From: Gavin Sinclair <gsinclair@...>
Date: 2004-05-14T11:55:39+09:00
Subject: Re: Presenting a more unified front (Ruby webring?)

James wrote:
> > If I were a Ruby Newbie just coming into the language and community I
> > think I would find it a bit overwhelming.  Where should I start?  Is
there
> > a single source for all of these links?  Where should I go for a
> > 'one-stop' source for all things Ruby?
>
> I would suggest one should go first to ruby-lang.org, which (ideally)
> would give enough direction on where to go next based on a user's needs.
>
> Whether the site does this well for enough people is open to discussion.

It does a pretty good job, but not good enough.  It contains quite a few
links, but they are shoehorned into the tDiary format, and in many cases,
the best resources are not displayed upfront.

Solving this is probably as simple as creating a new section in the left
sidebar called "Welcome User".  Under that would exist two links: "Ruby
Web Resources" and "Community Resources".  These would be purpose-written
articles to give the new (or old) user some context to their browsing.

I wrote a document (for the "Ruby Documentation Bundle") a long time ago
to suit this purpose, but didn't really advertise it.  You can read it at
http://rubygarden.org/ruby?GavinSinclair/GettingStartedWithRuby.  It is
now out of date, but not bad nonetheless.  I would gladly revise and
reformat it if this approach were taken.

What it boils down to is this: there are lots of good Ruby web resources
now, and Phil is right to point out that it's all a bit confusing.  A
well-known document that addresses this would help.  ruby-lang.org should
be considered the home page, and every significant Ruby page should
(already) link there.  Therefore, the "roadmap" document should be hosted,
and well promoted, on ruby-lang.org.

# Aside: every good project has a good FAQ.  Ruby's FAQ should be better
# organised, readable as a single document, and better promoted.

Cheers,
Gavin