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Re: LDP bug-tracker


    
    Why do we need a bug-tracker?  It's nice to do this for software but for 
    documents I'm not so sure.  For software, a bug keeps some people (or 
    everyone) from using it.  For docs this is seldom the case.  For typos 
    and bad grammar one may usually figure out what was meant.  If there's an 
    error, someone can post the correct info on a newsgroup.  Thus there may 
    be a group of people who want to check a bug-tracking system to see if 
    a program is fixed so they can use it.  What people will be doing the 
    same for documents?
    
    A bug tracking system generally requires that the author post a message 
    stating the "bug" was fixed.  This may be a lot of unnecessary bother, 
    especially if all that was fixed was a typo or two.  I think that the 
    best system is for the author (or maintainer) to have a "mailto" url link 
    at the start of the howto.  Then anyone who finds an error or has 
    suggestions just clicks on it (if they are using a HTML browser) to 
    contact the author.
    
    With a bug-tracking system, this one-on-one interchange would not be 
    private anymore.  For software bugs it's often desirable to have a number 
    of people listening in since they may be able to figure out the cause of 
    the bug (or report other symptoms) and help fix it.  This is seldom the case 
    with docs.
    
    I think that since some documentation may be urgently needed, it's best to
    release it early before checking it over much.  If defects in documents
    are to be publicized, people might be less inclined to write howtos (and
    also less inclined to release it when they should).  Someone that wanted
    to critize an author could gather a lot of ammunition if a bug tracking
    system existed.
    
    What may be needed is someone that a reader can contact if he get's no 
    response from the author/maintainer within a resonable amount of time.
    Thus I don't think we should be looking into any bug-tracking system.
    There are much more important things to do.

			David Lawyer    


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