Re: Re: The wiki

:)

----------------

To: [email protected] ([email protected]);

Subject: [gentoo-user] Re: The wiki;

15.05.2026, 19:25, "Alan Mackenzie" <[email protected]>:

Hello again, Alexis.

On Thu, May 14, 2026 at 11:31:28 +1000, Alexis wrote:

Alan Mackenzie <[email protected] > writes:

>> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki//etc/portage/patches

> That is not a well written page. There is no coherent description
> of how one specifies the version(s) of a package a patch should be
> applied to. Just some cryptic meta-specifications and a few vague
> examples.

Fair. The wiki is a volunteer effort, only a small number of us
are regularly working on it (with much of that work focused on
improving the Handbook), and many of those who contribute / have
contributed to the wiki aren't native/fluent English speakers. i
try to encourage people to help out, but as i say: "Many people
want good documentation; far fewer are willing to help make that
happen."

> The text ought to say what ranges of versions can be specified, and
> how to do so.

Indeed.

Something that typically comes up in discussions about
contributing to the wiki is: "Oh I can't contribute unless I'm
familiar with the subject matter of a given page." Overall, this
isn't the case; there's always work needing to be done that
doesn't require _any_ familiarity with _any_ of the subject
matter, e.g. fixing typos and template usage. But more
specifically, i myself am _often_ not familiar with the subject of
a page that clearly needs work, and this page is a good example.

In this sort of situation, what i end up doing is:

* searching for, and within, any related documentation i can find;
* manually testing scenarios and behaviours (which sometimes
reveals inconsistencies with the docs); and
* occasionally spelunking through source code (including in
languages i only have a vague knowledge of) in order to
understand or clarify certain behaviours.

i appreciate that many - most? - people don't have the time or
inclination to do this. But i'll also say that, for those who are
using Gentoo as a method of getting a deeper knowledge of how
Linux systems can work, improving a wiki page by going through the
above process might be a useful learning exercise, in addition to
being a contribution to the Gentoo community.

Some hours ago, I posted that I had amended that wiki page to correct the
deficiencies I had complained about.

My changes have since been reverted by somebody called "Ris" in a
high-handed and arrogant fashion. The page is now as bad and misleading
as it ever was.

I'm not sure I want to waste any more time on this wiki, if my
amendments are goint to get peremtorily discarded like this.

Alexis.
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Flexibeast

--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).