> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon Stevens [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Friday, January 05, 2001 20:37
>
>
> on 1/5/2001 6:51 AM, "Paulo Gaspar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Tomcat has the same problem as Struts and most Open Source
> > projects (it is not just an Apache thing):
> > * NOT ENOUGH DOCUMENTATION *
>
> Sigh, this is a lame request now. We could write documentation
> until we are
> blue in the face and that still wouldn't solve the problem (which
> is that as
> I see it is that people are not willing to put effort into
> learning on their
> own).
Well, that sure is part of many postings we see at the User lists.
But the fact is that there are still to many beginner/configuration
questions popping up that have no answer in any documentation.
> We are not creating hugely complex molecular structures here. We are
> creating software based on well defined specifications. It isn't that hard
> to learn.
Hummm... where are the well defined specs of Tomcat specifics?
(The standards it implements are just a piece of the picture.)
One of the things I miss is having stuff that seems to have been
discussed and agreed upon (ages ago) translated into documentation
present in the "doc" directory of the distribution.
It is a pity if the newbies are supposed to dig mail archives for
ages when it would take much less energy to have placed those once
written specs on the distribution.
I have already seen on several Open Source products mailing lists,
references to specifications written and approved before I signed
those lists. And then (surprise, surprise!) I am not able to find
them. Neither together with the distribution nor on the product's
site.
It is a mystery to me what happens to those things!
> VMS (the OS) had about 30 feet! of shelf space of printed
> documentation ( I
> wonder how many acres of rainforest had to be destroyed because of that
> operating system). That still didn't make it a better product. It still
> didn't make it so that people could suddenly pick up a book and know the
> product.
>From where I come there is a saying that states: "neither 8 nor 80".
Again, I am talking about reasonable documentation for people that
want to learn and not about the unprecedented miracle of turning
lazy dumb asses into geeks.
Anyway, Open Source projects are very "green" about that: electronic
documentation only!
=:o)
> > I am sorry but I can not volunteer (at the moment) to help
> > solving the documentation problem. With the time limitations
> > I have, I must find a match with my employer interests in
> > order to contribute with some work. (If we start having more
> > developers using Tomcat, maybe then it makes some sense.)
>
> Now, this is always the catch, isn't it? You have plenty of time
> to write a
> paragraph complaining about no documentation, but you don't have time to
> write some documentation. Hmmmmmmmm....
>
> No need to respond unless it is documented.
LOL
Not so much effort to write the paragraph.
Anyway, the fact is that I still do not understand Tomcat well enough
to do such thing. I'm getting there, but I still do not understand a
couple of details - in any of the things I do with it.
> -jon
Have fun,
Paulo Gaspar
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