New to fedora

[Petr Kovar]

Hi all,

On Mon, 21 Apr 2014 15:46:36 -0600
Pete Travis <me at petetravis.com> wrote:

(...)

> > I also have a specific project idea, inspired by Jon Kent's difficulties
> > with the
> > documentation for Fedora packagers.[0] Difficult-to-use documentation
> > intimidates potential packagers, and also makes it more difficult for
> > current
> > packagers to follow the guidelines. The Docs people could make a big
> > difference
> > here, and because it's all on the wiki, it's a good task for new
> > contributors
> > too!
> >
> >
> I agree, the packaging documentation is nebulous and sometimes confusing. I
> like the idea of an abbreviated overview of packaging - at least, I think
> that's part of what you're going for, Christopher. Petr Kovář has been
> talking about really diving into the Packager's Guide[4], that would
> probably be the best place to direct your efforts.

Absolutely. Jon Kent makes some good point in his post:

"Personally I find the current wiki packaging details way too verbose,
nice simple steps ensures no mistakes.  If more detailed is required that
can be linked off somewhere else."

I put together a content spec for the new Packager's Guide that
I'm now working on:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packagers_Guide_Wishlist

As for Jon's post, I also agree that a packaging guide should first offer
basic steps and only go into more details later in the book. That's why in
the content spec there is first an introductory section on the Basics of
Building RPM Packages, and then, after that introductory content, we
provide more details in a spec File Overview.

Joey, if you are interested in contributing to the Packager's
Guide, please let me know so that we can coordinate our efforts. New
contributors are always welcome!

> > You might start by proofreading the content on a smaller page, like
> > "Packaging:Ruby."[2] At minimum, you can revise sentences for style and
> > clarity. If you don't know anything about packaging, that's fine too,
> > because
> > these guidelines serve both experienced and new packagers. After you
> > understand a smaller page, you may be able to create or improve the
> > documentation for new packagers.
> >
> 
> The packaging docs and guidelines are sort of a special case among wiki
> documentation.  The guidelines are generally maintained by the Fedora
> Packaging Committee, domain specific pages by the appropriate Special
> Interest Group, and the more broad pages by experienced packagers.  Don't
> take that as discouragement, though - there's surely room for improvement
> in all, and someone with technical writing experience and a fresh
> perspective could go a lot of good.  It would be a good idea to coordinate
> with stakeholders on such pivotal pages, whether that's a SIG or just
> mailing people that show up a lot in the edit history.  They might get
> cranky if you make changes without at least checking in :)

Yes, please always talk first to the SIG or Packaging Committee people
before making changes to a wiki page in the Packaging: namespace (such as
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging:Ruby).


Thanks,
pk