Today's irritation

[tamaranth]

Software companies that don't bother stating the platform(s) their products require, the unspoken assumption being that the whole world is Bill Gates' bitch.

This is the third DITA-editing package I've checked that doesn't specify platform. I'm going to give up on links from the DITA sites and just google for DITA+Linux. Or possibly pen+paper.

Oh, but here's some Logic ...

* The pen is mightier than the sword.
* The cat¹ is mightier than the pen²
* Therefore, the cat is mightier than the sword.

¹ Sam, this morning.
² my green glittery gel-pen. Which I was using at the time. My former pen, I should say.

EDIT: Something useful for Linux users! (I bet you can't find a pattern for cuddly Bill.)

Comments

[childeric.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but I'm really far too rock'n'roll for this. You keep mentioning DITA, and the only thing that that brings to mind is the gorgeous Miss Von Teese. In that context I can only imagine that Dita-editing would be some form of bowdlerising, and really rather disappointing.

But that's not at all what you're talking about, is it? You're meaning something a great deal less errm how does one put it? Less... noteworthy, aren't you? What is this DITA thing?

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

Last night I was hunting around for a pen when I noticed Simba scratching at something on the desk. Almost entirely hidden under my keyboard was a biro.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

> the only thing that that brings to mind ....

Me too. But I wasnt going to mention it.

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

it crawled under there to hide

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Something a great deal less errm ....

'interesting', is the word you're looking for!
(Darwin Information Typing Architecture. Or Discomfort in the Ass.)

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

*grin*

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it certainly feels as though the cat is pointier than the sword.

[tvillingar.livejournal.com]

Considering the cats I've known, I can believe they're mightier than almost anything.

Too late but ...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

... I did reply in one of the previous posts with a link to the IBM site and with an explanation.

It's a way of tagging documentation "chunks" with XML code so that you can reuse sections in lots of documents (or pull in chunks to build a new document). So if you have a standard chunk on "Licences and Copyright" or on "What is TCP/IP?" or "PostCode/ZipCode format" etc. when you come to write a new document you just specify which chunks you want to pull in. Not only does it save you having to type things in again, but if you change the master "chunk" then every document that contains, say, "Licences and Copyright" will automatically pick up the new version.

Just think of all the repeated stuff on, say, MSDN.

Re: Too late but ...

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

I know what DITA is, and I'm working my way through the IBM material and the OASIS site. What I'm asking about is software tools (especially Linux-friendly ones) to create and edit DITA-format XML files.

I know *you* know ...

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

... I was replying to people replying to you saying they didn't know what it was.

And I already told you about the DITA tool I've heard of (XMetaL Author DITA edition). I'm sure XMetaL must do a lot of things well (given the licence cost) but it seems quite simple to me as an XML editor (but then I've not had any formal training in using it, and we often start with Word documents, run them through a Word->XML converter and then use XMetaL to add meta-data and validate DTD conformance.