Bug 266111 - FAQ: minor corrections and improvements, and notes ahead of a holistic rewrite
Summary: FAQ: minor corrections and improvements, and notes ahead of a holistic rewrite
Status: Closed FIXED
Alias: None
Product: Documentation
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Books & Articles (show other bugs)
Version: Latest
Hardware: Any Any
: --- Affects Some People
Assignee: Sergio Carlavilla Delgado
URL: https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-do...
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2022-08-30 04:12 UTC by Graham Perrin
Modified: 2023-10-15 16:46 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:


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Description Graham Perrin freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2022-08-30 04:12:17 UTC
<https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/faq/#running-X-securelevels>

> … see at the …

Grammar. Should be "see the"

----

> I tried to run X, but I get a No devices detected. 
> error when I type startx. What do I do now?

– should be (within single quote characters): 

> I tried to run X, but I get a 'No devices detected' 
> error when I type startx. What do I do now?

– or more simply: 

> X will not start: No devices detected

(Let's not obsess about phrasing _all_ things as questions.)
Comment 1 Ed Maste freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2022-09-20 13:56:15 UTC
FWIW when I last looked there were a lot of issues with the FAQ [e.g. outdated entries]. I wouldn't let that preclude working on minor updates, but the FAQ would really benefit from a holistic review.
Comment 2 Sergio Carlavilla Delgado freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2022-09-20 14:00:18 UTC
I'll send an email to core@ and doceng@ about this.
I have a template with a new FAQ :)
Comment 3 Pau Amma 2022-09-22 05:31:48 UTC
(In reply to Graham Perrin from comment #0)

I'm not sure I agree overall with not wording FAQs as questions. For one thing, my brain, coming upon this and not seeing a question, would likely alert and drop out of reading for comprehension and into editor mode because that's not woerded as a question. It would take conscious effort to get it back on track. I no longer use the FAQ much myself, but it would still hinder my attempt to help someone in IRC, so it's not just about me, even if no one but me has that problem which I doubt. (That's how I handle the proofreading and most of the copyediting I do, BTW: I just read and when my brain goes "*ping* problem here!" I look closer.)

Regarding that specific question, I would instead tighten it up as "Typing 'startx' displays '
Comment 4 Pau Amma 2022-09-22 05:34:45 UTC
(In reply to Pau Amma from comment #3)

Accidental submit.

... tighten it up as "Typing 'startx' displays 'No devices detected' instead of running X. What's wrong?"
Comment 5 Graham Perrin freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2022-12-04 11:33:05 UTC
Think of D37598 as tidiness. Consider the possibility of someone wanting to reuse a part, elsewhere, before or after retirement of the existing FAQ. 

----

Re: comment #1 and comment #2

Whilst the holistic side of things takes shape – for a new FAQ page – below, a couple of brief notes (other brief notes may follow). 


1) Missing keywords include: 

* releng


2) <https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/faq/#books> is redundant and disorienting. The paragraph directs readers _away_ from the documentation portal, to a FreeBSD Project page that misuses books (alone) as a link for documentation (in general). 

Instead, we already have: 

* Books

– in the Documentation menu.
Comment 6 Graham Perrin freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2022-12-04 11:47:59 UTC
(In reply to Graham Perrin from comment #0)

>> I tried to run X, but I get a No devices detected. 
>> error when I type startx. What do I do now?
> 
> – should be (within single quote characters): 
> 
>> I tried to run X, but I get a 'No devices detected' 
>> error when I type startx. What do I do now?
> 
> – or …

Fixed in d89e8fd3d40df804a7057b8371221477d1f5b3de at <https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/commit/d89e8fd3d40df804a7057b8371221477d1f5b3de#diff-aaca618e1ec28127547f571e55293a939f5a18724a9a994ad307338ef63c62eeR2023>
Comment 7 Graham Perrin freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2022-12-10 08:15:38 UTC
<https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc#17-what-is-the-latest-version-of-freebsd> mentions: 

> extended support

Let's not use this phrase in a future FAQ. 

