[GNC-dev] Documentation update problems

[David T.]

Hello,

I have a general question about building. Forgive me if this is naive. The last time I used Linux was last century, and I believe that Linux has changed just a tad since then.

Since GnuCash is now developed over git, can't users|developers|writers|yetis use git for most distros to obtain source code and compile it on their machines? IOW, rather than offer voluminous directions on how to obtain the sources and compile GnuCash on every variant of YetiCompute, could we simply advise the majority of the community (yetis included) to use git to clone our repos and compile using git? It seems to me to be a colossal waste of community effort to attempt to account for every flavor of every distro. I contrast this with the (IMHO correct) stance on encryption, in which circumstance we advise users to find appropriate encryption tools, rather than build a half-crap version of our own.

Focusing our efforts on *a* GnuCash Way of building the program would simplify the wiki immensely.

> On Sep 18, 2018, at 12:18 PM, Adrien Monteleone <adrien.monteleone at lusfiber.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> The main building page is a massive tome. I did start breaking out some
>>> parts of it into smaller logical chunks when I updated the BuildUbuntu16.04
>>> ( which covers 16.04, 18.04 and Linux MInt 18 and 19 in effect.). 
>> 
>> Shouldn’t it be renamed to BuildUbuntu then?
> 
> I agree, the link text/page title is confusing and there have already been questions about what instructions to use for building on 18.04.(yes, I see that it says this is for 18.04 as well, but clearly someone didn’t or they wouldn’t have asked)

If we continue with the Massive Tome Approach, I would recommend a title of “Building on Ubuntu"

> 
> If replacing content with a link to a dedicated page is desired practice for cleaning up the wiki, then I’d propose all of the material for building on Ubuntu be moved to that page, that it be renamed simply BuildUbuntu and that the main build page be left with a link to it for the Ubuntu section. As it is, the original build page still contains long outdated info. I would have instead expected to see the most current instructions there and then maybe a link for older versions.
> 
> Along with that, if older material for older systems and versions isn’t going to be moved to its own ‘archive’ page, then it should always appear down the page in chronological order. The current state of the build instructions is a bit messy in that regard.

Older content should be removed altogether, not archived.


> 
> Regards,
> Adrien
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