[Python-Dev] FAQ Horribly Out Of Date

[Guido van Rossum]

[Moshe]
> Well, Andrew, I know if I leave you any more time, you won't be able
> to resist the urge. OK, I'll volunteer. Can't do anything right now,
> but expect to see an updated version posted on my site soon. If 
> people will think it's a good idea, I'll move it to Misc/.
> Fred, if the some-xml-format-to-HTML you're working on is in any
> sort of readiness, I'll use that to format the FAQ.

Moshe, if your solution is to turn the FAQ into a document with a
single editor again, I think you're not doing the community a favor.
Granted, we could add some more sections (easy enough for me if
someone tells me the new section headings and which existing questions
go where) and there is a lot of obsolete information.

But I would be very hesitant to drop the notion of maintaining the FAQ
as a group collaboration project.  There's nothing wrong with the FAQ
wizard except that the password (Spam) should be made publicly known...

I've also noticed that Bjorn Pettersen has made a whole slew of useful
updates to various sections, mostly updates about new 2.0 features or
syntax.

> Having used Perl
> in the last couple of weeks, I learned to appreciate the fact that
> the FAQ is a standard part of the documentation.

Does that mean more than that it should be linked to from
http://www.python.org/doc/ ?  It's already there in the side bar; does
it need a more prominent position?  I used to include the FAQ in Misc/
(Ping's Misc/faq2html.py script is a last remnant of that), but gave
up after realizing that the on-line FAQ is much more useful than a
single text file.

In my eyes, the best thing you (and everyone else) could do, if you
find the time, would be to use the FAQ wizard to fix or delete
out-of-date entries.  To delete an entry, change its subject to
"Deleted" and remove its body; I'll figure out a way to delete them
from the index.  Because FAQ entries can refer to each other (and are
referred to from elsewhere) by number, it's not safe to simply
renumber entries.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)