Separate Category for Documentation, Common Issues and HowTos

A few of us are trying to do some easy documentation of varios things.

The Common Issues seem to be a bit strict here, I dont fully understand their scope (as HowTos always address a more or less common issue).

I would like a category of HowTos, either in Ask, or in a different “Documentation” Main category.

Background

A few people told me “documentation is a pet project” and similar things.

I also experienced myself, that the lack of a single used git forge, especially in the docs, and some workflows, tend to create bigger barriers than necessary.

Discourse has a low barrier of entry, edits can be restricted, we have a pretty transparent and modular access control system.

It is usable on mobile, so writing here has a way lower barrier of entry. It does not require knowledge of Git, ssh keys, pull request workflows, branches, reviews etc.

I think Discourse for documentation can have some place here.

I dont think it should replace the website, but at the current state, I know that some people struggle to even update the docs, because of bureaucratic processes and often inactivity of the people that need to review and merge things.

There is also a big barrier because of backend infra involvement in the docs. For example I have no idea how to create a new chapter or how to find where to translate them, or what to do if Weblate displays outdated docs.

Proposal

Create a category “Documentation” and see what happens.

Move “Common issues” there and create a subcategory “HowTo Guides”.

I think the tags should be the same as in Ask.

What do you think?

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@kparal could explain it better. Common issues category is reserved to describe bugs (let’s call them common bugs) that are known and can affect many people. In example those bug that are already known before the release of a version o Fedora, but they are evaluated as non blocking. Or bugs that arise after an update and could affect specific hardware or configurations.
It is also a way to say: developers already know it, please avoid to file new bug reports, please follow the suggested workaround or just wait for new announcements.

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