| RFC-0125: Shortlinks on Fuchsia.dev | |
|---|---|
| Status | Accepted |
| Areas |
|
| Description | Allow redirecting fuchsia.dev/go/ |
| Gerrit change | |
| Authors | |
| Reviewers | |
| Date submitted (year-month-day) | 2021-07-09 |
| Date reviewed (year-month-day) | 2021-09-01 |
Summary
Allow the use of shorter, meaningful, and durable links to specific Fuchsia artifacts. These shortlinks ensure links won't degrade over time.
The proposed format is fuchsia.dev/go/
For example, fuchsia.dev/go/components could redirect to a page such as fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src/concepts/components/v2.
In most cases, these links should not be changed; however, there may be exceptions, such as when the Component framework version change. The go/link allows for a seamless transition between these version changes.
Motivation
Shorter links are useful for things such as rubrics, specifications, documentation, FAQs, supported hardware, and more. They are also helpful with version updated, for example, Components v2.
This can also help with versioning of certain core parts of Fuchsia such as Components.
Stakeholders
Facilitator: hjfreyer.
Reviewers: mkearney, curtisgalloway.
Consulted: Members of FEC.
Socialization: RFC draft was shared with the technical writing team.
Design
The design involves creating a directory in the source tree in docs/go/
to place a _redirects.yaml file.
This directory will include a README.md file to explain how to use the
redirects. It will also have an OWNERS file to review and approve the new
shortlinks. The OWNERS would also need to approve any possible changes to
existing go links. These changes should only be approved in very particular
cases, such as a replacement of a core concept, such as a new version of the
component framemwork.
The format of redirects would be in the following format:
- from: /docs/go/<keyword>
to: <path in source tree>
Example:
- from: /docs/go/drivers
to: /docs/reference/hardware/drivers.md
This redirect results in
Implementation
Create three changes:
- A gerrit change that includes the new
docs/godirectory along with_redirects.yaml,README.md, andOWNERSfiles. - A gerrit change that updates
doc_checkerfor testing. See Testing. - An overall redirect for fuchsia.dev to redirect fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src/go/
to fuchsia.dev/go. fuchsia/src/go/ would be the path for
docs/goon fuchsia.dev.
Performance
This would result in a minor latency increase due to the redirect.
Ergonomics
This enables contributors to make easy to remember keywords for Fuchsia documentation.
Backwards Compatibility
N/A.
Security considerations
Technically, a _redirects.yaml file can be added in any of the
sub-directories of the /docs/ directory to make redirects. However, the scope
of a _redirects.yaml file is limited to the directory in which the file
lives; there should not be an issue where other parts of fuchsia.dev get
redirected.
This proposal creates a /docs/go/_redirects.yaml file which limits the
redirect scope to only fuchsia.dev/go/. In the background, a higher-level
redirect takes care of redirecting fuchsia.dev/fuchsia-src/go to
fuchsia.dev/go. Keep in mind that once the git repo is moved into fuchsia.dev,
the fuchsia-src/ directory is mapped to the docs/ directory.
Privacy considerations
N/A.
Testing
doc_checker
can be expanded to verify that:
- The
- from:fields only have/docs/gopaths to avoid issues. - The
to:links exist. - The other .md files in
/docs/are not referencing broken/docs/go/links. - Problematic words or phrases are not used in the names of links.
- No duplicate
gokeywords exist.
Documentation
Create a README.md that explains the syntax for the file along with the
following items:
- Rubric for making a shortlink. See rubric For example, things that should have a permanent reference in case of a reorganization. Any reviewer could consult this rubric to determine the validity of proposed links.
Rubric
Short links (fuchsia.dev/go) are intended to be durable, have a meaningful name, and be of general interest. The links are durable and use a flat namespace, so it is desirable to carefully consider each proposal to limit the number of created short links.
Reviewers should consider the following factors to approve pending short link requests:
Will the proposed link be relevant for a long time? Links are intended to be durable, so you should be reasonably confident that a link will continue to be of general interest for a long time.
Positive example: A general Fuchsia FAQ page or the current list of supported hardware. Even though they will change over time, the topics will be relevant indefinitely.
Negative example: An RFC proposal that is under consideration. While the proposal is currently relevant, it will be either accepted or rejected. If accepted, it may be a suitable short link topic for reference.
Does the link cover a general topic or concept? Is it relevant for a wide audience?
Positive example:
- An overview of FIDL. This is a fundamental technology used by Fuchsia.
- The Fuchsia security model. This is of interest to both users and developers.
Negative example:
- Documentation for a single system call. A link to the list of system calls would be more relevant.
- Instructions for booting a specific model of NUC over Ethernet. A link to a more general page on booting Fuchsia on categories of devices would be of interest to a wider audience.
Does the link duplicate an existing easy-to-use link that is unlikely to change?
- Positive example:
is unlikely to change, so is probably redundant.
- Positive example:
Is the link name meaningful, and does it comply with the Respectful Code policy? Short links should be, of course, short, but not at the expense of being understood.
Positive example: Both of these examples are short and descriptive:
/docs/go/faq(renders as fuchsia.dev/go/faq)./docs/go/hardware-specs(renders as fuchsia.dev/go/hardware-specs).
Does the
tolink point to a document inside of the/docs/directory?Positive example:
to: /docs/concepts/software_model.md.
Negative example:
to: http://google.com/.
Drawbacks, alternatives, and unknowns
N/A
Prior art and references
Examples from link shortners such as: