Re: The fate of ditaa.jar (9.4.5.)

[Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com>]

TEC <tecosaur@gmail.com> writes:

> Tim Cross <theophilusx@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> I also had to install textlive, plantuml, graphviz, taskjuggler,
>> ledger, sqlite and many other things.
>
> Perhaps it would be good to make a table of
>
> | software | needed for | package name | download page |
>
> and/or prompt users when an action requiring another executable is
> undertaken if it isn't found.

Useful additional documentation, assuming it can be maintained, is
rarely a bad idea. A table on worg (with maybe a link in the manual)
which lists all the org (and contrib) features, external dependencies
and link to canonical source would probably be a good idea.

I find it hard to remember how I worked out all the dependencies as I
adopted org as it was so long ago and I was already a heavy user of
many of the tools/dependencies of org. This makes it challenging to
appreciate how hard it can be for someone knew to org. On the other
hand, if we make it overly easy/automatic, we run the risk of
disempowering the user and making them more dependent on assistance from
others. Finding the right balance between informative and concise is a
challenge. If we provide too much information, it can be overwhelming,
too little and it can be confusing. I find it harder to write good
documentation than good code!


-- 
Tim Cross