[Savannah-hackers] Savannah-User Documentation

[loic]

Pete writes:
 > Hi Loic 
 > I have mode some progress but not as much as I had hoped.

        Any kind of progress is very welcome ;-)

 >  I will attach and send this at your request( the new doc.)

        Please submit them as a patch to 
https://savannah.gnu.org/patch/?group_id=11
        I'll install them quickly.

 >  1/ Which docs on SourceForge need a new version on the Savannah site?

        I think most of the documentation related to the current services
available on Savannah (cvs, support, tasks, news, account maintainance, 
CVS/SSH) are needed. They do not need to be rewritten though, merely 
adapted to remove irrelevant references to things that are specificaly 
related to SourceForge.

 >      This first doc explains how to "get a project going" initially.
 >      I could see a place for a FAQ and/or an "About GNU and Savannah " page.
 >      (Mostly handled through links to GNU Philosophy and such.)

        That would be good, although it's probably the last documentation
you want to include because it requires a good understanding of what's going
on. You'll have a much better understanding of what Savannah provides and what
it will provide when you're finished with the simpler documents. 

 >  <quote>     <p>
 > There is no separate documentation for the usage of Savannah. The
 > documentation is included in the pages, at places where you are most
 > likely to need it. If you have trouble using CVS, for instance, go
 > to the CVS page for your project and read the instructions.
 > <p></quote>

        Once you're finished importing the relevant documentation this can
be replaced by a pointer to 'user documentation'.

 > 1a/I will generate a list of proposed documents if you like (for your 
 > thoughts)..

        Here is what I think we need (Y) and what we don't (N) and
what what I don't know for sure (?), extracted from
http://sourceforge.net/docman/?group_id=1

        . About SourceForge 

N                     VA Linux Affiliate Underground
N                     Description: Earn swag by displaying VA and Open Source 
banners
Y                     Software behind SourceForge
N (;-)                     Description: Open Source is a good thing
N                     SourceForge is Hiring
Y                     Frequently Asked Questions
N                     SourceForge Hardware Summary
N                     Sites Using SourceForge
Y                     SourceForge services

                 2. General Documentation 

N                     INTERNET EXPLORER USERS - PAGE NOT FOUND/DNS/SECURE 
CHANNEL ERRORS
(replace -> licences-list.html) Help Choosing an Open Source license
Y                     Submitting bugs
Y                     FAQ: How can I get my announcements posted on the main 
SourceForge.net site?
N                     Foundries for users and projects
N                     Foundries for admins
Y                     Getting started with SourceForge
N (because nobody will update it) Current SourceForge Service Status Report

                 3. Account Information 

Y                     Why can't I use TELNET and FTP to reach SourceForge hosts?
N                     Your SourceForge Email Address
Y (strip shell account)                     SSH Keys and CVS/Shell Accounts
Y                     HELP! I've lost my password!
N                     How do I use the compile farm?
Y                     SSH Key Fingerprints for SSH-able Hosts
Y                     SourceForge SSH HOWTO for Linux users

                 4. Project Administration 

Y                     Administering developers for your project
N (not availabe, will be rsync based) File Packages
N                     Making File Releases

                 5. Website Hosting Information 

N (not available) VHOST Services for SourceForge Projects
N                     Displaying the SourceForge logo on your web page
N (or pointer to using ftp.gnu.org)      Using anonymous FTP space
?                     Exporting project-related data to project homepages
N (not available)    Shell Server Service
?                     Project web sites and security

                 6. CVS - General Information 

Y                     Getting daily CVS snapshots
Y                     Importing existing CVS trees
Y                     SourceForge CVS HOWTO
Y                     Getting email from CVS
Y                     CVS/SSH FAQ

                 7. CVS - OS Specific Information 

Y                     Win32/CVS/SSH Guide
Y                     Win32/CVS/SSH HowTo
Y                     Win32/CVS/SSH addendum for WinCVS
Y                     SourceForge setup tool for CVS/SSH/Win32
Y                     CVS/SSH and OS/2
Y                     CVS and SSH on MacOS (prior to MacOS X)

                 8. Database Information 

N                     Scripting for your MySQL database
N                     How do I request a MySQL database for my project?
N                     How do I access my MySQL database?
N                     How do I change the password for my MySQL database user?

N                 9. SourceForge Development 
(I wrote some of those and they've not been updated since about a year). 

 I added this list for future reference at 
https://savannah.gnu.org/pm/task.php?func=detailtask&project_task_id=60&group_id=11&group_project_id=1.

 > 2/ I have made a boiler plate of the standard themed Savannah
 > Page.Given the amount of server side scripting involved I am a
 > little nervous about it working. Is there a template available?  If
 > not I ( or somebody) should probably build and test a new one for
 > general use.

        There is no template available, please post yours as a patch and
I'll included it. It will help.

 > I attempted to set up an aliased Savannah "server" (localhost only)
 > here but have found it will to be too great a time-waster (so far).

        True. 

 > 3/What is happening with the existing GNU site? Will it be moved to
 > Savannah ?

        No it will not.

 > 4/<important>If the site exists on CVS how do I get permission to write to 
 > it?</important>

        You mean, is Savannah under CVS or is www.gnu.org under CVS ? 

 > 5/Is Savannah going to stay with the themed look it has now or will
 > it be moved to the old GNU look ? (which is faster)

        There is no plan at present to change the look of Savannah. It 
could be your next assignement after the documentation, if you like ;-)

 > 6/Is there a mailing list for this type of work so that I can ask
 > lots of questions that probably seem really obvious to you right
 > now.(or at least search the archives ?)

        There is a private mailing list, yes. I'll add you asap as a 
member. 

 > 7/Would there be a place for a small project that set up a demo 
 > project/website/mailing-list/cvs
 > repository that walked people through the process?
 >      This would enable something like a manual to be built from user 
 > experiences and give
 >      "text book examples" (templates) for websites etc. Docs on Project 
 > management the open source way etc.
 >      It could be called something like Boiler-Plate or more romantically 
 > Zebra 
 >      because Zebras hang out with Gnus. :) (actually, I am making that up !)

        That would be a good idea. We can work that out immediately after
the basic documentation is imported (one thing at a time ;-).

        Thanks very much for your help,

-- 
Loic   Dachary         http://www.dachary.org/  address@hidden
24 av Secretan         http://www.senga.org/      address@hidden
75019    Paris         Tel: 33 1 42 45 09 16        address@hidden
        GPG Public Key: http://www.dachary.org/loic/gpg.txt