improving the Python docs -- a wiki? copy PHP's model?

[Michael Chermside]

Stephen Ferg writes:
> So I put this question to the entire Python community.  Can we create
> an interactive site, and the supporting organizational infrastructure,
> that will enable everyone in the Python community easily to contribute
> to the Python documentation?

John Roth replies:
> As Andrew commented, there's nothing stopping you from
> contributing. There's also nothing stopping you from setting
> up a wiki yourself so people can comment on various pages
> of the official documentation.

Actually, please don't set up yet another wiki. Instead, go to
   http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/moinmoin/
and start creating pages. (You'll need to create a user account.)
If you're feeling REALLY ambitious, you could go to
   http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/moinmoin/ModulesThatNeedDocs
and volunteer to help fill in some of the existing gaps in the
official documentation.

I happen to agree with you that it should be made easier for
community members to contribute to the documentation. I agree
that a wiki is a good system for doing so. But if you want to
see it actually HAPPEN, the secret is to create some momentum
and then others will start to jump on board. So use the wiki
and start creating "supporting notes" for the documentation.
If the "supporting notes" become good enough, I assure you
that we will incorporate them into the "official" documentation
-- either by using the text, or by including references to
the wiki in the official documentation.

One point you should note about the existing documentation is
that, unlike a wiki, it is available in a large number of
different formats. The original TEX source is used to generate
multiple formats including HTML but also PDF and a number of
other formats. A wiki can't take the place of that, but then
static docs can't incorporate community involvement as easily
as a wiki... there's room for both.

-- Michael Chermside