Re:Quarkdown: A modern Markdown-based typesetting system
by andrewd18 on Tuesday June 03, 2025 @08:26AM
(#44169236)
Professional tech writer here: We use GitHub and a tool called OxygenXML to write docs-as-code in an XML DTD called "DITA". It's a hefty IBM invention from the early aughts, but it covers every use case I've thrown at it, from small documentation sets to multi-thousand-page monsters. Supports PDF, HTML, Word, and many other output types.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Quarkdown: A modern Markdown-based typesetting system
by starkparker on Tuesday June 03, 2025 @10:56AM
(#44170811)
DITA's so great at everything _except contributions from non-tech writers_ that half of my career has involved migrating tech writing stacks that use it to Markdown/SSGs in git repos.
DITA's benefits require a certain scale that most tech companies never achieve. And the Open Toolkit is a nightmare piece of software.
Re:Quarkdown: A modern Markdown-based typesetting system
by andrewd18 on Tuesday June 03, 2025 @06:13PM
(#44175357)
Agreed, and we use Markdown where we can. But inevitably some product manager comes along and demands tables inside tables or embedded reuse of content... and it's back to DITA.
OxygenXML makes the OT much more manageable. I haven't had to touch an OT XSL transform in a few years now. Worth every penny.