Platform FAQs

Peter Eisentraut wrote:

I would like to integrate the platform FAQs into the installation
instructions, into a new section "Platform-specific Notes". That way it
would be more convenient both to find and to maintain that information.
Comments?

Sure. They are changed very rarely. The only issue is the main FAQ,
which does get translated into different languages.

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Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> writes:

I would like to integrate the platform FAQs into the installation
instructions, into a new section "Platform-specific Notes". That way it
would be more convenient both to find and to maintain that information.
Comments?

IIRC, some of the platform FAQs contain some material that doesn't
really fit under installation instructions; will you also be adding
platform-specific notes in the regression test discussion and perhaps
other places?

I like the platform FAQ arrangement because it's simple to whip out
a new platform FAQ based on notes from a port developer. It's also
easy for someone using a platform to find all the platform-specific
material they need to know. I'm not sure that moving the info into
the already-massive SGML docs would really be a step forward.

regards, tom lane

Tom Lane writes:

IIRC, some of the platform FAQs contain some material that doesn't
really fit under installation instructions; will you also be adding
platform-specific notes in the regression test discussion and perhaps
other places?

To the extent that they do not simply say "there may be differences" when
we know very well that there aren't and shouldn't be any differences, yes.
The only legitimate issue I know of is the ordering problem on IRIX.

I like the platform FAQ arrangement because it's simple to whip out
a new platform FAQ based on notes from a port developer.

Yes, it's simple to whip out a new document and then forget about it.
Most of the information is simply redundant, vague, or no longer documents
the preferred methods, and these files encourage documenting problems
rather than fixing them.

It's also easy for someone using a platform to find all the
platform-specific material they need to know. I'm not sure that moving
the info into the already-massive SGML docs would really be a step
forward.

We left that route some time ago. Documentation about configuring kernel
resources is now in the Admin Guide, and it's at least as easy to find it
there if you're thinking of "configuring" your server instead of "hmm, I'm
configuring, so maybe that is a platform-specific issue". By the same
token, if I'm thinking of installing I would read the installation
instructions and I might expect to find relevant information there,
independent of whether it's platform-dependent, which the user wouldn't
know anyway.

I'll start with merging the redundant information and then see how it
goes.

--
Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net

Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net> writes:

Tom Lane writes:

I like the platform FAQ arrangement because it's simple to whip out
a new platform FAQ based on notes from a port developer.

Yes, it's simple to whip out a new document and then forget about it.

True :-(. Well, give it a shot and see how you like the results ...

regards, tom lane