Re: [stella] FAQ draft proposal

Subject: Re: [stella] FAQ draft proposal
From: Russ Perry Jr <slapdash@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 08:14:36 -0500
At 12:06 AM -0700 5/16/00, Glenn Saunders wrote:
>At 10:56 PM 5/15/00 -0500, Russ wrote:
>>Given what you've said, may I point out how ideal HTML can be for a
>>project like this...

>I think as far as a raw databank, yes, but we have to decide on the
>scope of this thing otherwise it should go in two totally different
>directions...

Scope and content and presentation should be somewhat separate of
what we present it VIA.

>Do we all want to have something that reads like a book, or something
>that is merely a browse and search engine through existing data?
>
>Not that the two are mutually exclusive, certainly we can do both,

Essentially what I meant.  We can do whatever we want with it in HTML
and leave it pretty open for others to read, rather than relying on
any formats that might leave some people out of the loop.

>but I was really hoping for something that reads like De Re Atari or
>Mapping the Atari or, for a modern analogy, an O'Reilly's text-book.

I'm not familiar with O'Reilly's, but the text book analogy isn't a
bad one.

>Something whose purpose is to educate, with code samples, lessons,
>and a flow from easy to hard, with various appendices (which would
>be where the compilation stuff came in) in the rear.

With HTML broken down into multiple chapters this way, you can
certainly do it this way, but can also link chapters with similar
content together.  Tutorial path, thematic path, whatever.

>I think that such a book would be a lot more convenient because
>it carries the reader through its linear flow from novice to expert,
>whereas presenting a raw interface to data forces the novice to fend
>for himself.

You can MAKE the book in HTML, and guide the reader through it
the way you describe.  Or are you saying you eventually want to
publish such a book?  :-)
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