RE: Out of Work Tech Writers - Unite!

["Ed Manley" <edmanley -at- bellsouth -dot- net>]

Respectfully, I have researched solutions quite thoroughly and continuously
over my last twenty-three years in this business, and can promise you that,
at this point, there is no solution!

There are any number of vendors touting a solution, but there is in fact
only a number of disparate tools that each do only a fraction of the
functionality implied by a problem of this size. I propose that we will not
find a solution in any tool, process or vendor, but that we will find a
solution only when we combine our different needs, views, experiences,
knowledge management practices, tools, work processes, vendors, et al.

Much like Agile Modeling and XP are changing the methods and processes of
software development, we need do the same for software documentation.

Even the "solutions" that come the closest (DocBooks, Arbortext, etc.) fail
to address the primary barrier to success - which is the intransigent
attitude and resistance to new practices ingrained in the minds of many IT
workers. A solution to these issues will require a true paradigm shift - a
change to the basic thoughts and behaviors of the entire development
organization.

Only when we create a solution that addresses most if not all of the
problems AND arrives in the mind of the beholder with a brilliant flash of
"Oh yeah - this'll work for me!" will it be adopted.

My proposal is that we out-of-work folks have all of the requisites AS WELL
AS the time and interest - a combination difficult to find among the
employed populace.

However we do this, as an open-source initiative, where the only requirement
for contribution is the willingness to do it, or as a basis for a book, with
or without a profit motive, whatever...everyone involved will benefit.

Have fun,
Ed


In response to Goober:
"I applaud the idea from a learning perspective, but
really there *are* many solutions already available
(so marketing a new one might be tough). But great
idea! If nothing else, it's time spent productively
learning new things that can only help in the job hunt
and in future working situations."




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