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<a href="http://www.gentoo.org/" title="Gentoo Linux Home Page"> |
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[<b><a href="http://www.gentoo.org/">Gentoo Linux Home</a></b>] |
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[<b><a href="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/glep">GLEP Index</a></b>] |
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[<b><a href="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/glep/glep-0051.txt">GLEP Source</a></b>] |
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<col class="field-name" /> |
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<tbody valign="top"> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">GLEP:</th><td class="field-body">51</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Title:</th><td class="field-body">Gentoo Knowledge Base</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Version:</th><td class="field-body">1.2</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Last-Modified:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference" href="http://www.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/xml/htdocs/proj/en/glep/glep-0051.txt?cvsroot=gentoo">2007/03/26 10:27:50</a></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Author:</th><td class="field-body">Sven Vermeulen <swift at gentoo.org>,</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Status:</th><td class="field-body">Withdrawn</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Type:</th><td class="field-body">Standards Track</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Content-Type:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference" href="glep-0002.html">text/x-rst</a></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Created:</th><td class="field-body">30-May-2006</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Post-History:</th><td class="field-body">26-Mar-2007</td> |
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</tr> |
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</tbody> |
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</table> |
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<hr /> |
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<div class="contents topic"> |
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<p class="topic-title first"><a id="contents" name="contents">Contents</a></p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#abstract" id="id2" name="id2">Abstract</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#motivation" id="id3" name="id3">Motivation</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#requirements" id="id4" name="id4">Requirements</a><ul> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#search-functionality" id="id5" name="id5">Search functionality</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#content-definition" id="id6" name="id6">Content definition</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#feedback-system" id="id7" name="id7">Feedback system</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#topic-maintenance-system" id="id8" name="id8">Topic maintenance system</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#license" id="id9" name="id9">License</a></li> |
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</ul> |
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</li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#frameworks" id="id10" name="id10">Frameworks</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#copyright" id="id11" name="id11">Copyright</a></li> |
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</ul> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id2" id="abstract" name="abstract">Abstract</a></h1> |
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<p>To improve the self-healing abilities of the Gentoo users, we have to offer a |
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repository with specific solutions to specific issues and quick answers to |
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common questions which aren't global enough to fit within a Gentoo Documentation |
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Guide. Such a repository can be offered by a Gentoo Knowledge Base.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id3" id="motivation" name="motivation">Motivation</a></h1> |
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<p>When we look at the software projects today, we find that information has |
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broadened beyond documentation and the detail level has deepend to an almost |
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individual, precise answer for every question. It is no longer reasonable to |
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suggest that documentation is sufficient to succesfully aide users with |
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exploring the world of software use. Documentation is a (and perhaps even the |
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most) powerful tool to guide users through complex topics. Yet documentation |
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mainly focuses on a large reader base. Whenever topics become too detailed, they |
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become difficult to fit inside a certain hierarchical structure.</p> |
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<p>Such a structure is required by users who need to find documentation quickly. A |
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major help is, of course, a search feature that spans all documentation. |
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However, when hundreds of (seemingly similar yet different) topics are |
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available, many search technologies fail. Natural language queries often express |
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more details than a regular, boolean expression, but not that many search |
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technologies allow such queries.</p> |
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<p>The Gentoo Knowledge Base is an effort to extend the information Gentoo delivers |
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with precise answers to specific questions. Each topic in the repository must be |
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owned by at least one knowledgeable developer, written in a structured manner |
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and should leave no room for different interpretations. General topics must |
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provide direct links to the documentation.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id4" id="requirements" name="requirements">Requirements</a></h1> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id5" id="search-functionality" name="search-functionality">Search functionality</a></h2> |
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<p>As one of the major features of a good Knowledge Base, the search engine used |
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should allow for natural language queries as those are easier for people to |
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use. However, clear cut 'n paste queries should also prove to be very |
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effective as many questions rise from error messages.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id6" id="content-definition" name="content-definition">Content definition</a></h2> |
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<p>The topics with the most content would be the issue-type topics who describe a |
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certain error and inform the user about the resolution. To make sure these |
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issues are specific enough (not "how do I fix a build fault") they must |
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describe the following aspects thoroughly:</p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li>The <em>title</em> describes the issue well enough for most users to quickly find |
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out if the topic is of interest for them or not. It is also displayed in |
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the search results</li> |
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<li>The <em>synopsis</em> gives more detail about the error, such as the full error |
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message, commands that triggered it or the (mis)behavior of a specific |
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command</li> |
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<li>The <em>environment</em> informs the user when the topic applies. If the users' |
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environment doesn't match this one, the topic isn't valid for him.</li> |
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<li>In the <em>analysis</em> section, the cause of the error is considered in great |
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detail to discover the essential flaw that triggered the error. It serves |
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as an information section for the user to comprehend what went wrong.</li> |
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<li>To fix the error, the <em>resolution</em> section guides the user through the |
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necessary steps to resolve the issue.</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p>A second type of queries would be small (but interesting) FAQs. These answers |
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are short and precise, most of the time one or two paragraphs.</p> |
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<p>Although several topics will be Gentoo specific, we will not limit ourselves |
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to this. However, we do not add topics that are specific to non-Gentoo |
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distributions.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id7" id="feedback-system" name="feedback-system">Feedback system</a></h2> |
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<p>The knowledge base should allow for user feedback. Feedback such as "Does this |
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answer your question?" is invaluable to improve the search results whereas |
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"Mark this topic as outdated" helps us keep the knowledge base in good shape.</p> |
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<p>We might want to consider allowing user comments too: they can add priceless |
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information to the topic, allowing the maintainer of the topic to update it |
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with more accurate information.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id8" id="topic-maintenance-system" name="topic-maintenance-system">Topic maintenance system</a></h2> |
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<p>Each topic should be maintained by a knowledgeable developer. The system must |
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allow the developer to watch his topics and update them when needed. Of |
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course, topics related to specific herds should be maintainable by the team |
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responsible for the herd.</p> |
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<p>Although not required, revision history would be great :-)</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id9" id="license" name="license">License</a></h2> |
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<p>The content of the knowledge base should be public domain. Everything large |
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enough to warrant a different license shouldn't be in the knowledge base |
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anyway.</p> |
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</div> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id10" id="frameworks" name="frameworks">Frameworks</a></h1> |
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<p>Based on the requirements, one or more frameworks will be chosen. These should |
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of course be free software projects; if we can't find any set of frameworks |
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that adheres to the requirements, the knowledge base project should build one |
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up until the requirements are met.</p> |
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<p>We currently do not have any technical requirements on the frameworks, but at |
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the end the knowledge base should be hosted on official Gentoo hardware and |
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maintained by the Infrastructure project. As such, the Infrastructure project |
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has final saying on the frameworks used in the knowledge base.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id11" id="copyright" name="copyright">Copyright</a></h1> |
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<p>This document has been placed in the public domain.</p> |
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</div> |
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</div> |
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<hr class="footer" /> |
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<a class="reference" href="glep-0051.txt">View document source</a>. |
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