Re: about coders, docs and users - Part II.
On Mon, Aug 28, 2006 at 09:59:06PM EDT, cga2000 wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 21, 2006 at 09:13:36AM EDT, Rado S wrote:
Posted when I mean to Postpone :-(
[ snip .. see "Part I" .. ]
> > This is what I meant with "voiced critical mass":
> > speak up, people! :)
> >
> > > Generally speaking, there is probably a fairly large number of
> > > domains of activity that could be discussed from a user
> > > standpoint -- as opposed to the current mutt manual's approach
> > > where the accent is mostly on individual functionalities.
> >
> > Even though generally I agree, there are 2 already mentioned
> > problems with this:
> >
> > - The "lazyness" on boths sides, the newbs and
> > the pros, to work on this for even a 3rd group not
> > involved: the next generation of newbs.
> >
> > - What kind of activities are on the minds of newsers (=> YOURS)?
> > "pros" who'd have to document it are out of touch, so both
> > need to come together.
> > There are far too many variations to document all of them.
Agreed. But it would be a lot more profitable where I am concerned to
adopt one of the ur-users' ways of doing things than spend countless
hours reinventing the wheel. I can't think of any other field but
software where anyone learns to use a tool by experimenting.
> > See MuttGuide on wiki, add YOUR ideas to UserGuide.
> > See also my agenda on RadoS: the MuttFaq shows what people
> > miss and therefore needs better coverage in a guide.
At this point my "ideas" are so vague that I don't see the point.
> > This is what people don't care enough about: next gen newbs.
> > And therefore things don't get moving in this area.
> > How to make _both_ sides care for the 3rd?
I have no evidence of this naturally but I wouldn't be surprised if
there were a significant number users of mutt -- like myself .. who go
on using a small subset of its capabilities and never progress beyond
beginner level because they lack the time, technical background,
motivation .. etc.
Incidentally, there's an "interesting" thread in "debian-user" at the
moment regarding mailers in general and mutt in particular. I'm rather
surprised to find that some of the more aggressive flamers seem to have
tried mutt .. used it for some time .. and turned against it .. and yet
are not even aware of some of its basic capabilities.
> > > The "User Guide" I had in mind would probably end up containing
> > > most of the information in the current manual but presented from
> > > a completely different standpoint.
> > > {...}
> > > _using_ mutt to its full potential {...} difficult because {...}
> > > [use] efficiently .. you don't have a clear picture where you're
> > > headed.
> >
> > ... because you don't know how to _combine_ all of mutt's
> > flexibility and individual powers to your desires.
Precisely.
[..]
> > > Oh.. Naturally, my intent was _not_ to flame mutt _or_ complain
> > > about inadequate documentation.
> >
> > Maybe not yours, but mine, not being a newbie myself anymore and
> > experiencing on the support front (here and #mutt) what/ why it
> > fails. Again, just how to convince mutt-dev?
Yes, you definitely need a few years of support behind your belt to be
able to come up with user-centric docs.
Again, apologies for the "mis-posting" .. and the vagueness of the above.
Thanks
cga