question about KDE versions

[Louis Hinman]

I am currently running Slackware 12.2, which incorporates KDE 3.5.10.  
Slackware 12. 2 has in the last month or so been superseded by Slackware
13.0, which incoporates KDE 4.2.4.

KDE 3.5.10 is my first experience with a Linux desktop environment, and I am
very impressed with it.  However, I have noticed that the application manuals
are frequently out of sync with the versions.  Sometimes these discrepancies
are minor, but the tutorial in KWord is not really usable, because it differs
substanially from the KWord version in 3.5.10.

To be sure, 3.5.10 is an old version.  (The Slackware team seems to be quite
conservative in this regard.)

Questions:

If I were to upgrade to KDE 4.2.4, would I find the manuals better conformed
to versions?

What about later versions?

In general, is there a sound basis for the conservatism of the Slackware on
this particular score?

Thanks & Best Regards,

Lou
New York City





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[Duncan-2]

Louis Hinman posted on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:28:53 -0400 as excerpted:

> If I were to upgrade to KDE 4.2.4, would I find the manuals better
> conformed to versions?

Some better, some worse.  One of the things Linux has problems with is
outdated documentation.  The generally agreed reason is that it's not as
much fun to write documentation as it is to code new features or even to
fix bugs, so it tends not to get done very quickly, and when it does,
it's soon outdated.

kde4 does tend to have more upto date documentation... where it has it.  
But a lot of it simply isn't there yet.  And in other cases, the old and
now even /worse/ outdated documentation was just carried forward, tho in
my experience that's for the non-kde-core apps.

Of course, one thing users who can't code can help with is the
documentation.  If you'd like, and have the time to contribute, Anne can
probably get you hooked up with the right people to get started.  
Alternatively, on the "What's this?" features in kde4, if they're not
described yet, there's a link you can click that allows you to describe
it and send it to the kde folks so they can add it.  That takes far less
time than volunteering for the docs team, and doesn't have the commitment
either.  You just send one here or there whenever you see something not
documented and know what it does so can help.

--
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman

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[Louis Hinman]

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Duncan.

I figured that was the reason.  I hope to participate in a modest way in KDE
developement sometime in the near future, so thanks also for the info about
doing that.

Best Reagards,

Lou Hinman
New York City

On Saturday 24 October 2009 06:01:14 am Duncan wrote:

> Louis Hinman posted on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:28:53 -0400 as excerpted:
> > If I were to upgrade to KDE 4.2.4, would I find the manuals better
> > conformed to versions?
>
> Some better, some worse.  One of the things Linux has problems with is
> outdated documentation.  The generally agreed reason is that it's not as
> much fun to write documentation as it is to code new features or even to
> fix bugs, so it tends not to get done very quickly, and when it does,
> it's soon outdated.
>
> kde4 does tend to have more upto date documentation... where it has it.
> But a lot of it simply isn't there yet.  And in other cases, the old and
> now even /worse/ outdated documentation was just carried forward, tho in
> my experience that's for the non-kde-core apps.
>
> Of course, one thing users who can't code can help with is the
> documentation.  If you'd like, and have the time to contribute, Anne can
> probably get you hooked up with the right people to get started.
> Alternatively, on the "What's this?" features in kde4, if they're not
> described yet, there's a link you can click that allows you to describe
> it and send it to the kde folks so they can add it.  That takes far less
> time than volunteering for the docs team, and doesn't have the commitment
> either.  You just send one here or there whenever you see something not
> documented and know what it does so can help.

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