Re: Determining whether gnunet is connected

[Bob Ham]

On 27/02/2022 14:47, madmurphy wrote:
> Hi Bob,
> 
> These might be worth reading:
> 
>   * GNUnet handbook <https://docs.gnunet.org/handbook/gnunet.html>,

This is more confusing than helpful.  I'll paste an abridged rant from IRC:

12:06 < rah> the handbook is a mess
12:08 < rah> I mean really, the handbook should be thrown out and
rewritten from scratch, it's more confusing than helpful
12:10 < rah> why are "Configuring your peer", "Configuring the MySQL
database", "Configuring the hostlist to bootstrap" and pretty much
everything else, under a section titled "The graphical configuration
interface"?
12:10 < rah> it's ridiculous
12:12 < rah> why does the "Checking the Installation" section only list
graphical programs?
12:12 < rah> I'm running a node on a headless machine
12:12 < rah> and right now I'm on a machine with no X server so I can't
run any graphical programs remotely
12:14 < rah> there's a section "4.9 Config Leftovers" that starts "This
section describes how to start a GNUnet peer."
12:14 < rah> why on earth does that come after detailed instructions on
configuring mysql?
12:15 < rah> there's a section "8.20 Bluetooth plugin" which starts
"This page describes the new Bluetooth transport plugin for GNUnet."
12:15 < rah> why is that section part of the "GNUnet Developer Handbook"?!
12:16 < rah> the whole document is a mess that doesn't help a new user
at all, in fact it makes things more confusing
12:16 < rah> the whole system is opaque and the handbook gets in the way
of understanding it


>   * How to use GNUnet - in a nutshell <https://www.gnunet.org/en/use.html>

In my view, this document is problematic because it doesn't really
explain anything.  When I was trying to get my node up and running, none
of the commands worked.

There's a common theme in gnunet's documentation which is to provide
instructions.  I don't need instructions, I need information.

Also, the instructions are pitched at a level of expertise which is
unrealistic; as I understand it gnunet is not usable at present so the
people who will be looking at the documentation will not be wide-eyed
users who need a helping hand, they'll be hackers who need clear, useful
information.  It's like the documentation is written for the benefit of
users in some future when gnunet is functional and usable, not for the
benefit of people who will be coming to gnunet right now.

Regards,

Bob