[Slackdocs] Native TeX Live integration tutorial

David Allen david.a58 at optusnet.com.au
Sat Dec 1 02:09:33 CET 2012


On 01/12/12 06:57, Marcin Herda wrote:
> On 30/11/12 18:33, Seb wrote:
>> Le Thu, 29 Nov 2012 20:48:16 +0000
>> Marcin Herda a écrit:
>>
>>> I am not sure if other people share my view here but I think that a 
>>> wiki
>>> article should be rather factual and dry. It's not written to entertain
>>> us but to provide steps to complete a task. At least that's my
>>> understanding and that's how other articles have been written so far.
>>> Can I here ask other editors/admins to express their views on the
>>> subject? If that's just me, my apologies for being a pain in the back.
>> Sorry for the tone, it's the one I usually adopt when writing docs in
>> French and this was never raised before (I'm not trying to argue --
>> editing policy's editing policy). Reading the style guide, my
>> intention was to be friendly rather than sloppy.
>>
>> I've attempted to fix the problematic sequences you've pointed out.
>> I've sweated a bit on the conclusion (I could have wiped it out as it
>> is visibly done in many howtos, but then I can't prevent me from
>> feeling the whole text guillotined)... ;)
>>
>> ++
>> Seb.
>>
>
> Hi Seb,
>
> There's no need to be sorry for anything. Your howto is far from being 
> sloppy. It's just that while each writer inevitably follows their own 
> unique writing style (which is a good thing), there should still be 
> some common stylistic guidelines that authors adhere to. Admittedly, 
> at the moment, this very point does not seem to be mentioned anywhere 
> in the wiki guidelines. I'll raise this topic to avoid future 
> misunderstandings.
>
> Regards,
> Marcin
>
Personally, I like this comment on the discussion tab of Eric's multilib 
article.
' No need for a style guide on docs.slackware.com. Just tell all folks: 
“Try to write like Eric” '

I do agree that too informal a tone is to be avoided. It can lead to the 
use of expressions that may be difficult to translate into other 
languages. Also, some readers may actually be put off by the attempt to 
be more engaging, viewing it as an indication of sloppiness and lack of 
care in writing.

Regards,
David




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