Another rant

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Fri, 17 Nov 2017 08:46:27 -0500, Tom H wrote:
>I always wonder how Arch does it (and why others can't). Its wiki's
>comprehensive and up to date. It's a rolling distribution so it
>doesn't have to account for older releases. But I doubt that it's the
>only reason.

Some Arch Wiki pages are as outdated and/or weak as some Ubuntu Wiki
pages. However, the major target group of Arch users is different to
the major target group of Ubuntu flavour users. The quality of both
Wikis is similar good. The Arch Wiki often is more detailed, since
setting up Arch Linux requires more knowledge about lower level basics.
The averaged Arch user knows how to build Arch packages, the averaged
Ubuntu user usually doesn't.

Most major distros, including Ubuntu, follow a different policy, than
Arch does.

"User centrality

Whereas many GNU/Linux distributions attempt to be more user-friendly,
Arch Linux has always been, and shall always remain user-centric. The
distribution is intended to fill the needs of those contributing to it,
rather than trying to appeal to as many users as possible. It is
targeted at the proficient GNU/Linux user, or anyone with a
do-it-yourself attitude who is willing to read the documentation, and
solve their own problems.

All users are encouraged to participate and contribute to the
distribution. Reporting and helping fix bugs is highly valued and
patches improving packages or the core projects are very appreciated:
Arch's developers are volunteers and active contributors will often
find themselves becoming part of that team. Archers can freely
contribute packages to the Arch User Repository, improve the ArchWiki
documentation, provide technical assistance to others or just exchange
opinions in the forums, mailing lists, or IRC channels. Arch Linux is
the operating system of choice for many people around the globe, and
there exist several international communities that offer help and
provide documentation in many different languages." -
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux#User_centrality

For example, I wouldn't call the Ubuntu bug tracker a bug tracker. It's
hard to participate, if you know how to report bugs without using
software and if you don't want to do it using software. I wouldn't call
a Wiki, where you need to wait days, before you become a member of the
documentation team a Wiki.

The attitude is completely different to the Archers attitude.