Re: [dita] Audience of the arch spec

[ekimber <ekimber@reallysi.com>]

On 10/1/09 10:18 AM, "Ann Rockley" <rockley@rockley.com> wrote:

> I like JoAnn's suggestion of a readable overview to the functionality
> followed by the technical details. Unless someone writes a comparable
> document in "user speak" DITA remains inaccessible. This could be a job of
> the greater community and certainly offers book opportunities, but a short
> overview would certainly aid in dissemination of information.

I agree that such a document or documents need to be written but the Arch
Spec cannot and should not be that document. That is the job of the
Community and the Adoption TC.

The DITA specification is a *standard*, a quasi-legal document. It needs to
be as precise as possible and as brief as possible, avoiding redundancy.
That means that general-audience introductions that restate what more
technical descriptions say *are bad* because they introduce the possibility
of inconsistency.

In addition, we, the TC, do not have the bandwidth to both write the
introductory material and make sure it is accurate while also finishing the
technical material and making sure it is accurate as well.

There is definitely significant opportunity for all of us to write DITA
books that make DITA accessible to particular audiences as soon as we get
1.2 put to bed. 

Cheers,

E.

----
Eliot Kimber | Senior Solutions Architect | Really Strategies, Inc.
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