Thread: Re: [doc-book-users] Evaluating DocBook Wiki

Hi Pierce,

The last release of docbookwiki, books-0.9.1 was made
almost one year ago, and as far as I know it is stable.
I am using it for myself to document my things, and I
haven't noticed anything that does not work. Of course,
there may be many things that can be improved or that
can be done better, but these do not prevent it from being
used. In case that there are any bugs, I am still willing
to try and fix them.

However, I have stopped developing DocBookWiki, in the sense
that I am not trying to add any new features to it. Instead,
I have started a new branch of it that I have called DocBookEasy.

The difference between them is how the chunks are handled.
In DocBookWiki I have written my own XSL stylesheets to do
chunk processing. In DocBookEasy I try to use customizations
of the standard XSL stylesheets (those that convert XML docbook
document into html, pdf etc.). This way I try to achieve support
for almost the full syntax of the DocBook, because this support
is already present in the XSL DocBook stylesheets.

DocBookEasy also has the benefit that it could be more easily
understood and customized by people, provided that they are familiar
with XSL DocBook stylesheets. DocBookWiki, on the other hand, is
like a bunch of tricks, which are somewhat difficult to understand,
modify and improve.

However, editing in DocBookEasy may not be as efficient as in
DocBookWiki. This is why I have decided to make them separate
branches, and not to consider DocBookEasy as an improvment of
DocBookWiki. There may be cases when DocBookEasy can be more
preferable, and other cases when DocBookWiki can be more preferable.

I am still working to prepare a first release of DocBookEasy,
an many things are still not clear. After I make the first release,
I think that things will be more clear, and I also hope that I will
get some help for improving it. On the contrary, I have had very
little help with DocBookWiki, and I think that it is because of the
tricky nature of it.

But I also intend to support DocBookWiki, in the sense that I will try
to fix any bugs that are not too difficult to be fixed. So, do give it
a try. Don't wait for DocBookEasy, because it may take long until it
becomes usable.

Regards,
Dashamir


Pierce Tyler wrote:
> Hi, Dashamir:
> 
> We are seriously evaluating your DocBook Wiki project for our PostBooks 
> project docs:
> 
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/postbooks
> 
> I just want to ask if your project is still alive and well. I know you 
> have a SourceForge site and a small number of downloads each day. But I 
> am curious to know if the developers are still active. Do you plan to 
> continue supporting this project in the future? Are future versions 
> planned? Or are you done releasing updates? (The copyright notice in 
> your user guide says 2004-2005, so I wasn't sure.)
> 
> Thanks for any information you can provide.
> 
> Best wishes,
> Pierce
> 

Yes, I must say that I also think it's good but difficult stuff. I'm
trying to use it for my own project, but it's not easy to manage, even
to install... It's a pity, because it rock otherwise.

2008/3/4, Dashamir Hoxha <das...@gm...>:
> Hi Pierce,
>
>  The last release of docbookwiki, books-0.9.1 was made
>  almost one year ago, and as far as I know it is stable.
>  I am using it for myself to document my things, and I
>  haven't noticed anything that does not work. Of course,
>  there may be many things that can be improved or that
>  can be done better, but these do not prevent it from being
>  used. In case that there are any bugs, I am still willing
>  to try and fix them.
>
>  However, I have stopped developing DocBookWiki, in the sense
>  that I am not trying to add any new features to it. Instead,
>  I have started a new branch of it that I have called DocBookEasy.
>
>  The difference between them is how the chunks are handled.
>  In DocBookWiki I have written my own XSL stylesheets to do
>  chunk processing. In DocBookEasy I try to use customizations
>  of the standard XSL stylesheets (those that convert XML docbook
>  document into html, pdf etc.). This way I try to achieve support
>  for almost the full syntax of the DocBook, because this support
>  is already present in the XSL DocBook stylesheets.
>
>  DocBookEasy also has the benefit that it could be more easily
>  understood and customized by people, provided that they are familiar
>  with XSL DocBook stylesheets. DocBookWiki, on the other hand, is
>  like a bunch of tricks, which are somewhat difficult to understand,
>  modify and improve.
>
>  However, editing in DocBookEasy may not be as efficient as in
>  DocBookWiki. This is why I have decided to make them separate
>  branches, and not to consider DocBookEasy as an improvment of
>  DocBookWiki. There may be cases when DocBookEasy can be more
>  preferable, and other cases when DocBookWiki can be more preferable.
>
>  I am still working to prepare a first release of DocBookEasy,
>  an many things are still not clear. After I make the first release,
>  I think that things will be more clear, and I also hope that I will
>  get some help for improving it. On the contrary, I have had very
>  little help with DocBookWiki, and I think that it is because of the
>  tricky nature of it.
>
>  But I also intend to support DocBookWiki, in the sense that I will try
>  to fix any bugs that are not too difficult to be fixed. So, do give it
>  a try. Don't wait for DocBookEasy, because it may take long until it
>  becomes usable.
>
>  Regards,
>  Dashamir
>
>
>  Pierce Tyler wrote:
>  > Hi, Dashamir:
>  >
>  > We are seriously evaluating your DocBook Wiki project for our PostBooks
>  > project docs:
>  >
>  > http://sourceforge.net/projects/postbooks
>  >
>  > I just want to ask if your project is still alive and well. I know you
>  > have a SourceForge site and a small number of downloads each day. But I
>  > am curious to know if the developers are still active. Do you plan to
>  > continue supporting this project in the future? Are future versions
>  > planned? Or are you done releasing updates? (The copyright notice in
>  > your user guide says 2004-2005, so I wasn't sure.)
>  >
>  > Thanks for any information you can provide.
>  >
>  > Best wishes,
>  > Pierce
>  >
>
>  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft
>  Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008.
>  http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/
>  _______________________________________________
>  Doc-book-users mailing list
>  Doc...@li...
>  https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/doc-book-users
>


-- 
Néstor Amigo Cairo
+34 687 96 74 81
nes...@gm...