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  • 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 it more
  • situated refers to the context of this research
  • which kind of software to look into
  • situated software
  • software built around the needs of a community
  • that can be specific instead of generic
  • that does not need to scale
  • example: xpub has a small server
  • server = machine connected to internet
  • we call it Soupboat
  • url hub.xpub.nl/soupboat/
  • it is a shared space online
  • where to prototype websites, hosting applications, etc
  • a place to call home in the internet
  • very public yet very intimate
  • and now a series of ??
  • 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 around our tools
  • how different situations generate different documentations
  • and how different contexts resonate together
  • ??
  • the plan to think through these thing is to compile a list of resources

  • list
  • a list
  • to explore the process of sharing knowledge and making worlds together around situated software
  • compile a list of
  • devices
  • thoughts
  • tools
  • references
  • excercises
  • hints
  • fieldwork
  • to articulate software documentation as a form of care
  • without claim to catch everything
  • where order
  • matters
  • but relations between items
  • matter more
  • a space to sketch contours
  • and then draw out the borders
  • a soft structure
  • to respect the consistency of every items
  • without worries of tangling them together
  • a texture where to weave
  • different voices
  • different registers
  • different genres
  • list as writing machine
  • seems already fun
  • here some prompts:

  • dough
  • documentation as a form of care
  • care for who?
  • the actors involved
  • (human and more-than-human)
  • developer
  • user
  • 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 the future life of the software
  • care for what?
  • infrastructure
  • accessibility
  • environment
  • ethical values
  • moral values
  • what was the difference again?
  • between infrastructure and ethical values

  • a spiral
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • the list and the river
  • waters are shallow
  • small text files are ok
  • how to navigate a full thesis ?
  • swim
  • what about deep waters
  • wait
  • friendly reminder that
  • wet
  • thesis and the project are two different things
  • git writing workflow
  • issues to annotate

  • udon
  • 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
  • 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