[Debian-np-devel] Binary files, big problems

[Benj. Mako Hill]

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On Sun, Jun 27, 2004 at 09:29:24PM -0300, Otavio Salvador wrote:
> I was thinking about what is currently did in subversion in doc/
> directory and is really good produce documentation and reports *but*
> this should be done in a better format, IMHO.

I think you're preaching to the choir. I can't speak for everyone else
but even if OOo produce non-binary-blob documentation, I'd still
advocate using something else. :)

Micah can c correct me if I'm wrong but I think Micah made the
executive decision to go with OOo format because we had to get this
report, formatted and gleaming, delivered in a very short amount of
time he didn't want introduce another technology (and variable) into
the equation. The folks getting this report won't be too interested in
the way we can create conflicts as a result. :)

> Possible problems with current format is about if someone did a
> change and *before* this person commit, someone else did another
> change in same file. The SVN will block the commit since it is not
> against the last file version and then this person will try todo a
> svn up. Now, this person will *LOST* all your changes since SVN
> cannot deal nicely with binary diffs.

It's not quite as dire as you imply.

What you need to do is move the changed file out of the way, update to
grab the new version. Now, load up OOo and do a "compare files"
between the new updated one and the changed one your end. Struggle
with that until you get a new version and then commit.

> I think we need choose a default format for documentation like LaTeX
> or SGML. What you think about it?

We should use DocBook XML (or even SGML) for documentation. tLDP and
others are already using DB exclusively and the stylesheets are
nice. There are quite a few decent tools for dealing with it. Even
Debian has a policy of moving away from their own DebianDoc to DB so
for their own documentation so this seems like a relatively
uncontroversial decision.

If people want help formatting/laying out DB documents or a little IRC
tutorial. I'm happy to help as I've done quite a bit of work in
DocBook and a bit of work on the stylesheets as well.

Regards,
Mako


--=20
Benjamin Mako Hill
mako@bork.hampshire.edu
http://mako.yukidoke.org/

Creativity can be a social contribution, but only in so
far as society is free to use the results. --RMS

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