I have been getting a series of Tweets regarding Installation Documentation and while I am Doc Manager, this is not an area I have ever really focused on (nor do I have much experience with it). I wanted to share these with you all in case you know how to resolve some of the issues in question. -------- bigbrovar Bobby: if there is one thing #koha needs desperately its documentation. just watched 3 weeks of work go down the drain due to bad docs :( nengard Nicole Engard @bigbrovar I'd be interested in what documentation you were using and what you found bad about it ... #koha bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard http://is.gd/h1Bhg I think it could be more detailed. lots of assumptions that the users is skilled in koha bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard we have a solidly working koha 3.0.6 on ubuntu 8.04 which I installed from source because the docs was top notch. bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard another missing gap from this doc http://is.gd/h7vh6 is the lack of info on the koha commands koha-create etc no man pages nothing bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard also after I create a koha instances with koha-create who do I log and setup the instance? nothing is said about that. its really bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard documentation and frankly a waste of time. Koha could really do with a better documentation. which I could help but knowledge is bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard very limited. another day another debian server install due to incomplete docs. is there a good docs on how to install from src? bigbrovar Bobby: anyone knows a good docs on how to setup #koha 3.2 on linux (ubuntu/debian) the current doc http://is.gd/h7vh6 is so incomplete Thanks Nicole
On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 8:04 AM, Nicole Engard <nengard@gmail.com> wrote:
I have been getting a series of Tweets regarding Installation Documentation and while I am Doc Manager, this is not an area I have ever really focused on (nor do I have much experience with it). I wanted to share these with you all in case you know how to resolve some of the issues in question.
--------
bigbrovar Bobby: if there is one thing #koha needs desperately its documentation. just watched 3 weeks of work go down the drain due to bad docs :(
The appropriate INSTALL.<your-platform-goes-here> files included in every tarball and in the source work just fine. As an aside: The first place one should look for installation docs is in the tarball they download since this is the standard location for them. It should also be noted that we do not provide support for the installation of a particular platform. (Which has been expected of late.) Why a botched install of Koha would require a complete re-installation of the entire platform I'm not sure.... Kind Regards, Chris
Hi, On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 8:04 AM, Nicole Engard <nengard@gmail.com> wrote:
bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard another missing gap from this doc http://is.gd/h7vh6 is the lack of info on the koha commands koha-create etc no man pages nothing
It appears that the user is trying to install via the Debian package, not from source, so the INSTALL.debian in the tarball wouldn't apply. This is the first time I've heard of somebody having quite this much trouble installing the package, but for what it's worth, documentation for it can be found at: http://wiki.koha-community.org/wiki/Debian I gather from the tweets that the user has already seen that page, but I'm with Chris N. in not understanding why the user feels it is necessary to completely reinstall his Debian server. Ultimately, the best thing might be for somebody to shoulder surf and see what's happening, but as that may or may not happen, I hope somebody else trying the Debian package will be able to provide more specific feedback that can be usefully acted on. Regards, Galen -- Galen Charlton gmcharlt@gmail.com
From what I see as a part-time librarian; people do not read well and have no patience.
For what it's worth; I started with Koha from version 2.2.7, now installing/upgrading to 3.2, and the Installation Docs have been my trusted ally for installing or upgrading. Running Debian Etch, I am quite happy with the install documents. Most questions arise when something goes awry, but this group has always been very helpful if I cannot find things in other places. that's my 5 cents worth, Marty
Nicole Engard pasted:
bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard http://is.gd/h1Bhg I think it could be more detailed. lots of assumptions that the users is skilled in koha
That is.gd URL is the wiki page "Koha 3.2 on Debian Squeeze" where the draft packages are being discussed.
bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard we have a solidly working koha 3.0.6 on ubuntu 8.04 which I installed from source because the docs was top notch.
Well, those same "top notch" docs are updated for Koha 3.2 and still available if you install from the main releases, though. The packages are another option, not a replacement.
bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard another missing gap from this doc http://is.gd/h7vh6 is the lack of info on the koha commands koha-create etc no man pages nothing
Again, that is.gd link is the same wiki page. I think everything will have to have man pages before the packages leave draft state. So, really, this is because someone has switched from using the official releases to using the in-development packages and seems to overreact to any problem during installation by nuking the whole thing from orbit. I'm not sure it's telling us anything we didn't know: the packages and related instructions aren't polished for prime-time yet, but some people might find them useful. The release notes http://koha-community.org/koha-3-2-0/ links to the tar.gz releases and not the packages yet. Hope that helps, -- MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op. Past Koha Release Manager (2.0), LMS programmer, statistician, webmaster. In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Available for hire for Koha work http://www.software.coop/products/koha
Thanks all, I pointed him to the mailing list - so hopefully he's here reading your responses. NIcole On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 10:23 AM, MJ Ray <mjr@phonecoop.coop> wrote:
Nicole Engard pasted:
bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard http://is.gd/h1Bhg I think it could be more detailed. lots of assumptions that the users is skilled in koha
That is.gd URL is the wiki page "Koha 3.2 on Debian Squeeze" where the draft packages are being discussed.
bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard we have a solidly working koha 3.0.6 on ubuntu 8.04 which I installed from source because the docs was top notch.
Well, those same "top notch" docs are updated for Koha 3.2 and still available if you install from the main releases, though. The packages are another option, not a replacement.
bigbrovar Bobby: @nengard another missing gap from this doc http://is.gd/h7vh6 is the lack of info on the koha commands koha-create etc no man pages nothing
Again, that is.gd link is the same wiki page. I think everything will have to have man pages before the packages leave draft state.
So, really, this is because someone has switched from using the official releases to using the in-development packages and seems to overreact to any problem during installation by nuking the whole thing from orbit. I'm not sure it's telling us anything we didn't know: the packages and related instructions aren't polished for prime-time yet, but some people might find them useful. The release notes http://koha-community.org/koha-3-2-0/ links to the tar.gz releases and not the packages yet.
Hope that helps, -- MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op. Past Koha Release Manager (2.0), LMS programmer, statistician, webmaster. In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Available for hire for Koha work http://www.software.coop/products/koha _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list http://koha-community.org Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
participants (5)
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Chris Nighswonger -
Galen Charlton -
Marty -
MJ Ray -
Nicole Engard