Re: Cut & Paste Documentation

+++ Reilly Burke [09/09/03 13:06 -0700]:
> 
> Jay Smith wrote about Cut & Paste and Documentation:
> 
> > Maybe we better leave this one alone.
> 
> No - don't leave it alone!  We've uncovered a real genuine Linux 
> annoyance that is too sensitive for the Linux geeks.  They're really 
> starting to thrash about trying to defend their morally correct 
> mouse/technique/man pages position, and trying to clarify our abysmal, 
> shameful, desktop ignorance.

somehow i get the impression that this discussion is moving away from
anything that is constructive. for the record i am not a geek, just another
joe that started off with windows, then switched to linux out of curiosity
and liked it a whole lot better. i also post a lot on LUG mailing lists and
usually always get a solution.

> 
> All the irritated feedback from the offended Linux geeks shows that this 
> is a really sensitive issue for Linux enthusiasts who are trying to 
> defend the dreadful (as in really stupid and thoughtless) how-to Cut & 
> Paste behaviour of Linux.  The all-time winner for the defense of really 
> annoying Linux-specific methods is the following excerpt from this forum:

let me see, you want to copy some text from a mozilla browser to another text
document open in an editor. here is how you do it the linux way:
o		select text with mouse.

o		click on the edit menu and selct copy

o		click on the edit menu of your text editor and select paste.

you seem to have a problem with this???


> 
> "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."

now this was something that i did not know, but i do now. all i need to do is
google a bit and try to find out how this is done. now if you not want to
even try to learn something new, then perhaps you are better off being spoon
fed by uncle bill.

having said that, on a RedHat 9.0 machine running gnome, the man pages are
easily available in what looks like an HTML format to me with links so that i
can navigate the help better. ditto for the info pages as well. this is
definately a big improvement from a couple of years back, so obviously the
developers are trying to improve on this aspect.


> 
> Don't "leave it alone" - go after these guys and tear them to shreds! 
> Take no prisoners!  It's been proven here on this forum beyond any doubt 

unless i misunderstood, this forum is to allow us to voice our annoyances
about linux and if a solution is provided then that's a big bonus. language
like yours is flame bait.


> that the truly annoying Linux Cut & Paste model is broken and needs to 
> be fixed, regardless of what the geek defenders  say!  Although the 
> attackers and defenders are equal in numbers, the Yays (Yes, Cut & Paste 
> is annoying) win with the clarity and honesty of their examples of truly 
> annoying Linux behaviour.  The Nays (No, nothing is wrong with Cut & 
> Paste or man pages) lose because they're now reduced to mean insults and 
> name-calling, and we should drive them over the cliff onto the rocks 
> below before they have a chance to regroup. If Linux doesn't fix this 
> stuff, it's toast.

please, please try to be sensible.

Thank You,
Regards,
mario
-- 
Mario Michael da Costa <[email protected]>
-----------------------------------------------
The opinions expressed in this mail are mine
and may not reflect those of my employer.