On Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 07:51:24PM +0100, "Magosányi, Árpád" wrote: > On 11/13/2012 07:34 PM, Sanford Staab wrote: > > > > Do you guys just want to continue to answer questions on this alias > > and not FIX the docs somewhat over time? I could go into a litany of > > how much information is just missing from the docs with INCOMPLETE > > everywhere. > > You might have overlooked the fact that openssl is an open source > project. Feel free to contribute the needed documentation or finance the > creation thereof if your knowledge is lacking to do so.
I've read more variations of this than I can count, and I never know whether to laugh or cry when I read the assertion that the person with the most imperfect understanding of the product is the best to tell everyone how it works. I've been that person and I know better. > (Yes, the documentation is lacking, an I (r=1 user of openssl) also find > this a sad state of affairs. But I find whining about a problem in an > open source project in this tone disturbing. Rule of thumb: the more you > contribute you have more right to whine. You and me have right to point > out a bug, or respectfully ask for a feature. Well, I've also been in the position of the person who *is* best qualified to write documentation: the author of the software. In that role, I would hope that people complain (with details) when I've left something out. And if I continue to leave it out, I would hope that someone would show his respect for my skills with a good sharp poke: Mark, I know you can do better than this! Reporting documentation problems is different from reporting software problems. In the latter case we send a report because we understand (to some extent) what is wrong; in the former, often we only understand that there is something missing but we have no idea what it may be. Our contribution is notice of the fact that someone read X and did not find the knowledge he needed to use the product. It could (and should) extend to willingness to work with the writer to ensure that the coverage and clarity of the writing is substantially improved. -- Mark H. Wood, Lead System Programmer mw...@iupui.edu Asking whether markets are efficient is like asking whether people are smart.
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