Re: Difficulty finding documentation (and how to use the docs) for command-lineprograms

Daniel,

When you say:

   "For Linux the documentation is easily found"....

   "The 'man' pages come in 'troff' format, so you easily create a PDF file
   from them. (or HTML if you must) The HOWTO's and Manuals come in SGML
   which if also easy to convert after you installed the SGML tools."

I believe that you are identifying yourself as being TOO technically 
oriented and TOO experienced to objectively judge how difficult this is for 
the future average linux user.

If linux is going to grow into what I believe it can and should, the same 
type of person that buys a Windows-based PC at an office supply store needs 
to be able to deal with this stuff.

I'm sorry, but if my mother (who has a Windows PC) had to figure out how to 
install SGML tools and then convert SGML into PDF,just to read the 
documentation on how to use a program, she would throw the computer out the 
window.  That is assuming that the linux PDF reader (which one by the way?; 
half of mine only work half of the time) actually worked. Of course, then 
if she wanted to print the documentation she would have to figure out how 
to get a print driver (does anybody understand CUPS?, etc.) installed and 
configured to work with her little printer.

This is NOT "easily" stuff as it currently stands.

I don't like Mr. Bill Gates for a lot of reasons.  However, I have to 
admire that MS really does try to look at things from the standpoint of 
users like my mother.  Companies like MS are so successful perhaps because 
they do usability testing and then REALLY PAY ATTENTION to the results.  I 
get the feeling that they never say "it's simple, just do this..." or "it's 
easy, you are just ignorant" [as another member of this list said to me].

The truth is that the average computer user is pretty ignorant.  They 
neither want to, or in some cases are able to, understand the hows and whys 
of this stuff.  They just want it to do their simple little task.

Linux needs to present itself at a level that my mother can cope with. 
Then, if you or I want to get under the hood and work from the command line 
and do all sorts of other neat stuff, we are welcome to.  BUT, there should 
be a front end on it that does not cause people get frustrated and give up.

Am I frustrated?  Yes.  The reason is that I want to move my whole (small) 
company completely to Linux, but there are still just too many issues -- 
and most of the issues have to do with user interface and usability.

Jay

Daniel C. von Asmuth wrote:
> Thus quoth Mario Michael da Costa on Tue, Sep 09, 2003 at 09:43:45AM +0200:
> 
>>+++ paulporter-wGFJ6LvcMHJKwMsVqopc/[email protected] [08/09/03 11:17 -0400]:
>>
>>>Boy can I relate to this one!  Not only is the documentation obscure but
>>>even when it is avalible in html it so chopped up that it is almost
>>>useless. Whoever came up with the idea that each topic of the
>>>documentation should be put in a new page aught to be shot. This makes
>>>searching for what one needs almost impossible. I find myself having to
>>>search page by page for what I'm looking for.
> 
> 
> For Linux the documentation is easily found, but the docuemntation for
> X is arcane and if there was documentation for Gnome or KDE I wouldn't bother
> to look for it. 
> 
> 
>>i usually bookmark the index page and i use a browser like mozilla that has
>>tabs ;)
>>
>>
>>>If the documentation is for an application I like to print it out so I can
>>>read and study it while away from the computer.  With the documentation so
>>>chopped up, it first has to be pulled into a word processer and massaged
>>>before it can be printed; other wise one ends up wasting a tremendous
>>>amount of paper.
>>
>>whenever available try to get the .pdf or .ps manuals. that's what i do when
>>i want to take a printout. 
> 
> 
> The 'man' pages come in 'troff' format, so you easily create a PDF file from
> them. (or HTML if you must) The HOWTO's and Manuals come in SGML which if
> also easy to convert after you installed the SGML tools.
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> 
> Daniel von Asmuth
> 
> 

-- 
Jay Smith

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