[HN Gopher] Unified theory of documentation systems
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Unified theory of documentation systems
        
       Author : O__________O
       Score  : 90 points
       Date   : 2022-06-25 11:47 UTC (11 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (documentation.divio.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (documentation.divio.com)
        
       | uudecoded wrote:
       | I don't understand what is going on here - I read this before on
       | https://diataxis.fr - so I guess this is some sort of fork:
       | 
       | 2021-04-07: https://github.com/evildmp/diataxis-documentation-
       | framework/... Add license CC-BY-SA 4.0
       | 
       | 2021-04-30: https://github.com/divio/diataxis-documentation-
       | framework/co... Copyright change from Danielle Procida to Divio
       | 
       | edit: fixed link
        
         | kaycebasques wrote:
         | I think Procida initially created this as part of their work
         | with Divio and then forked it to the Diataxis site. The Divio
         | site was definitely around before Diataxis and the Divio site
         | was where these ideas originally gained a lot of popularity.
        
         | O__________O wrote:
         | They're officially related. Personally, prefer the link I used
         | since it provides a table of contents and link to this YouTube
         | presentation on the system:
         | 
         | https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t4vKPhjcMZg
        
         | mjw1007 wrote:
         | This variant seems worse than the dataxis one.
         | 
         | It's already a weakness of this "theory" that it leaves only
         | the reference for documentation that's intended to be complete
         | and correct, while also recommending that the reference be
         | organised as a list of the available operations.
         | 
         | But this divio variant goes so far as to say that, when writing
         | the reference, "don't allow explanations of concepts".
         | 
         | I believe good documentation often needs rigorous definitions
         | of the concepts involved, not just a list of functions or
         | configuration items or whatever.
         | 
         | So either the reference should have space for those, or the
         | explanation should be in a more rigorous style, not a "more
         | relaxed" discussion.
        
       | O__________O wrote:
       | Prior related HN comments:
       | 
       | https://hn.algolia.com/?q=https%3A%2F%2Fdiataxis.fr%2F
       | 
       | https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Four%20kinds%20of%20documentat...
       | 
       | https://hn.algolia.com/?q=https%3A%2F%2Fdocumentation.divio....
        
       | twobitshifter wrote:
       | I just followed the links, but this seems to have left out
       | specifications.
        
         | jimmySixDOF wrote:
         | I agree these don't fit into the 4Ds because the spec is many
         | times the contractual document used for handover compliance
         | line item by line item as part of a larger RFP. Much of it
         | should end up in permanent operational documents but you keep
         | the baseline fixed (with amendments) to compare the original
         | intent against what you end up with. Still, I'm not sure this
         | matters enough to add another D to the taxonomy. If I was to
         | add one it would be D for Diagrams which matter enough to be a
         | category of their own ;}
        
         | O__________O wrote:
         | Interesting point. Generally, in my experience, specifications,
         | that is the documents produced prior to building a system are
         | replaced by the documentation that's created after the system
         | is built.
         | 
         | I have seen some projects try to keep the specs updated, even
         | fewer that try to keep the specs/build/docs in sync via tagging
         | and unique IDs.
         | 
         | If the specs were within this framework, my guess is they would
         | go under reference; for example, an API spec would easily be
         | kept in sync and would naturally go under the reference
         | section. In fact, the example given is for a CLI:
         | 
         | https://docs.divio.com/en/latest/reference/divio-cli/
        
       | hyperpape wrote:
       | I read this a long time ago, and I'm probably not reading it
       | again today, but I remember finding Hillel Wayne's comment apt---
       | there really are more dimensions than this.
       | https://twitter.com/hillelogram/status/1438972753957294080?s...
        
       | ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
       | This looks quite interesting. I had not heard of it, before.
       | 
       | At first blush, it seems to make sense. I'll review it, in my
       | copious free time...
        
       | daxfohl wrote:
       | There's also a separate dimension for consuming vs developing.
       | Probably this sits under the category of "too obvious to point
       | out". But still, in large orgs I frequently see wikis that have
       | stuff meant for team members and stuff meant for consumers of the
       | service, with no clear separation.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2022-06-25 23:01 UTC)