Gert, Not distributing the SDK with the 'production distributions' (= binary) fails to do justice to one of the most marvelous features of the architecture of NAnt: it's extensibility.
If you are going to include the SDK in the source distributions only, why bother with dynamic discovery of tasks, reflection, etc? Would it not be far easier to simply hack you extensions into the original sources and recompile? One can, of course, distribute the relevant documentation by making it available online; this is a respectable thing to do. However, that would mean that you have to ensure the continued availability of the documentation of older versions of NAnt: people my still be relying on it. This would require a far better than current organization of the continued availability of previous distributions. The easiest way to ensure that users of version X also have access to the documentation of version X is, obviously, to package the docs in the distribution. cheers, Rutger PS. where does the idea of removing the SDK from the binary distributions actually come from? Would it serve any purpose? PPS. I would't mind contributing to the documentation effort, but, not having written the software, my documentation could only be my best guess. It might be better if the documentation is written by the people that actually know. > -----Original Message----- > From: Gert Driesen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 19:41 > To: 'Rutger Dijkstra'; [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [Nant-users] Content of distributions ? > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of > > Rutger Dijkstra > > Sent: zondag 21 november 2004 12:31 > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Re: [Nant-users] Content of distributions ? > > > > Ian, > > > > I completely disagree with the proposition that the SDK-docs > > would serve no > > purpose for end-users. > > > > The *extensibility* of NAnt is definitely end-user > > functionality; of all the > > things that NAnt has going for it, it is one of the bigger > > ones. It should > > be > > possible to create your own tasks, types, and functions using > > no more than > > the > > binaries and their documentation. > > > > In fact, this is true for anything you make that you expect > > others to use: > > requiring the users of your stuff to reverse-engineer the > > manual from source > > is > > inconsiderate an unprofessional. > > > > I am responsible for the introduction of NAnt in a biggish > > enterprise and > > the > > vast amount of red 'Missing <summary> documentation ...' is > > for me both > > embarrassing and worrying. It is embarrassing because it > > challenges the > > wisdom > > of my choice; I can only apologize to my co-workers and > > defend NAnt is an > > "otherwise highly professional" tool. It is worrying because > > it strikes me > > as a > > "broken window": if something is not done about it asap, it > > will rapidly get > > worse. > > > > I'd really hate to see NAnt loose out to MSBuild for no other > > reason than > > amateurish carelessness with the documentation. > > Would it be ok for you if the SDK docs are part of the source > distributions, > and perhaps also available online ? > > I agree that documentation is extremely important, and this is > something we > need to make a priority for the next releases. We can use all the help we > can get, so if there's anything you can contribute .... > > Gert > > --- > Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.733 / Virus Database: 487 - Release Date: 2004-08-02 > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.733 / Virus Database: 487 - Release Date: 2004-08-02 ------------------------------------------------------- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://productguide.itmanagersjournal.com/ _______________________________________________ Nant-users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/nant-users
