Post by NevynPost by NevynMore sarcasm than anything. The only time i've used them is to learn
to play some game or another. I know they're there. It doesn't stop me
from reaching for Google first.
Is this one of the joys of plentiful bandwidth (and faster response times) -
or given that most simple searches will yield exactly the same data served
from a web server instead of a local system, does it say something about the
formatting of MAN, INFO, and HELP?
Alternatively, perhaps you prefer to have other people 'filter' the
information and present you with a summary/sub-set?
I am MUCH more likely to go to man pages than I am to go for the gui
based help pages. The summaries/sub-sets do help for very specific
tasks when faced with horribly powerful tools such as ffmpeg or even
grep or sed. Generally speaking though, I prefer to know the console
way of doing things over the gui way just because it's more enduring
(command line arguments change less frequently than the position and
labels of buttons) and it's easier to explain to others.
Ok, but aren't there two distinct modes here?
Firstly the idea of learning something. This is where someone else's
experience (provided it closely-enough mirrors our own intentions) can
be a useful web resource - as can full-blown tutorials, encouraging
magazine articles, ...
Secondly, Help/MAN pages were never designed for this mode. They are
more 'reminders' and offer rules-and-regs/limits, written in a terse
style and usually by 'the inventors'.
There are another two 'modes' in there as well: the mode by which you
obtain helpful information, and the mode of the tool about which you are
seeking help. There's no 'rule' which says that if you are seeking help
about some command line tool, that you can't use a web/GUI help system
to find support!
It seems ironic that Linux has been heavily indebted to 'the Internet'
for providing such a cheap and easy way to promulgate its wares, and yet
the gold-standard in MAN/INFO-based reference data fails to take
advantage of ubiquitous web browsers or even easier-to-use hyper-link
technology...
I 'cheated' with my earlier reply. The Gnome Help system (at least)
simply reproduces the MAN page for rsync - as I believe it does for most
command-line entries. It also invites me to look at similar information
for grsync. Whilst I support your points about command line operation,
it is also apparent that enacting new concepts is often easier from a
GUI tool (so we're back to those 'modes'!) - efficiency concerns can
only follow from basic understandings!
Speaking for myself, I find the Help's presentation of MAN rsync easier
to read - likely because of the choice of font and employment of white
space. Ok, ok, I'm not consistent in that I like my email as almost
fixed-width font plain-text (and don't sit on the fence regarding 'ridge
text'). Same also with web presentations.
When it comes to long MAN presentations such as rsync or wget, where the
subject-tool offers a multiplicity of options, protocols, and even
client/server modes; it is easy to lose the wood amongst the trees. As
such it is a lot easier to use a search engine and add a few extra
keywords to find someone else's recommendations or summary, eg wget
using HTTP with password control and updating my existing local file-set...
That I then jump from my web browser to the command line is surely a
process of using the best tool for each mode/job?
So, we return to my earlier question, in a world of HTML and eBook
formats, and even server admins having the option of putting a web
browser on their personal desktop, why do we persist in keeping our help
system at the lowest-common-denominator, the command line?
--
Regards,
=dn
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