Peoples experience with 3.2.1 Doc

[nathanpp]

I'm curious as to peoples experience with the paid for JBoss 3.2.1 documentation. From this forum it doesn't look too good. I WANT to buy the annual subscription however, from the poor experience people are discussing in regards from purchasing to receiving updates makes me weary. I'm also skeptical of the 3.2.1 documentation really being 3.2.1 documentation and not 2.4 and 3.0.x documentation. When I bought the 3.0.x documentation last year it frankly was just 2.4 documentation with the 2.4 number changed to 3.0.x with very little real documentation on the 3.0.x version.

[starksm64]

Julien,

Thank you for responding to my post with the suggestion that somebody develop a Wiki on nukes. Until that time, could you please provide a response to my post.

Thanks very much!

[darryl_staflund]

Hi there,

I don't mind the 3.2.1 documentation -- it's twice as large as the 3.0.x documentation and isn't any harder to digest than the 3.0.x edition is.

However, I was kind of perturbed having paid $10 for 'Draft' version of the documentation. I mean, yeah, the docs are cheap and the app server is free. But because the purchase page doesn't inform you it's draft before you pay for it, I can't help but feel a bit swindled. I figure that either JBoss LLC is finally feeling some heat about their lack of documentation comparable to a true commercial product and so published the draft docs to silence the angry mob, or they're saying, "Look, it's $10 -- be happy with what you get." I hope its the former.

One other disappointment I've had with the documentation has to do with Component Source. You're informed upon purchasing the docs that you can download any updates that become available within 30 days of purchase. However, they're delivery software doesn't support this mechanism. As a result you have to contact them directly for the address of the FTP server hosting the docs. Delivery could be much more professional.

Darryl

[nathanpp]

Hi Darryl,

Thanks for sharing your comments. May I ask when you purchased the 3.2.1 documentation? It'd be nice to know since the JBoss CTO, Scott M Stark, said that 3.2.1 documentation was available at the beginning of July. He did not mention that it was only a "Draft" copy.

http://www.jboss.org/modules/bb/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&t= someone from JBoss like to comment as to whether or not the "Advanced Documentation" for JBoss3.2.1 is still only available as a "Draft" copy and if so when a expected final version will be made available?

[darryl_staflund]

Hi there,

Wow my previous post reads far more judgmental than I had intended. Instead of feeling "swindled", I rather felt "irked". And the dichotomy I gave between "release draft docs to keep people happy" and "be happy with the draft docs because of the price", is really a false and potentially mean-spirited one. My apologies.

I purchased the JBoss 3.2.1 docs on July 7, 2003 -- just after they became available for purchase to the public at large. I no longer have the FTP address of the associated document but two weeks after the purchase it still pointed to the draft version of the admin guide.

Darryl

[starksm64]

The draft version was only released in the subscription. The 3.2.1 standalone was not updated until the final version was ready. I'm checking on on what is currently being made available.

[geoffm74]

I purchased documentation today and got the "draft" copy. Also, the CMP chapter is not present! Also, I am running Linux and was unable to use ComponentSource's download manager, meaning that I had to call them to obtain an ftp link to the documentation (note that this was not documented on the site! I had to figure it out for myself).

I am wondering if the support guy I talked to sent me the wrong link? Perhaps I should call back. Already, though, the process of getting the documentation has been a considerable hassle, and the CMP information was what I was really after to begin with!

[starksm64]

I just bought the 3.2.1 docs and downloaded it using the windows install process and this is the final 3.2.1 draft dated 2003-06-28 that includes the cmp chapter:

[starksm@banshee Disk1]$ cksum JBossBook_321.zip
1167785356 8824494 JBossBook_321.zip
[starksm@banshee Disk1]$ ls -l JBossBook_321.zip
-rwxrwxrwx 1 starksm None 8824494 Jun 28 17:29 JBossBook_321.zip*

I'll try the ftp download next.