[Mono-docs-list] Proposing a new documentation subsystem

[Miguel de Icaza]

Hello,

> I spoke with Lluis Sanchez about using Mono.Addins to extend the
> documentation system and it seems a good approach because we will get
> all the subsytem for documentation updates and managment (both for
> providers and for doc sources) for free.
> 
> This will enable downloading new docs or providers without updating
> the whole monodoc system. We can also get rid of the several xml files
> needed to finally reach the documentation files and free monodoc
> subsytem of some managment code.
> 
> Once I have something workable I will post here for further discussion.

Which kind of add-ins do you have in mind?

I love add-ins where they make sense, but I do not love add-ins for the
sake of having an add-in.   If we have a genuine reason to support a new
file format we should decide whether there is a good reason to not have
it as part of the core mono documentation system.

Supporting downloading updates is a pipeline issue more than an "add-in"
issue.   Sure, you can write an add-in, but the fundamental issues are:

	* Someone needs to write the new docs (these happen at glacial
	  speeds)

	* If the above were fixed (hundreds of new docs per day), 
	  updating docs should just be part to the core Monodoc 
	  functionality.

MIguel