[Sca-cooks] *Sigh* That tomato thing - again

[Lisa]

Without quoting anyone, I think the real issue here is whether documentation
is desirable, required, or necessary.  In my opinion, documentation is
desirable, as it allows others to see and hopefully recreate what you're
doing, possibly using or jumping off from the sources you've used.  In some
situations, such as major A&S competitions, I would say that documentation
is even necessary and probably should be required.  Now having said that,
for small local competitions where you have people entering competitions for
the first time, documentation can be a major stumbling block, especially if
they're new enough that they've never run across documentation.  I have
actually seen competitions where documentation was required and had only 1
or no entries because there were not enough people who understood how to do
their documentation and were afraid to make the attempt.  Had documentation
been "encouraged but not required", there would have been a number of
entries, as I spoke with people who stated that they wanted to enter the
competition, but didn't know how to deal with documentation, therefore when
they found out that it was required, they chose not to enter.

On a discussion list like this where most of the people on the list are
heavily into documentation and know their stuff, it really isn't an issue,
but during a demo, or in a group where there's a more even range of
"experts" and "non-experts" a discussion regarding documentation is a very
touchy situation, often causing those who are just learning to have their
eyes glaze over and scratch their heads in confusion.  For a Demo, I'd
respectfully suggest a note or statement that although there is limited
evidence showing that X did exist in the time period we recreate, it's
generally accepted that use of X was not commonplace.

Elizabeta