On Wed, Feb 19, 2003 at 02:53:55AM +0000, Alex Kirk wrote:

> >I think the netboot document should be converted to SGML DocBook.  Then,
> >maybe, with a little cleverness, we can generate machine-specific
> >documents instead of one generic document with many architecture-specific
> >parts.  I don't know how to do that, but I'm pretty sure SGML provides a
> >mechanism.  
> 
> Ummm, quick thought: since we're all volunteers in our spare time here, and 
> since neither of us knows SGML (or so I assume by the comment above), 
> perhaps it would be smarter to not tackle a whole new language for doing 
> this -- particularly since there's not necessarily agreement on whether 
> machine-specific docs vs. a generic one with arch. specific stuff would be 
> a good idea. To the latter end there, is the netboot process so completely 
> different from machine to machine that it'd make sense to have a document 
> per architecture, that a generic overview would be impossible? 

Perhaps you are not aware, but there is now work-in-progress to
convert the NetBSD website to Docbook XML. Docbook is not particularly
difficult to write (or read), most people who have never seen it
before have commented to me about how simple it is.

This would be the obvious preference for any conversion of documents
which is taking place.

I do intend to post some in-depth gory details about this, but the
time to put it together has escaped me recently.

For a crash course, take a look at htdocs/*.{xsl,xml} and
htdocs/releng/, which is the beginning of making this happen.

g.