Taco wrote:
==============
Over the past four years, it has been next to impossible to get people
interested in the reference manual project, not even for something as
simple as reading the rewritten chapters and telling me what they think
about it. Still, at the same time, complaints about the quality of the
documentation have been a constant recurrence on the mailing list.
I know the argument that beginners do not understand the source
well enough to write a manual themselves is valid. But it is equally
true that a person that *does* know the source enough to write the
manual is not the correct person to proofread it.
The near total lack of feedback had led me to believe that most
complainers are in it just for the complaining. This is extremely
demotivating, and so I have almost given up on doing documentation
at all. I mean, what's the point if nobody really cares? There are
many more interesting things to do in life than work for weeks on
end on revising chapters nobody appears willing to read anyway.
Best wishes,
Taco
====================
Hi Taco
Just a few words of encouragement :-)
You can be assured that the reference manual is definitely not going
unused. In my current quest to learn LuaTeX I refer to it almost
daily. Just for the record, I work in scientific publishing but my
interest in LuaTeX is purely and completely personal and not at all
related to my "day job".
I too would be willing to help "improve" the manual, especially to
help clarify issues which may be difficult for a beginner (like me!) to
understand. I have some ideas for additional material which could help
to link or bridge a number of key topics/concepts in order to better
understand the "architecture" of LuaTeX. Sort of "glue material".
You are absolutely right to say that, as the person writing the code, it
is extremely difficult to be the one solely responsible for preparing
the manual. Apart from anything, with such a pround and in-depth
knowledge of the innards of TeX it must be extremely difficult for you
to step back and take the perspective of someone who is just stating
out. And, frankly, writing documentation of any sort can be pretty dull.
Furthermore, I think that we'd all benefit from you spending most of
your time doing what you do best: cutting the code!
As someone very new to LuaTeX, I also want to thank you again for the
tremendous work you are doing.
Do please contact me by personal e-mail to discuss the above in more
detail, should you wish to do so.
Warm wishes
Graham
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