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  2. <rant>the current yocto FAQ is pretty much valueless</rant>

Re: <rant>the current yocto FAQ is pretty much valueless</rant>

Rifenbark, Scott M <scott.m.rifenbark@...>
 

Thanks all - I enjoyed the rant. The obvious point is that the FAQ needs attention. A good thing to do would be if you have a question that you would like included in a "good" FAQ, such as the one mentioned by Robert about how to add a single package, put the question up on this list or actually submit a patch to the list. As this little discussion thread noted, the FAQ was initially created when the project launched and I think much of it revolved around trying to answer the general "What the hell is Yocto anyway" question. I think we have moved into a "how do I do this" type of phase now and the FAQ should have more of those types of entries. That is not to say that questions about the Yocto Project in general should be deleted.

I will put some attention on the FAQ to try and inject a bit of value into it.

Thanks,
Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: yocto-bounces@... [mailto:yocto-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Koen Kooi
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 4:30 AM
To: Robert P.J.Day
Cc: Yocto discussion list
Subject: Re: [yocto] <rant>the current yocto FAQ is pretty much valueless</rant>


Op 26 jun. 2012, om 11:09 heeft Robert P. J. Day het volgende geschreven:


i mentioned this to scott rifenbark privately a few days ago, but i
figured i might as well antagonize a few people on the list by saying
it publicly -- the yocto FAQ as it stands is pretty much worthless.

https://wiki.yoctoproject.org/wiki/FAQ

by way of explanation, i'll reproduce the first part of the superb
foreword in the subversion red book:

===== start =====

A bad Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sheet is one that is composed
not of the questions people actually ask, but of the questions the
FAQ's author wishes people would ask. Perhaps you've seen the type
before:

Q: How can I use Glorbosoft XYZ to maximize team productivity?

A: Many of our customers want to know how they can maximize
productivity through our patented office groupware innovations. The
answer is simple. First, click on the File menu, scroll down to
Increase Productivity, then...

The problem with such FAQs is that they are not, in a literal sense,
FAQs at all. No one ever called the tech support line and asked, "How
can we maximize productivity?" Rather, people asked highly specific
questions, such as "How can we change the calendaring system to send
reminders two days in advance instead of one?" and so on. But it's a
lot easier to make up imaginary Frequently Asked Questions than it is
to discover the real ones.

===== end =====

in other words, a *good* FAQ might be:

"how can i use the yocto prebuilt toolchains to save build time?"

a *bad* FAQ would be:

"Does the Yocto Project have a special governance model, or is it
managed as an open source project?"

the kicker is that that last question is, in fact, in the yocto FAQ,
along with a number of other questions that have never been asked by
anyone in the history of the planet. i chat about yocto with people
on a regular basis, and i can assure you, not a single one of them has
ever asked, "hey, rob, can you explain yocto's governance model?"

no, what they ask is, "hey, rob, how can i add a single package to
an existing target?" a question that, i should point out, is not
answered definitively in the existing docs *anywhere*.
I'm afraid you have fallen into the yocto trap of confusing the umbrella project with the buildsystem project under that umbrella. There's an easy way to find out, everytime you hear someone state 'yocto' you just ask:

'Do you mean "yocto" or do you mean "poky"?'.

The reaction to that can go a few ways and the follow up actions I recommend:

1) People don't get the question and/or don't know the difference between 'yocto' and 'poky'. Pretend you have a nosebleed and walk away, fast
2) People say "Right, I meant the buildsystem, not the umbrella project" or "No, I really meant 'yocto' as the umbrella project". Continue the conversation.
3) People say "Koen put you up to this, didn't he?". You're most likely talking to Dave or Saul, buy them lunch :)

regards,

Koen
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