?

I'll let others comment on specific problems with
DocBook (and we should perhaps try to make a list of
such points on the Mallard wiki page) but to be brief
and blunt:

DocBook is clunky.

I've been working with it for a while now, and it
simply doesn't seem suited to the task. There are
dozens of tags I will never, ever use, and on the
other hand, quite common concepts in user
documentation for which there is no tag, only a rough approximation.


		
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