Transition to Mallard?

[Thomas R. Jones]

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 20, 2010, at 4:30 PM, Matthew East <mdke at ubuntu.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 9:18 PM, Kyle Nitzsche
> <kyle.nitzsche at canonical.com> wrote:
>>  * simpler syntax: docbook isn't that hard for writers. If you can't
>> deal with it, should you really be writing docs?
>
> Quite aside from the merits of this discussion, which is definitely
> interesting, this isn't an attitude that I want to see projected by
> the documentation team to potential contributors and for that reason I
> feel compelled to reply to it.
And neither should shoving mallard down the throats of dissenting  
opinion. There is no time constraints to speak of to push the "new"  
project into implementation. What is the need for such a hurried  
implementation? It's obvious to the list that yourself and a few  
others are spearheading the development and possible use of mallard.  
So why can't you and the community allow others to review and comment  
before a before a decision is made?

Honestly, such a strong handed approach is detrimental to the  
community at large. Most of the contributors are not certain about  
either approach. Docbook is complex. And mallard is something off the  
cuff.

Which is better? Tried in true in my opinion. Let's leave it at that.
>
> I agree that docbook isn't impossible to get to learn and can be
> picked up with a certain amount of practice, but anyone who has worked
> with a volunteer group like this one for any extended period knows
> that it does get in the way, and it is a barrier to entry. We welcome
> contributions from any member of the community, whether they feel
> comfortable with docbook or not. That's one of the reasons why we
> welcome contributions in plain text, or via wiki markup. It's
> absolutely not true that anyone who isn't comfortable with dealing
> with docbook isn't welcome in this team or is unable to contribute to
> our documentation.
So your opinion is that ubuntu doc contributors are incapable or  
unwilling to learn? That doesn't bode well for your opinion of our  
contributors.
>
> I think the next stage for this discussion is probably to simply try a
> migration to Mallard and see how it goes: there are no strings
> attached to such a testing branch, and it would enable us to
> understand better the issues.
Feel free to proceed with quality testing. Testing be the key word.

Personally, I am afraid that do to personal preference you and a  
select few others are leading the ubuntu doc project into peril. Not  
only will the project be affected but those that contribute behind us.  
I for one want to make the right decisions and not negatively affect  
either.

Cheers.
Thomas
>
> -- 
> Matthew East
> http://www.mdke.org
> gnupg pub 1024D/0E6B06FF