Theoretical vs Practical Knowledge

[Sean Berry]

On Thu, 13 Dec 2001, Heather wrote:
> Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 13:53:40 -0800 (PST)
> From: Heather <star at betelgeuse.starshine.org>
> To: J C Lawrence <claw at kanga.nu>
> Cc: Michael Grey <gandolf_the_grey at hotmail.com>, baylisa at baylisa.org
> Subject: Re: Theoretical vs Practical Knowledge
> 
> > On Thu, 13 Dec 2001 10:42:36 -0800 (PST) 
> > star  <Heather> wrote:
> > 
> > > I find that documenting my work helps a lot, even if it's just a
> > > cheap README - the me at noon is not the same me as the one who
> > > hasn't had coffee yet, or the one one a good coding roll at 10 pm
> > > or so, or the one trying to get something un-broken in the wee
> > > hours before the madding crowd returns at 7:30 to 8 am.  YMMV but
> > > even wimpy docs are often better than none.
> > 
> > Aye.  I like using a WikiWiki for that sort of thing.  Easy to post
> > to, easy to search, keeps things tracked and organised, easy for
> > others to reference and add to, etc.  I like TWiki in particular for
> > this sort of thing (twiki.org) as it does revision and access
> > control, and installs with a base set of TWIki'd documentation.
> 
> hmm, yes, but you can't leave a twiki lying around in the /etc directory
> for the next sysadmin to find 6 months later, either, and local policies
> may include material that shouldn't be on a public website, especially one
> the spiders may hit.
> 
> Tho having an internal twiki, from which your corporate tech writers compose
> various guides... hmmm.  Good to keep things, but the times when you need 
> notes the most is when the poor beast won't or shouldn't hit the net.  So 
> you need README files too.

FAQ O MATIC!  There's stuff in our FOM from three and four years ago, and
it'd be pretty easy to destroy if necessary.  Low maintenance, built-in
search.

--
Sean Berry works with many flavors of UNIX, but especially Solaris/SPARC and
NetBSD.  His hobbies include graphics and raytracing.  He drinks coke mostly.
His opinions are not necessarily those of his employers.        650/281-6610