Re: hurd.gnu.org site construction project

[Marcus Brinkmann]

At Thu, 5 Apr 2001 00:37:29 -0700,
Jim Franklin wrote:
>  Jeff Bailey and myself are in the process of putting a hurd.gnu.org site
> construction project into high gear. Jeff will handle admin with the gnu.org
> folks and I will be building web pages and handle the admin duties with the
> hurd community if that develops.

I think I have something useful to comment on that matter, as I am the
one who wrote the current web page.

We had different versions of the Hurd web page in the past, and
nothing worked very well.  This is not to discourage you, but to give
some idea how things developed.  In particular, I found the following
problems:

* Nobody bothered to update the web pages.
* People put all sort of random, bogus and wrong information on the
  web pages.
* In particular, some information that was technically correct but
  aged very quickly was put on the web pages, while nobody fixed it
  later.
* The web pages were completely unbalanced.  Important information was
  missing, while they were crammed with totally useless details.
* In particular, there were random notes about future ideas, links to
  other projects, and bugs, while the important information was missing.

I know that this list sounds like a rant, rather than anything else,
but the important point is that the web pages were unbalanced, quickly
out of date, and mostly useless at any point in time.

The current web pages are also rarely updated.  However, they have the
advantage that they don't get out of date quickly either.  The
installation section needs some updated, because of Jeff's cross
installation package and the CD Roms.  Things changed around that
area.  Most other information is still very accurate.  It is just
enough to get a newbie started.  It doesn't give a developer or
wannabe developer any information he needs, but fact is that we don't
have the resources among the core developers to answer all possible
questions in advance.

I am not aware of anything you arranged with Jeff Bailey, which
surprises me a bit.  But then, I have not followed the lists too
closely in the last weeks (first because of my studies, then because
of hardware problems).  In any way, I am highly looking forward to
active work in this area, but I have my reservations.  I definitely
want to take a look at anything that wants to replace the current
page, to ensure that it not just replaces it, but can superceed it.

Maintaining a web site can become a permanent burden.  I want to
repeat that the current web page is designed to not become a permanent
burden.  This is why it compromises in scope.  I'd of course love to
see a better web site, however, whoever wants to do that must keep in
mind that there is probably little help he will receive.

Now, if that couldn't discourage you, you have probably enough steam
to make it real.  More power to you!

Thanks,
Marcus