Re: Ok, http://gperiodic.seul.org exists

[Doug Loss <dloss@csrlink.net>]

Malonowa wrote:
> 
> jim@mercury.laney.edu wrote:
> 
> > Actually, yes. There are two things you can do:
> >  2) write a man page (I have a sample if you dont know nroff; makes it easy)
> 
> Man pages are not teacher or student friendly. Produce a good HTML manual which
> covers the programs features - as one usually does. Then add sections covering
> the programs usage in the classroom - Lesson ideas etc.
> 
Man pages may not be teacher or student friendly, but they are generally
a requirement for Linux or Unix software.  You should always produce at
least one man page.  An HTML manual in addition is of course a very good
idea.  The program's usage in the classroom is something that both the
software authors and the educators who test it will have to come up
with; it's sort of a chicken and egg problem--how do you cover a
programs classroom usage until it's actually been used in the classroom?

> Remember that teachers are not computing experts and therefore more often than
> not require education on how to implement a software package effectively.
> 
This is exactly what the Educational HOWTOs are intended to address.  It
occurs to me (at least in part because of Roman's critiques) that
calling them Educational HOWTOs may give the wrong impression, that they
will take the form of the Linux Documentation Project's HOWTOs.  Perhaps
we should call them Implementation Guides, or (how does Sun put it)
Answer Books.

> I think this goes for all software that SEUL is involved in as well. You need to
> get your projects up to a commercial standard for them to be useful and for
> people in the world to sit up and notice your work.
> 
I'm unclear on what this commercial standard is.  seul-edu isn't going
to become an alternative production and distribution organization
equivalent to say, Davidson and Associates.  I rather think of us as the
equivalent to an "in-house" software development team, just with a very
large house.

-- 
Doug Loss                 A life spent making mistakes is not only
Data Network Coordinator  more honorable, but more useful than a
Bloomsburg University     life spent doing nothing.
dloss@bloomu.edu                G. B. Shaw