Re: I'm trying to set up docbook-tools...

[Kendall Clark <kclark at ntlug dot org>]

>>>>> "Eric" == Eric S Raymond <esr@thyrsus.com> writes:

    Mark Galassi <rosalia@galassi.org>:
    >> On this list we should not tell people that "they have failed"
    >> just because their pedagogical approach did not work for us.

    Eric> You're quite right.  We tell people they have failed when
    Eric> their pedagogical approach has been reported to be
    Eric> ineffective by independent multiple observers.

    Eric> That is, that's what we do if we actually care about
    Eric> improving matters.  If all we want to do is wrap the failure
    Eric> in a thick layer of feel-good batting so it can be ignored,
    Eric> then perhaps we do something else.

Well if it's about adjudicating pedagogy, then I should chime in with
"Norm's book helped me tremendously, as has Norm personally on the
several occasions when I emailed him with questions." I figured out
SGML and DocBook well before Norm's book came out, well before I
learned to program in fact. There are other SGML books, some of which
are rather practical. Those helped too.

As for actually setting up and installing the various permutations of
the free tool chain, I just don't see why it's *so* hard for someone
with a bit of technical ability or experience. Could it be *easier*?
Of course. But so could nearly every bit of free software I've ever
used. 

I started working with SGML on Linux in '96, well before anyone was
making nice RPM packages for it; maybe that's an advantage in a
perverse way? I'm not sure.

Best,
Kendall Clark