I've found that the use of documentFragment elements can provide an easy way to avoid reflows. They're easy to use, you can build your stuff on the side and then insert the fragment somewhere in the DOM as needed.
We like comments that promote thoughtful discussion about the article or the subjects they are about. The grandparent comment is not a good comment when judged by this standard. It is not really related to the subject at hand and if it actually did start discussion it would be a hindrance and distraction.
If it had not been the bottom comment already I would have probably downvoted it for these reasons.
Though I have to admit that I wonder how come most Linux / open source software websites are so average-looking in terms of colors, font and general styling.
There seems to be a policy of content over presentation when it should be possible and even easy to have both in 2011 without much effort.
If you look a bit more closely you'll see that is not just an article on a website but a wiki powered by mediawiki. As such it is not that suited to design customisation especially the type of design you are referring to.
That being said I would argue this sort of guide or reference is much more readable in a plain unembellished format. Content is king in this instance.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/API/DocumentFragme...