[Fedora-directory-users] Advantages of using FDS vs OpenLDAP?

[Arshad Noor]

Chris,

I don't deny that people need to know how to navigate through tasks.

What I neglected to add to my e-mail, is that "navigation knowledge"
is better learned from "flash" type clips, rather than through dozens
of pages of text and still-graphics.  Perhaps what is needed is a
standard for how documentation is produced to make it easier for
users to learn from - something along the lines of:

- A concepts and architecture document
- An installation clip
- Tutorial clips
- Task oriented clips

I'm just bemoaning the fact that as technology becomes increasingly
complex, the level of documentation has correspondingly risen.  The
quality of such documentation, however, has declined; there isn't a
single reason one can blame, but interspersion of concepts & tasks
in documents is one factor.  By separating them & using appropriate
media, perhaps we might address some of these shortcomings as an
industry.

Arshad Noor
StrongAuth, Inc.

Christopher Blizzard wrote:
> The documentation that we have available covers both "how to navigate
> [with the] GUI" and "how things work."  All the way from an overview of
> how to build your LDAP tree down to a reference of the internal config
> settings that drive the directory server.
> 
> I suspect that you're saying that you prefer documents that are low
> level descriptions of how the system works, and we do have those.  But
> you're not the only market.  There's a fair number of ways that people
> tend to directory servers.
> 
> --Chris
> 
> On Fri, 2005-12-02 at 08:32 -0800, Arshad Noor wrote:
> 
>>For what its worth, while I have not worked with OpenLDAP at all, I
>>vigorously support Howard's argument for concise, precise & clear
>>documentation.  The state of technical documentation today is
>>pathetic - designed more for people to navigate GUI's than to impart
>>information about how things work.  Its reminiscent of cotton candy
>>- a lot more air than content.  Another artifact of the Microsoft
>>age....
>>
>>Arshad Noor
>>StrongAuth, Inc.
>>
>>
>>Howard Chu wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Yes, the OpenLDAP documentation is sparse, and this is a fatal flaw.
>>>Yes, what documentation exists is terse, and this is a vital strength.
>>>Nobody likes to spend time wading thru docs, and there's nothing gained
>>>from saying in 5 sentences what can be stated in only one. Certainly we
>>>need to work on expanding the scope of the documentation to cover the
>>>numerous holes. But good documentation is concise and to the point, and
>>>the docs I've written are precise. There may be a problem with imprecise
>>>readers, who skim and skip over things when every single word is
>>>crucial, but that's not our fault.
>>>
>>
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> 
> 
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