- **situated docs** - it's a 2 words compound - **docs** stands for documentation - user manual - instructions - guidelines - tutorial - the documentation of coding related practices - software documentation - instruction on how to use and make software - how to be a developer™ - or how to do things with code without being a developer™ - that is actually the case for most of the people that enjoy coding - or a way to enjoy coding more - **situated** refer to the context of this research - fine tuning about - kind - size - of software to look into - _situated software_ - software built around the needs of a community - _example_ xpub has a small server - `server = a machine connected to internet` - the soupboat - _url_ `hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/` - it is a shared space online - where we can prototype websites, hosting applications, etc - a place to call home in the internet - very public yet very intimate - _??_ - how to share knowledge about - how to run - how to manage - how to configure - our server - could this knowledge be useful for others than us - could this small system support others similar ones - how _situated knowledges_ inform the knowledge surrounding our tools - how different situations generate different documentations - and how different contexts resonate together
- ![list](img/list.png) - **a list** - to explore the process of sharing knowledge and making worlds together around situated software - the plan - compile a list of - _devices_ - _thoughts_ - _tools_ - _references_ - _hints_ - _fieldwork_ - _excercise_ - to articulate software documentation as a form of care - a list - without claim to catch everything - where order - matters - but the relations between items - matter more - a space to sketch contours - and then draw through - a soft structure - respect the heritage of each item - without worries of tangling them together - experiment with the list - as a writing machine - that seems already fun - **here some prompts:**
- ![dough](img/dough.png) - **documentation as a form of care** - _care for who?_ - the actors involved - developer - user - mantainer - the community - everyone in the range of 1km from the source code - aha it's a nice image - because the source code is not just in 1 place - but cloned in different machines - _care for what?_ - infrastructure - accessibility - environment - ethical values - moral values - what was the difference again? - between infrastructure and ethical values
- ![a spiral](img/spiral.jpg) - the making of software as a ꩜ - source code is at the center of the ꩜ - with all the other actors ꩜ing around - one can get into the making of software from a distance - size of the ꩜ is related to - the distance from the source code - documentation is following the ꩜ - distance from the center is related to specificity - more distant - less technical - **documentation framework** - _excercise:_ try to map a documentation framework on the ꩜ - swirling from the outside - _tutorials_ - learning oriented - basic competence - familiarize with the documentation - lesson - ꩜ing toward - _how-to_ - goal oriented - series of steps to make something - like recipes - _explanation_ - understanding oriented - discussion - how does it work - why it works like this - inner whirls - _reference_ - information oriented - dry - technical description - a list - to consult - not to read - center of the ꩜ - _source code_ - **but** - this is just one version of it - could it be different? - what happen if we put the person at the center - if we put the code on the edges - or along the ꩜
- ![Moon](img/moon.png) - software and gravity - source code as a planet - similar to the spiral - gravitational approach - satellites - and orbits - something about velocity - speed of things related to code - near the source code - things change quickly - far from source code - documentation - coding practices - take more time to adjust - code moves at the speed of light - because it moves into fiber optic cables - it ages fast - its tempo flows at a total different pace - compared to the pace of life
- ![Lamp](img/light.jpg) - if software illuminates an unknown, it does so through an unknowable - wendy hui kyong chun - software is a lamp - documentation is the light - you can see the lamp if the light is lit - if it's not lit the lamp is there but you cannot see - can you use other lights to see the lamp _?_ - every lamp has its own light - which - kind of light - kind of lamp - you bring for camping - you put near the bed - there is no such a thing as undocumented software - because without documentation you cannot see it - as a piece of code would print - i am documented therefore i am
- ![tanuki](img/tanuki.jpg) - the spirit animal of the developer is the tanuki - like racoons they collect resources from the internet - they patch together snippets from - stack overflow - youtube comments of video tutorial - git issues - forum - reddit - code as an objet trouvé - a dumpster diving approach to coding - a matter of urgency - a basic need - seeing software happen - holding code in your hands - is more important - than understanding it 100% - there is always time
- ![river](img/river.jpg) - the list and the river - waters are shallow - small text files are ok - how to navigate a full thesis ? - what about deep waters - wait - friendly reminder that - thesis and the project are two different things - _git_ writing workflow - issues to annotate
- ![udon](img/udon.png) - **about** this writing machine - it is a _web-to-print_ app - written in `Python` - using `Flask` - takes a plain text list - written in `Markdown` - and renders it in the browser - as `HTML` document - with some style and formatting - so i can think through the form of the list - while writing - im using a _web-to-print_ approach - because formatting with `CSS` - is really handy - sorcery - the list can shuffle a lot - without extra work - find the machine on _git_ - _url_ `git.xpub.nl/kamo/writing-list`
- ![reference](img/reference.jpg) - **references** - Situated Software, Clay Shirky - Situated Knowledges, Donna Harawai - List and complexity: Annemarie Mol & John Law - Diataxis Documentation Framework, Daniele Procida - Images from - Sumiyaki Monogatari, Takeno Shigeyasu - (Tales of a Charcoal Burner) - amazing manga - 100% offtopic - e va be - when you like something - you wanna share it