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Subject:RE: STC Letter to the Editor From:KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 5 Nov 2002 09:11:43 -0500
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Plato [mailto:gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com]
[...]
> No. Most readers (except other writers of course) could give
> a crap about layout
> and fonts. They just want data. This is why text files are so
> damn popular.
>
> > Likewise, layout should complement the writing and
> > make it accessible.
>
> Double-click README.TXT - got it.
>
> Can't get more accessible than that.
And that's your idea of a suitable documentation
set for a new user, who is at the low end of
the intended/expected audience for a complex
product?
The guy who acuses others of oversimplifying
appears to have oversimplified just a wee tad...
We still provide README files on our CDs, but
their only purpose is to relate last-minute
glitches and workarounds that didn't make it into
the formal docs. That means, as often as not,
the README file is empty (or has place-holder
boiler-plate text), or is not there.
Around here, a README file is a bit of an admission
of failure. It's a "whoops!", a clean-up/butt-cover
device.
At the next release, or interim release, whatever
appeared in the last README gets fixed and incorporated.
Other people and companies do it differently?
/kevin
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