ServerGuide reviewers needed

[Ahmed Kamal]

On 08/22/2011 09:09 PM, Scott Kitterman wrote:
> On Monday, August 22, 2011 02:51:31 PM Paul wrote:
>> On 08/22/2011 04:00 AM, Scott Kitterman wrote:
>>> On Monday, August 22, 2011 08:21:35 AM Ahmed Kamal wrote:
>>>> On 08/21/2011 09:31 PM, Paul Graydon wrote:
>>>>> On 08/17/2011 06:33 AM, Ahmed Kamal wrote:
>>>>>> Hi folks,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As you know Adam the maintainer of the serverguide had stepped down.
>>>>>> I'm trying to assemble a team of server oriented folks who are
>>>>>> interested in reviewing the Ubuntu server guide (making sure all the
>>>>>> info inside is fresh and accurate), this is only part of it, the team
>>>>>> would also work on creating a fresh chapter on UbuntuCloud
>>>>>> (openstack+orchestra+Ensemble).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you are interested, please raise your hand
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>> Hi Ahmed,
>>>>>
>>>>> Is there a general idea of what level we ought to be aiming the
>>>>> documentation at?  There is a bunch of things that could be added to
>>>>> the MySQL section, for example, without turning it into a full on
>>>>> MySQL Guide (unless that's what we're aiming at?).  Currently it's
>>>>> focussed along the lines of 'this is how you install it, start it and
>>>>> a couple of minor tweaks'.  It could be filled out with brief
>>>>> discussion of the different storage engines provided by the packages,
>>>>> their strengths and weaknesses etc.  The approach seems to vary
>>>>> between different sections of the documentation, and even within the
>>>>> same chapter.  It would seem in general that the database section is
>>>>> woefully lacking in detail compared to other chapters.
>>>>>
>>>>> Paul
>>>> Hi everyone,
>>>>
>>>> So I got two questions that I'd like to answer publicly
>>>>
>>>> 1- What is our deadline
>>>> 2- What is the depth needed for the review
>>>>
>>>> My answer is
>>>>
>>>> 1- I'm no docs expert, but I checked and Oneiric "documentation string
>>>> freeze" is Sep 15th. Allowing for 10 days for merge proposal
>>>> discussions, we would have only *two weeks* starting today (22Aug-5Sep)
>>>> to get all the content you would like to review in a "ready to merge"
>>>> state from your perspective. As you can see this is not a lot of time,
>>>> so your prompt help is needed
>>> Documentation string freeze is for documentation shipped in the archive.
>>> A few release cycles ago we removed the ubuntu-serverguide package and
>>> the guide is provided via help.ubuntu.com now, so we should have more
>>> time.  That doesn't mean people shouldn't start working now, but it's
>>> not yet critical.
>> So I should be okay for making some major changes to the chapter?  If
>> we're focussed on short term there are just a few small changes to make
>> that I could do in about 5 minutes at lunchtime and commit.  I should be
>> able to get the MySQL section sorted in greater detail within about a
>> week, maybe two at the outside.  Postgresql will take me longer as I'm
>> unfamiliar with it, but it's been something I've been meaning to learn
>> (however if someone else wants to run with it, let me know.)
> I think the first priority should still be to verify the current content is
> correct for 11.10/Oneiric and to address bugs the people have filed.  We do
> have time for more than that however.
>
> It's difficult to find a correct balance between "Here's how to do it in a good,
> reliable way that works on Ubuntu, but it's only suitable for very narrow use
> cases" and "Oops, just replicated the upstream documentation and confused new
> people."
>
> I think some thoughts on different storage engines, why one might pick different
> ones, and how to get each going on Ubuntu would be useful with pointers to
> upstream documentation on the details of each.
>
> I always like it when someone comes into #ubuntu-server and asks for help,
> "I've been try to X based on random internet HOWTO Y and it doesn't work", I
> point them at the server guide and say "Do it this way and let me know if you
> have problems" and they either don't come back or come back to say "That
> worked, thanks".  If you're into MySQL, you probably have a better idea of
> what X is than I do and you should just go tackle it.
>
> Scott K
>
Thanks Scott, well put

And just to re-iterate, now that we're not bound by the doc string 
freeze, we do have a little more time (a little over 6 weeks) till 
Oneiric is released. So kindly use the time to review/update the docs, 
and to add any missing important information (to me that would be second 
priority however). Use your best judgment whether or not a piece of info 
should go to the serverguide

Thanks again for everyone who volunteered .. can't wait to see those 
merge proposals :)