Document Update Instructions have been revised

[David T.]

Hi Frank,

> On Jan 23, 2017, at 1:09 PM, Frank H. Ellenberger <frank.h.ellenberger at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> just a few ideas:
> I found by accident the 10 years old
> http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Concept_Guide_draft/Overview ff., which is
> an example for using subpages in a template
> http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Template:Cgtoc .
> 

Wow. I think that set of pages should probably just go away? The Concept Guide has moved well beyond these drafts.


> Don't confuse it with the more recent
> http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Concept_Guide which is more a todo list and
> ancestor of the Document Update Instructions

The to do list is also dated, but might still be of use. I don’t know whether it should be updated or scrapped.

> 
> Recently I was asking myself and Gert, if we should move the nice
> written sections about
> #The_Make_Utility
> #Step_3_Generate_configure_Script
> #Step_4_Make_a_Build_Directory_Structure_and_the_Makefiles
> in the basic existing page http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/Build_System
> or a new page Autotools and linking it from Building_Gnucash and
> Translation, too.
> That would have the benefit there would be only one page to maintain
> almost everything about the autotools components. OTOH some users could
> be distracted by the jumping between the pages.
> 
> Your opinion?

The Build System page is too technically-focused and too sparse for my limited abilities, and in the context of the docs process, it won’t be of help to the people who want only to update the docs (that’s me). 

> 
> I understand that the pull request is the adequate way for a longtime
> contributor on the mailing list like  you, David. But it would be too
> much overhead to create an github account, a ssh key, ... to send a
> patch for a typo by a random reader.

First, setting up the github account was pretty simple (even for me). 

Second, there is simply no way that a “random reader” is EVER going to make a change to the documentation. There is a HUGE jump from typing a Word document or an email to using a version control system to edit and manage XML files from a remote repository. I know, because I have struggled long and hard to understand the little of this all that I do. As I said earlier, as a non-programmer, I can say that the ONLY way I’ve been able to contribute consistently has been through the git pull process.

David

> 
> Regards
> Frank