Re: [docbook-apps] Producing Open Source Software

[Thomas Schraitle <tom_schr@web.de>]

Hi,

Am Mittwoch, 4. März 2009 17:03:26 schrieb DavePawson:
> Interesting read from an O'Reilly author.

It is. :)


> http://producingoss.com/en/index.html
>
> E.g. <quote>One particular pitfall of open source projects is that, if
> you don't manage the project carefully, you can tend to attract
> developers who are more interested in discussion than writing code.
> It's a subtle but pernicious problem -- communication gone wrong.
> </quote>

Although the above statement contains some truth, open source projects 
fail because of something different: the lack of documentation. :)

I know, it's only one reason. This impression is probably influenced from 
my writer's point of view, but when you don't have (at least) something, 
it makes it really hard. 
From my impressions with developers, they tend to underestimate the 
importance of documentation. Of course, there "natural" thinking is "Why 
should I 'document' my things? Why should I care? Read the code, it's 
there!"

It goes a bit off-topic, but I've written about this some time ago:
http://lizards.opensuse.org/2009/01/16/the-value-of-good-documentation/


Tom