Neither <https://www.freebsd.org/support/> nor <https://www.freebsd.org/security/> uses the word 'extend'. 

From <https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-announce/2015-February/001624.html>: 

>> The proposed changes include:
>>
>> - …
>> 
>> - The Security Officer or Ports Management Team may 
>>   extend support for any individual numbered release 
>>   or branch at their discretion, in exceptional cases.
>>
>> - …
Comment 8 Graham Perrin freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2022-12-10 08:44:22 UTC
Why are there two stable branches?
----------------------------------

I can't see a simple, coherent explanation in any of the following: 

* <https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/faq/>
* <https://www.freebsd.org/releng/>
* <https://docs.freebsd.org/en/articles/freebsd-releng/>

<https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc#19-what-is-the-freebsd-stable-concept> begins as if there's only one stable branch.

<https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc#173-what-are-snapshots-and-releases> mentions four branches then lists only three, two of which are stable. 

This part of <https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd-doc/blob/main/documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc#17-what-is-the-latest-version-of-freebsd> may be _partly_ true: 

> … 12.X branch will … receive only fixes for major problems, such as 
> security-related fixes. …

It's sometimes perceived that supported releases from the older stable branch will be "more stable" (or words to that effect) than supported releases from the newer stable branch. 

For what it's worth, I should avoid use of words such as 'stability' to distinguish between releases from stable branches. The word means different things to different people. 


Historical
==========

2014, two points in time. 

<https://web.archive.org/web/20140711192017/http://www.freebsd.org/where.html> 

* three branches
* three production releases, including 8.4, two of which were legacy. 

<https://web.archive.org/web/20140718195756/http://www.freebsd.org/where.html> 

* three branches
* three production releases, including 8.4, _none_ of which were legacy.
Comment 9 Graham Perrin freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2022-12-11 12:57:14 UTC
(In reply to Ed Maste from comment #1, in reply to Sergio Carlavilla Delgado from comment #2)

FAQ Working Group added to <https://wiki.freebsd.org/Doc/IdeaList#Website>. For now, it's essentially a link back to this (partly related) bug report.
Comment 10 Graham Perrin freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2023-02-04 15:46:55 UTC
<https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/faq/#free-account> directs readers to Arbornet, Inc, also known as M-Net. 


At <http://www.arbornet.org/free_shell_accounts.php>: 

> How to access M-Net
> 
> …

Neither method works. 

<http://www.arbornet.org/ssh_java.php> is not found. 

For telnet: 

Trying 104.45.146.198...
telnet: connect to address 104.45.146.198: Operation timed out
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host
Comment 11 commit-hook freebsd_committer freebsd_triage 2023-10-11 19:24:09 UTC
A commit in branch main references this bug:

URL: https://cgit.FreeBSD.org/doc/commit/?id=5ab16dfdedb053e126d7d175c6d3b94aa2bca286

commit 5ab16dfdedb053e126d7d175c6d3b94aa2bca286
Author:     Sergio Carlavilla Delgado <carlavilla@FreeBSD.org>
AuthorDate: 2023-10-11 18:42:03 +0000
Commit:     Sergio Carlavilla Delgado <carlavilla@FreeBSD.org>
CommitDate: 2023-10-11 19:23:16 +0000

    FAQ: Complete FAQ rewrite

    Complete rewrite of the FAQ is being carried out to offer a version
    agnostic to the FreeBSD version and some simple entries.

    The idea behind this rewrite has been to simplify the FAQ and make it
    more accessible.

    The FAQ is an entry point to FreeBSD, for more complete questions we
    have the Handbook.

    PR:                     266111, 263571, 273313, 273313, 261765, 248351, 261816
    Reviewed by:            acm@, ashish@, cc@, emaste, fernape@, linimon@
    Differential Revision:  https://reviews.freebsd.org/D41644
    Sponsored by:           Daifressh

 documentation/content/en/books/faq/_index.adoc | 3292 +++---------------------
 1 file changed, 337 insertions(+), 2955 deletions(-)