Minimalist docs

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 The thing to remember is that "minimalist" doesn't mean
 "small"... it means "as little as possible without
 diminishing the reader's ability to comprehend". Since some
 readers need more information than others, "minimalist"
 almost never means "the smallest possible" amount of
 information. Leo Rosten came up with an absolutely
 marvelous example, done as a joke, which I revised in the
 context of editing. Here's the condensed version:

 Consider the sign "fresh fish for sale daily". Obviously,
 the fish can't be fresh if you don't sell them daily... so
 let's drop that bit. Now you wouldn't be advertising the
 fish if they weren't for sale, and nobody would try to sell
 stale, old fish... so let's drop "fresh" and "for sale"
 too. That pretty much leaves us with one word: "fish". But
 we're not done yet... surely anyone who walks past the
 store will know (whether by sight or smell) that you're
 selling fish. So let's drop that word too.

 You can't get much more minimalist than that... no words at
 all. Hmmm... did someone say "parable"?

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

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