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On Sat, Jul 12, 2003 at 06:13:03AM -0400, Daniel Veillard wrote:This is all true, but Scot seemed to focussed on the authoring activity. Most of the benefits that you list -- and they are real -- come in at what I call the design and management levels, and with respect to the sub-document (or content) and publication processes. I didn't see him being primarily concerned about those aspects.
Again, sorry for the rant,If you can't understand the framework, then don't. You don't have to learn
<snip/> Scot, the XML stuff, and the available free tools currently, *are* hard to use. The relevant syntax *is* obscure, and the multitude of related standards is confusing. But the question you should ask yourself is this: "Would things be better without using the current standard stuff such as XML and XSLT etc. ?".
I think the answer here is a clear "no". Use of the current technologies and standards is a *major* benefit for DocBook users. This is simply because the use of open, well-defined standards incurs all the usual benefits. All the tools can agree on what format files should be in. People conversant with the technologies can easily handle all the nasty details, instead of re-learning them for some "simplified DocBook XMLish" and associated tools. Standard tools can work with these documents. Documents can be exchanged in the surety they will be inter-operable. The information is well-structured and clearly defined. Documents in these standard formats can be handled in a very flexible and extendible manner.
I think he should also be asking himself "how much do I need to know to professionally, responsibly or reliably use this system?" If his questions are other than hypothetical, they tell me that he hasn't yet come to terms with the fact that there is a lot of theory -- no matter how convenient, well-wrapped or hidden the details -- that must be understood to use an XML system and DocBook in particular.I think all you are really asking for is more usable tools. I don't think anybody would deny that the current toolset is relatively immature in terms of "polish".
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