Open source help software

[Bill Lawrence <lawrence -at- mayaviz -dot- com>]

I have been using open source tools for help development quite 
successfully for the past five years.  Both the Modular Docbook 
Stylesheets and the DITA stylesheets can create a variety of help 
outputs, including Microsoft HTML Help, Java Help, Eclipse Help, and 
Oracle Help.  They can also output plain HTML and XHTML.  Since I'm more 
familiar with the Docbook stylesheets, I'll speak to those.

The stylesheets themselves are implemented in XSL and are available on 
Sourceforge.  They are continually updated and have become increasingly 
more powerful and stable over time.  Unlike RoboHelp or similar tools, 
they can be directly integrated into the software development build 
process, so that you can automatically build help with its related software.

Everything you need, including powerful XML editors, is free (with the 
possible exception of a commercial-grade PDF formatter, which costs 
around $200).  However, the hidden cost is that to use these tools 
efficiently you must have at least one person on your staff that 
understands XML, XSL, FO, and at least one additional scripting 
language.  The real benefit to switching to these tools is that you are 
never again at the mercy of a particular commercial vendor.

Cheers,

Bill Lawrence

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