Re: Important Stuff They Don't Teach In Tech Writing School

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

Might be true for software, however as some of us often like to remind the
list, there's a lot more to "tech writing" than software manuals.  When
you're
writing the service manual for a jet engine or an ICBM, for example, the
last
thing you want to do is serve the desires of an individual user to not have
to
conform to rigid procedures.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce Byfield" <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>

> As someone who uses less and less proprietary software with every passing
month,
> one thing that always strikes me when I do use it is how much its
manufacturers
> expect users to conform their expectations. In the free software world,
much
> greater attention is given to appealing to as many users as possible. Of
course,
> there has to be some limit for the software to work at all, but there is a
much
> higher degree of customization and often several ways to accomplish the
same goal.



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