KubilayKocak/DocsNG - FreeBSD Wiki

The following outline is from the perspective of a non-doc-committer-committer who wants to see (our good) documentation get 10x better.

Problem Definition

Docs in FreeBSD is hard^W not (or doesn't appear) easy/simple enough.
Docs are in XML (DocBook) format. This doesn't suit humans.
Docs is a separate, repository-specific group of people.
Lots of apparent or perceived tribal knowledge required.
Process documented well, but super scary: looks super complex and overwhelming, even to existing committers

Finally:

First you have to get a commit bit, then you have to become (eventually) a docs committer. Translation: MUST be a docs committer to update docs without a chaperone.

Too hard, don't try. New/regular (non-committer) contributors practically nonexistent.
Even easy stuff/changes don't get submitted
Bad user outcomes: Docs lag behind current state, often for a very long time
Burnout: Overburdened docs team

Zero-friction documentation authoring/updates. Ideally: Click 'edit', make changes. Save.
Non-committers submitting high quality docs updates
Docs issues in Bugzilla processed as well as Ports

Needs

As simple and easy as possible.
No unnecessary additional burden on docs/project: Well-maintained, not NIH.
- I don't want to know what latex/docbook/bibliography are. At least not initially
- I want to update/add docs, right now.
Focus on content not markup: Automatic formatting / validation
Proper use of docbook/freebsd docs features: Entity/Tag library/completion
Easy, single step installation: exists or could exist as a port/package
Ideally improves the OSS ecosystem: OpenSource, if not free for OpenSource / Non-Profit Projects
Ideally multiple options/alternatives

Docs as changing code. This is the solution is an editor + svn integration perspective. Checkout, launch program, edit, save, commit.
Docs as content editing. This is the solution is a wiki/service perspective. View, edit, save.

Name	Language	OpenSource	Free for OSS	DocBook Support
XWiki	Java		N/A	4.4