Re: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?

Subject: Re: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?
From: Bill Lawrence <lawrence -at- mayaviz -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 09:40:20 -0400


Here's one reason why open-source systems aren't considered.

I was the lone writer at a very small software company, and was hired largely because of my ability to set up an XML system using open source tools. I created a Docbook-based, single-source system using the Docbook Modular Stylesheets. The graphics were built in Open Office Draw or the GIMP. The document repository was a CVS system that I'd put together. It all worked great...for me. However, when I left they had huge difficulty in finding anyone that:

a) Knew anything about Docbook or XML in general.
b) Knew XSLT and a scripting language, so that they could work with the customizations that I had made.
c) Knew enough about single-source documentation to make sense of how the modular system worked.
d) Knew enough about graphics programs in general to adapt to the open source tools.
e) Knew what CVS was.

I left considerable notes about what customizations I'd made, how the system worked, etc. I also showed one of the engineers how the publishing system worked before I left so that they could pass the knowledge on to the new tech writer. That was pointless. Because they couldn't find anyone with the requisite skills, they eventually hired someone that had Frame and Webworks skills instead and recreated the docs in Frame. So for them, the cost of originally opting for open source tools was extreme.

The cold, hard fact of the matter is that for every TW that you can find that can understand how to use open-source tools or can adapt to them, there are a hundred that can't without considerable training.
Cheers,

Bill Lawrence


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References:
RE: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?: From: John Posada
Re: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?: From: Rachel Rawlings
Re: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?: From: Jan Smith
Re: Why Aren't Open Source Tools Being Considered?: From: Rachel Rawlings

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