docs, wip

Author: lfagundes

LICENSE

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ GNU Affero GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
                       Version 3, 29 June 2007
 
     Solid Node, licensed under LGPL
-    Copyright (C) 2023 Luis Henrique Cassis Fagundes
+    Copyright (C) 2023-2025 Luis Henrique Cassis Fagundes
 
     This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
     it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by

README.rst

@@ -20,27 +20,25 @@ Solid Node
 
 
 
-A framework to develop and manage solid projects in Python
+A framework to create parametrical mechanical projects with Free Software
 
 
 * Free software: GNU Affero General Public License v3
 * Documentation: https://solid-node.readthedocs.io.
 
+Introduction
+============
 
-Features
---------
+There are several technologies that allow the creation of parametric solids
+using Free Software, namely OpenScad, CadQuery and Solid Python. When it comes
+to mechanical projects, each technology has a different set of libraries available,
+and each has its pros and cons. Whichever your choice, they all face limitations
+soon. Solid Node proposes an architecture to organize mechanical projects so that
+different technologies can be combined, relation between components can be tested,
+and individual pieces can be rendered for optimization.
 
-* Develop using SolidPython and CadQuery combined
-* Filesystem monitoring triggering transpilation to openscad and stl building
-* Background optimization
-* Spatial calculations trimesh
-
-This is pre-alpha, just releasing something.
-
-Credits
--------
-
-This package was created with Cookiecutter_ and the `audreyr/cookiecutter-pypackage`_ project template.
+Quickstart
+==========
 
-.. _Cookiecutter: https://github.com/audreyr/cookiecutter
-.. _`audreyr/cookiecutter-pypackage`: https://github.com/audreyr/cookiecutter-pypackage
+Start by cloning `solid-seed <https://github.com/LibreSolid/solid-seed>_`.
+Follow instructions from the README file there.

docs/background.rst

@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ Welcome to SolidNode's documentation!
    :maxdepth: 2
    :caption: Contents:
 
-   background
-   installation
-   tutorial
+   why-solid-node
+   quickstart
+   overview
    contributing
    history
 

docs/index.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+
+.. _quickstart:
+
+==========
+Quickstart
+==========
+
+Start by cloning solid-seed, which has a starting code for any project.
+
+    ```bash
+    $ git clone https://github.com/LibreSolid/solid-seed.git myproject
+    ```
+    
+Then create a virtual environment for your project
+
+    ```bash
+    $ cd myproject
+    $ virtualenv --python=python3 myproject-env
+    $ source myproject-env/bin/activate
+    ```
+
+And install solid-node in your environment
+
+    ```bash
+    $ pip install solid-node
+    ```
+
+Make sure you have openscad installed
+
+    ```bash
+    $ sudo apt-get install openscad
+    ```
+
+Start the solid process. By default, the web viewer is used.
+
+    ```bash
+    $ solid root develop
+    ```
+
+Open the link http://localhost:8000 in your browser. If you prefer
+using Openscad as a viewer, use the --openscad parameter
+
+    ```bash
+    $ solid root develop --openscad
+    ```
+
+Open `root/__init__.py` file in your prefered code editor and
+see your model updated in the viewer.
+
+Check the _build directory for the STLs of your project.
+

docs/quickstart.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Why Solid Node
+==============
+
+When designing a mechanical project with Free Software, there are some technologies available that allow parametric design, using source code to create solid structures. There's OpenScad, which uses it's own scripting language, and on top of it there is Solid Python, which allows modelling for OpenScad using Python language. Python also has CadQuery, which is more powerful and flexible for complex designs, but has a steeper learning curve, and is specially difficult to install. When picking which technology to use, one should consider the libraries available, and a complex project might need to assemble pieces that come from different libraries. Openscad has a native animation system that allows developing projects with moving parts, but it soon gets very slow as project grows.
+
+Solid Node come as a framework to join all these underlying technologies together. It's inspired by a web development culture, which uses frameworks like Django, React and Angular, that monitors filesystem for changes and shows the result automatically. Solid Node proposes an architecture that allows building of pieces as they change, being able to handle a lot of moving parts.
+
+Solid Node also provides testing capabilities. Mechanical projects can generate a lot of garbage from experimentation, and this can be substantially reduced by being able to logically test connections between components before producing anything.
+
+Solid Node is Free Software, released under the AGPLv3. This mean that any project using it is bound to the AGPLv3. As digital manufacturing technologies, like 3D printing, become popular, distribution of source code can greatly increase goods lifetime and reduce waste generation. Free Software modeling and source code distribution should become an industry standard, and this project is one more step towards that.