Xen ReadMe's Was: Inaccessible link

Xen ReadMe's Was: Inaccessible link

[xen-devel.GarveyPatrickD]

On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 1:18 AM, Ian Campbell - Ian.Campbell@citrix.com wrote:
> On Sun, 2011-11-20 at 01:11 +0000,
> xen-devel.GarveyPatrickD@OrdinaryAmerican.net wrote:
>> http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Assign_Hardware_to_DomU_with_PCIBack_as_module
>> contains a link to the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
>> copy of the Xen User Manual
>> http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/SRG/netos/xen/readmes/user/user.html#SECTION03231300000000000000
>> that responds, "Forbidden
>> You don't have permission to access
>> /research/srg/netos/xen/readmes/user/user.html on this server."
>>
>> Does Xen.org have the right to copy the Xen User Manual onto its own server?
>
> That documentation is built from the Xen source tree (try installing
> latex2html then"make docs") and appears to be covered by the GPL so I
> think so.

Does anyone know if the contents of
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/SRG/netos/xen/readmes/
is stored anywhere within the xen.org domain?

I don't, yet, have an installed copy of Xen nor, as noted, access to
the Computer Lab copy of the ReadMe's, so I can't generate a
significant search string to help me locate them within Xen.org
domain.

> However that particular doc is not well maintained (although the
> particular section which is referenced doesn't look so bad). IMHO it
> would be better to move the information onto the wiki itself (assuming
> it isn't already duplicated somewhere).

As to maintaining the ReadMe's, is there anyone actively attempting to
maintain them?

Re: Xen ReadMe's Was: Inaccessible link

[Ian Campbell]

Please don't break threading.

On Mon, 2011-11-21 at 18:49 +0000,
xen-devel.GarveyPatrickD@OrdinaryAmerican.net wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 1:18 AM, Ian Campbell - Ian.Campbell@citrix.com wrote:
> > On Sun, 2011-11-20 at 01:11 +0000,
> > xen-devel.GarveyPatrickD@OrdinaryAmerican.net wrote:
> >> http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Assign_Hardware_to_DomU_with_PCIBack_as_module
> >> contains a link to the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
> >> copy of the Xen User Manual
> >> http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/SRG/netos/xen/readmes/user/user.html#SECTION03231300000000000000
> >> that responds, "Forbidden
> >> You don't have permission to access
> >> /research/srg/netos/xen/readmes/user/user.html on this server."
> >>
> >> Does Xen.org have the right to copy the Xen User Manual onto its own server?
> >
> > That documentation is built from the Xen source tree (try installing
> > latex2html then"make docs") and appears to be covered by the GPL so I
> > think so.
> 
> Does anyone know if the contents of
> http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/SRG/netos/xen/readmes/
> is stored anywhere within the xen.org domain?

Not as far as I know.

> I don't, yet, have an installed copy of Xen

You do not need to install Xen, you can simply build the docs in tree as
I described above and point a browser or pdf read at them.

>  nor, as noted, access to
> the Computer Lab copy of the ReadMe's, so I can't generate a
> significant search string to help me locate them within Xen.org
> domain.
> 
> > However that particular doc is not well maintained (although the
> > particular section which is referenced doesn't look so bad). IMHO it
> > would be better to move the information onto the wiki itself (assuming
> > it isn't already duplicated somewhere).
> 
> As to maintaining the ReadMe's, is there anyone actively attempting to
> maintain them?

They have been pretty much unmaintained for many years now. They aren't
actually README, despite the CL URL, they are most like reference
manuals.

The general feeling is that they should be replaced with a combination
of wiki pages and in-tree documentation in some more friendly mark up
language than tex, general preference seems to be markdown for regular
documents or pod for manpages.

Ian.

Re: Xen ReadMe's Was: Inaccessible link

[Patrick D. Garvey]

On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 11:31 AM, Ian Campbell - Ian.Campbell@citrix.com wrote:
> Please don't break threading.

My apologies, I thought the topic had changed sufficiently the subject
should be updated.  I won't be so quick to make such a change in the
future.

>
> On Mon, 2011-11-21 at 18:49 +0000,
> xen-devel.GarveyPatrickD@OrdinaryAmerican.net wrote:
>> On Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 1:18 AM, Ian Campbell - Ian.Campbell@citrix.com wrote:
>> > On Sun, 2011-11-20 at 01:11 +0000,
>> > xen-devel.GarveyPatrickD@OrdinaryAmerican.net wrote:
>> >> http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Assign_Hardware_to_DomU_with_PCIBack_as_module
>> >> contains a link to the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
>> >> copy of the Xen User Manual
>> >> http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/SRG/netos/xen/readmes/user/user.html#SECTION03231300000000000000
>> >> that responds, "Forbidden
>> >> You don't have permission to access
>> >> /research/srg/netos/xen/readmes/user/user.html on this server."
>> >>
>> >> Does Xen.org have the right to copy the Xen User Manual onto its own server?
>> >
>> > That documentation is built from the Xen source tree (try installing
>> > latex2html then"make docs") and appears to be covered by the GPL so I
>> > think so.
>>
>> Does anyone know if the contents of
>> http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/SRG/netos/xen/readmes/
>> is stored anywhere within the xen.org domain?
>
> Not as far as I know.
>
>> I don't, yet, have an installed copy of Xen
>
> You do not need to install Xen, you can simply build the docs in tree as
> I described above and point a browser or pdf read at them.
>

I believe this statement presumes I am operating from a system for
which "build the docs in tree" is a meaningful phrase and I know how
to perform such an action.  For the record, I am running a Dell
Inspiron 1300 on Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 and working my
way to owning a lab machine where I can explore the depths of the *nix
family of operating systems. (I have the hardware set aside.)  At the
moment, I am qualified to work as a copy editor of such resources as a
project's wiki.  I find that's usually a gentle introduction to the
community knowledge and a valued contribution to the project.

>>  nor, as noted, access to
>> the Computer Lab copy of the ReadMe's, so I can't generate a
>> significant search string to help me locate them within Xen.org
>> domain.
>>
>> > However that particular doc is not well maintained (although the
>> > particular section which is referenced doesn't look so bad). IMHO it
>> > would be better to move the information onto the wiki itself (assuming
>> > it isn't already duplicated somewhere).
>>
>> As to maintaining the ReadMe's, is there anyone actively attempting to
>> maintain them?
>
> They have been pretty much unmaintained for many years now. They aren't
> actually README, despite the CL URL, they are most like reference
> manuals.
>
> The general feeling is that they should be replaced with a combination
> of wiki pages and in-tree documentation in some more friendly mark up
> language than tex, general preference seems to be markdown for regular
> documents or pod for manpages.
>
> Ian.

Well, until I am capable of reading tex, markdown, and pod and using
tools such as emacs or vi to manipulate them, it might be nice if
someone could place the reference manuals in a more accessible file
system so interested, potential project participants can read them for
the clues they may provide.

I'm going to assume it would be best for me to read the xen-devel
archives to derive my own understanding of what the project community
favors for the documents' format and make a proposal as to what I am
willing to do when I'm more capable of doing it.

Until then, I'll go back to participating in the migration of the Xen wiki.

Thank you for your assistance, Ian.

Patrick.