[Zope] reality check

Jason Cunliffe jasonic@nomadicsltd.com
Fri, 10 Dec 1999 14:06:55 +0100


[snip]
>While it hurts, it's not far from the truth. Have you considered putting a
>guy/gal on documentation exclusively? In the projects I have encountered in
>real life (if I can be said to have such a thing ;), I've found this provides
>the most consistent and best documentation. A person who's only job is to
>interact with the staff and provide legible information on what they
produce is
>a godsend.
>
>I know it costs money, but your product really deserves it.

As a matter of practical interest - how much would it cost to hire someone,
and for how long to improve the Zope docs to the next user-friendly level?

What is the real demand now for this?
How many here would be willing to contribute [how_much] towards this?

Zope is free, but I for one don't mind paying some money to save time and
sanity, and improve the likelihood of this technology growing well.  
Zope's sophistication means that it gets used and abused in so many ways,
that docs may have a hard time keeping up. 

Yet even a focused trawl thought the mail digest would be huge plus. Just
organizing the known wisdom. This has been done in David Beazley's 'Python
Essential Reference'. I just received it yesterday - It's lovely, clean,
small, handy and I learnt a lot in a few hours already :-) 

It is a godsend to have a small paperback like this with clear formatting
and typography.. 
long live good books!  [nice cover too - Mayan temple]

Perhaps it is still too soon for Zope - perhaps not.  
I hope the recent announcements by DC mean that much better docs will be
forthcoming soon..

thoughts?
- Jason