[Mozart Oz Users] Mozart documentation -- proposal to simplify it

[Peter Van Roy]

Dear developers,

In order to simplify the maintenance of the documentation and to avoid
duplications (which can easily be incoherent), I propose to replace the
following documents:

  Tutorial of Oz
  Distributed Programming in Mozart
  The Oz Notation
  Loop Support
  Limitations

by the draft Models book on the Mozart site.  This has the advantage
that it is always up to date and that any errors can be corrected
immediately.  This should solve the problem that Denys implicitly
mentioned.  To make this replacement complete, I still have to rework
the distribution chapter a little and add explanation for the loop
support.  This should take less than a week.  The book does not yet
have an index.  This will come eventually--I am writing as fast as I
can :-).

Seif and I don't have time to update the Tutorial and Distribution
Tutorial, and I think it would be a waste of time to try.  On the other
hand, those two tutorials in their incomplete states are rather
embarrassing to have as official Mozart documentation.  I would like to
have them removed!  I would also like to see Limitations removed (it is
superseded by Appendix F of the book).

The Oz Notation is a very complete, technically sound document, but it
is rather imposing for programmers.  Seif and I have distilled the
essence of the Oz syntax (we believe) in Appendix B of the Models book,
in 7 pages including explanations, also including the loop support
syntax.  This appendix is compatible with the rest of the book.

What do you think?  Should the latest draft of the Models book always
be available on the Mozart site?  Would this discourage a future
publisher?  (I don't believe so, if we always mark it 'DRAFT' very
clearly.)  But if so, can we do it in such a way that the publisher
would not be discouraged (it is advance publicity, in some sense, and
can create an audience)?

Peter
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