[replying to everyone...]

* The hardest part of documentation is the actual text, so don't let
format and presentation issues stop you from writing your own
documentation.  I hope you will help integrate at least part of it into a
unified document, but feel free to keep your own version as long as you
feel it would be useful.  OTOH, I think it is a good idea to merge the
documentation kept by TNF to provide a single set of documentation to
refer new users.

* I think having a glossary and index available will be a big help to new
users.  Common terms should be explained in the glossary, not in every man
page they appear in (though some should also be briefly explained as
needed in section 0).

* I like the idea of the help command, but it could just be:
#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/man 0 intro
which would contain an overview of NetBSD, the project goals, and where to
look for information.  This would also conveniently be the first page in
any publication of the documentation.

* The other documentation should also be merged into the man pages.

* I think it would be a good idea to convert the man pages to DocBook. 
SGML is *much* nicer to read then roff and can be additionally marked up
for more expressive medium.  There would need to be a detailed style guide
of appropriate NetBSD use.  See http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/.  This
would be considered source for the man pages and would not be distributed
in the man set.  Espeically if the web pages are generated from the
documentation (and I think they should be), it would be much easier with
DocBook.  This issue should be debated separately from the rest. 

* The project needs a sponsor with commit access who will review and
commit changes within a reasonable amount of time.

* On second thought, perhaps section 0 should be named "NetBSD
Introduction and Project Information" and also contain information about
the project, contributors, and such. 

* The general structure of section 0 intro might be the "About the NetBSD
Project" web page.  The UNIX-like section would be expanded to a general
description of UNIX-like systems with appropriate references.  This UNIX
basics page would be the next destination for new users.  There would also
be a FAQ page which references the various FAQs available.  This would be
a good place for users who have knowledge of how a UNIX system works and
are trying to solve a specific problem.  At the bottom of the intro page
would be a note about how to use man pages and a reference to the UNIX
basics, FAQ pages, glossary, and index .


  If a developer is willing to "sponsor" this I will put together a formal
proposal and post it to tech-misc (bcc to netbsd-help, netbsd-users, and
tech-userlevel) for further debate. 

Matthew Orgass
darkstar@pgh.net