texlive 5

[Sebastian Rahtz]

Arthur Ogawa writes:
 > > If we want to bring out TL5 next spring in the proposed new style (ie
 > > with "added-value" documentation from TUG), you would have to start
 >                                         ^^^
 > Actually, from the TeX Live team, right?

um. maybe. I think of texlive as the people putting together and
producing the product, not usually generating it ...

 > The new 4TeX manual just arrived; it is very useful as a guide (TeX Live
 > should have so nice a manual!).
agreed. the 4TeX book is a good model


 > Maybe the translators can be involved in the writing effort. Who
 > will be involved?
as translators, you mean? good question. we have a Czech person
waiting (must add her to the list...)

 > Do you want out of the editorship? 
thats the plan, yes

 > Your role could be one of "starting me with a rope's end" 
ohh, i thought you'd never ask!

 > (aside to
 > Sebastian: I'm ready to read "Blue at the Mizzen").
????must be called something else in the UK.

 > 1. What is TeX? What is LaTeX? (General context)
agree

 > 2. Roadmap of TeX Live (should explain TDS and perhaps the Web2C config system)
agree

 > 3. Installation manual for UNIX, Win32, MacOS (any others?).
agree

 > It would be nice to have a BOM upon completion of the installation.
whats a BOM?

 > 5. Hello World (your first TeX Live job)---will confirm that the installation
yup

 > 6. Further resources.
yup

 > 1. I can run CMacTeX, but if I want to run Linux or Win98 it's extra effort,
 > and I do not think I am up to running NT, Solaris, AIX, etc. So, I will need
 > collaborators to help out when platform-specific stuff comes up.

thats no problem, really. so long as you feel able to talk web2c and
kpathsea, it doesnt matter if you do it in a Mac world. turning your
Mac talk into English should be doable

 > 2. We cannot possibly create a fully-fledged manual of the above scope in
 > time. We need to exercise triage already.

no, you (or whoever) need to delegate! the secret is to for one person 
to have a clear view of the product, to know who is assembling
each piece, to have a schedule and to keep to it. plain old project
management. Which is the reason why it has not happened before, as I 
am not very good at such things (tho I will have to start practicing
it soon). 

 > 3. I need to keep on paying rent; I cannot go on sebbatical to
 > write the manual.
now you know why the manual does not exist already....

someone has to take this documentation project, and really _drive_ it
to the end. How many documentation projects can you think of in TeX
World that have started off with grand ambitions, and fizzled out? I
can think of many, starting with a book which UKTUG planned in 1988,
called "The Tex Companion". the chapter I wrote ended up as the LaTeX
Graphics Companion, 8 years later.....

sebastian