Some Assistance Please

[David T.]

> On May 2, 2017, at 8:16 PM, Derek Atkins <warlord at MIT.EDU> wrote:
> 
> David,
> 
> First, sorry to come at this late...
> 
> "David T. via gnucash-devel" <gnucash-devel at gnucash.org> writes:
> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> Once again, the documentation bug has bit me, and I am trying to use
>> the accepted GnuCash toolset to implement a change to the Guide.
> 
> Excellent.  Thank you for your ongoing support!!
> 
>> Most recently, this toolset has been changed to use “make”, and when I
>> attempt to refresh my memory by going to the wiki page, I fail to find
>> an explanation that makes sense to me.
> 
> I would just point out that this hasn't changed.  This method has been
> in place for well over a decade, probably closer to two.

OK, I think the page on the wiki has been changed to prefer the make toolset in recent times.

> 
> [snip]
>> P.S.: I continue to think that the wiki page is poorly-constructed for
>> general users. In specific, I object to the high-level structure that
>> embeds the initial setup steps with the ongoing editorial process. In
>> my situation, I find it impossible to separate the setup commands from
>> those that I actually need to proceed.
> 
> As the guy who maintains the wiki instance (I run the hardware/OS for
> the wiki and maintain the mediawiki software installation), I'm not sure
> I understand what you mean by "separate the setup commands from those
> that [you] actually need to proceed".  What do you mean by this?  Also,
> what do you mean by "high level structure that embeds the initial setup
> steps with the ongoing editorial process.”?

Here’s what I mean:

On the Documentation Update instructions, section 3 contains 17 different steps. 

Step 3.1: Create a Bugzilla Bug is a step that should be undertaken with every proposed change to the documentation. 

Step 3.2: Clone the Documentation, however, is (presumably) a one-time setup. Steps 3.3-3.5 similarly are one-time setups (unless you’re a screwup like me, and then you get to do them over and over again). 

Steps 3.6-3.10 are again repeated for each change to the docs. 

Step 3.11 is a step that is not technically part of the documentation process at all, since it only applies to one family of GnuCash’s supported operating systems. Mac and Windows writers don’t perform this step, and the fact that I have been contributing changes for years without conducting these tests underscores the fact that they aren’t a required part of the Documentation Update process.

Steps 3.12 and following are back to steps taken on each change—although at this point, I wonder whether people are preparing patches and attaching them to Bugzilla bugs (steps 3.15-3.17), or whether everyone has moved to the Github pull request method.

I’ll leave the rest of the topic chalked up to one of those online moments when I saw and felt things that probably were not intended by anyone in the way I took them.

David 

> 
> -derek
> 
> -- 
>       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
>       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
>       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
>       warlord at MIT.EDU                        PGP key available