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Re: Release notes and readme files

Subject: Re: Release notes and readme files
From: Sandy Nicholson <sandy -at- ambertext -dot- co -dot- uk>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Sun, 22 Oct 2006 17:11:55 +0100

Dori wrote:

According to most of the development people I've worked with, there is no such thing as a bug. It's just an undocumented feature.

:o)

I've certainly heard similar statements before. But I think it depends to some extent on which ideology the developers follow. In the Unix/open-source world (in which developers often write the end- user documentation for their own software), there is a long-standing tradition of being very candid about known issues. Indeed, many Unix man pages feature a `Bugs' section, and to omit such a section almost invites the question, `What are you hiding?'

I'm a great fan of the open-source model, and think that openness about bugs is to be applauded whether code is free or proprietary.

Indeed, I dispute Beth's earlier assertion that it's `poor customer service' to provide lengthy lists of bugs. It may well be poor marketing to draw too much attention to bugs (though the open-source world might have a different take on that too). But unless the list of bugs is so in-your-face that it detracts from the usability of the primary end-user documentation, I can't see how the customer is being done a disservice.

Best wishes,
Sandy

Ambertext, 2/Gf Bruntsfield Crescent, Edinburgh EH10 4EZ, Scotland
+44 (0) 131 447 9257 http://www.ambertext.co.uk/ sandy -at- ambertext -dot- co -dot- uk
Sole proprietor: Alexander J Nicholson
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RE: Release notes and readme files: From: Dori Green

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