Re: Documentation consolidation

[Nikita Gillmann]

On 2020-07-06 10:48, Schanzenbach, Martin wrote:
> Hi,
>
> while doing a rough check over the handbook I noticed that we have duplicate 
> infos on the webpage
> and the handbook. Specifically with respect to installation.
>
> See 
> https://docs.gnunet.org/handbook/gnunet.html#Building-GNUnet-and-its-dependencies
> And (for example): https://stage.gnunet.org/en/install-on-debian9.html / 
> https://stage.gnunet.org/en/install.html
>
> In my opinion we should consolidate this. The infos in the handbook are 
> unfortunately outdated,
> so are some of the OS specific tutorials.
> Building from source is a developer thing, so I firmly believe that it 
> belongs in the developer section
> of the handbook. Duplication on the homepage is difficult to maintain.
>
> My proposal:
> - Move and merge all "from source" installation instructions to the handbook.
> - Recommend using packages on the homepage to users.
> - Link from the homepage (Developers/Install section) to the developer 
> handbook installation instructions for developers/early adopters.

Didn't you all add the installation instructions (especially from
source) because people kept asking how to install it and then the
handbook was too overwhelming for them (length, and also people rarely
update the handbook -> outdated)?

I'm sympathetic for this request but pessimistic about the handbook as
it is and looking at contributions since having to move from Drupal to
Texinfo.

>
> Migration from the web pages to the handbook will have the positive 
> side-effect that authors of
> OS-specific pages will have to update the contents (or be omitted in the 
> transition).
>
> Of course the alternative to the above is to remove installation instructions 
> from the handbook.
> But that is not a good idea as the handbook should be self-contained.
>
> BR
> Martin