If there is one area where open sources apps could use SERIOUS help, it would be with the lack of documentation provided with many applications. Perhaps this will help some?

Documentation is a necessary evil of software development. While Linux lacks standard Windows tools such as FrameMaker, RoboHelp, and WebWorks Publisher, it’s still a viable environment for technical writers. Linux users can take advantage of a number of documentation tools, including both free or open source software (FOSS) and proprietary software. All of them give technical writers the ability to author and publish professional documentation.

DocBook XML

The DocBook Project isn’t an application, but it is arguably the biggest gun in the Linux technical writing arsenal. It’s a variant of XML designed specifically for authoring software and hardware manuals. You can use DocBook to output documentation in multiple formats, including PDF and PostScript (for printing), HTML, HTML Help, and JavaHelp. You can also author multiple documents that contain much of the same content, but which are intended for different users or different operating systems. This enables you to maintain all of your information in one file rather than in multiple documents.

Since DocBook files are XML, you can edit them in any XML or text editor. Some writers use Emacs with the psgmlx or nXML packages. Others use Vim, along with a script or two. A tutorial explains how to use Vim as a DocBook editor. Vex, an XML editor based on Eclipse, is an excellent DocBook editor, as is XMLmind XML Editor (XXE), a WYSIWYG editor written in Java….. Source: NewsForge

Tags: xml, documentation, docbook project, text editor