Reducing the Need for Documentation with Development
The need for documentation can be reduced at the development level.
Content Creation
There are a few different ways to obtain information for content creation. The scenario in this case is a new product, with no documentation at all.
- Work with engineers and SMEs to obtain information
- Understand the product, goals and outcomes
- Read business requirements or functional requirements documentation
- Stay up-to-date on new features or features not included in this release
- Draft Documentation
- Review process
Working with Developers
Similar to a writer who works with a Windows* team or developer to apply context sensitive help within an application, the Linux* writer can assist in packaging a deb, creating a man page, and even getting that deb package submitted to official repos for approval.
Additionally, you may want a PPA. This is part of the publishing process, and with the right content creator or technical author, your group can easily offer a variety of archive packages to the customers.
In fact, for Ubuntu* applications/tools/utilities, the documentation can be reduced to:
Install the deb package.
Currently, much Linux* documentation instructs the audience/reader to work at the command line, one command at a time with the instruct set. This can be eliminated in several different ways.
- Offer a deb package.
- Get your software into the repo.
- Provide a PPA, users can apt install the application and get updates.
- Provide a file with a script with the instructions to run the commands at once. The instructions can assist readers understand what is being done.
- Create a GUI for those who are not familiar with Linux* commands.
Create A Simple GUI
There are many ways to create a simple GUI for bash or python.
Try:
- yad
- zenity
- tkinter
- pyqt
In the case of one simple script, creating a deb package in the standard format accepted by Debian takes only a few minutes.
Create a Deb Package
According to the Debian* wiki, creating a Debian package is not that hard. I agree! Here is a link to the Debian instructions:
Reminder: Only packages that are compliant with Debian policy will be accepted into the archive. Manually constructed binary packages (.deb) that are not built from a source package will never be accepted.
If you have any questions, ask a GNU Linux* Content Creator!
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