Man vs. Info: documenting the software
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From: Sven Mascheck on 2 Feb 2010 18:09 Ivan Shmakov wrote: >>>>>> "S" == Seebs <usenet-nospam(a)seebs.net> writes: > S> I use about fifteen programs in which /foo<return> yields a search > S> for foo. I am not very motivated to learn another interface... > > Do you use / to search the Bash history as well? Do you mean especially Seebs, or those who actually use set -o vi? > S> [...] And you can type "man 2 read" and get basically the > S> same behavior across a large number of essentially unrelated > S> implementations. > > $ (for i in waterlily gray cylon earth theory th3 ip[...] ; do \ > ssh "$i" LC_ALL=C man 2 read ; \ > done) > No manual entry for read in section 2 > No manual entry for read in section 2 > ivan@[...]'s password: [...] > READ(2) Linux Programmer's Manual READ(2) > [...] > Linux 2007-11-15 READ(2) > No manual entry for read in section 2 > No manual entry for read in section 2 > No manual entry for read in section 2 > No manual entry for read in section 2 What do you want to tell to us with that? 6 of your 7 Linux systems don't have the development manpages installed? ;-) I was curious, and just tried Linux/glibc, SunOS5, SunOS4, AIX3, FreeBSD8, OpenBSD4, Minix2, HP-UX11, OSF1, OpenServer5, Ultrix42 and V7. And the exceptions are: - SunOS5(Solaris) needs "man -s2" instead of "man 2" - OpenServer: "man S" instead of "man 2" (sections: characters, not numbers) - On HP-UX, (1M) for maintenance is a special section, but it's the only one - Ultrix needs "man 3s" instead of "man 3", but no difference for 2 - 7th edition: that time, "sections" were still called "chapters" ;-) not too bad? honestly: even I would have expected more divergence, (probably because I often use Linux and Solaris)
From: Ben Finney on 2 Feb 2010 18:18 Tony Sequeira <nobody(a)127.0.0.1> writes: > Jerry Peters wrote: > > > For when I have to use the info abomination, I use tkinfo; it's not > > perfect, but just about anything is better than having to use emacs > > key bindings. > > Thanks for that, tkinfo makes life easier, not much, but some. I'd > just about given up on the info documentation. You might also be interested in 'pinfo', an alternative text-mode info browser <URL:http://pinfo.alioth.debian.org/>. -- \ “I am too firm in my consciousness of the marvelous to be ever | `\ fascinated by the mere supernatural …” —Joseph Conrad, _The | _o__) Shadow-Line_ | Ben Finney
From: Seebs on 2 Feb 2010 20:44 On 2010-02-02, Jerry Peters <jerry(a)example.invalid> wrote: > I agree with Seebs, it's much easier to type "man <whatever>" > "/-x" to find information on option "x" than to wade through an index. > For concepts the index is even worse, if I can't guess what the author > called it, I have to search through the toc/index *hoping* something > sticks out. With man I just do a search for some of the words. Exactly. I can search for a word that I am sure would occur in the *discussion* of a thing, without knowing what name the author would have picked for the *heading*. And the index just shows the headings. This is the same problem I have with record stores, where I can know the name of a band but not have any clue which of eight sections to look in. -s -- Copyright 2010, all wrongs reversed. Peter Seebach / usenet-nospam(a)seebs.net http://www.seebs.net/log/ <-- lawsuits, religion, and funny pictures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_(Scientology) <-- get educated!
From: Seebs on 2 Feb 2010 20:46 On 2010-02-02, Sven Mascheck <mascheck(a)email.invalid> wrote: > Ivan Shmakov wrote: >>>>>>> "S" == Seebs <usenet-nospam(a)seebs.net> writes: >> S> I use about fifteen programs in which /foo<return> yields a search >> S> for foo. I am not very motivated to learn another interface... >> Do you use / to search the Bash history as well? > Do you mean especially Seebs, or those who actually use set -o vi? FWIW: 1. I use "set -o vi". 2. I use ksh. (Or pdksh.) > I was curious, and just tried Linux/glibc, SunOS5, SunOS4, AIX3, FreeBSD8, > OpenBSD4, Minix2, HP-UX11, OSF1, OpenServer5, Ultrix42 and V7. > And the exceptions are: > - SunOS5(Solaris) needs "man -s2" instead of "man 2" > - OpenServer: "man S" instead of "man 2" (sections: characters, not numbers) > - On HP-UX, (1M) for maintenance is a special section, but it's the only one > - Ultrix needs "man 3s" instead of "man 3", but no difference for 2 > - 7th edition: that time, "sections" were still called "chapters" ;-) > not too bad? honestly: even I would have expected more divergence, > (probably because I often use Linux and Solaris) Interesting. I hadn't thought of the SysV stuff, because I hadn't had to deal with it in ages. FWIW, OS X does what I expect for "man 2 read", as do Linux and NetBSD. And, I'd point out: In all cases, you can find out with "man man". -s -- Copyright 2010, all wrongs reversed. Peter Seebach / usenet-nospam(a)seebs.net http://www.seebs.net/log/ <-- lawsuits, religion, and funny pictures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Game_(Scientology) <-- get educated!
From: Ivan Shmakov on 2 Feb 2010 22:23
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 >>>>> "S" == Seebs <usenet-nospam(a)seebs.net> writes: >>>>> "JP" == Jerry Peters <jerry(a)example.invalid> wrote: JP> I agree with Seebs, it's much easier to type "man <whatever>" "/-x" JP> to find information on option "x" than to wade through an index. JP> For concepts the index is even worse, if I can't guess what the JP> author called it, I have to search through the toc/index *hoping* JP> something sticks out. With man I just do a search for some of the JP> words. S> Exactly. I can search for a word that I am sure would occur in the S> *discussion* of a thing, without knowing what name the author would S> have picked for the *heading*. Exactly. And you can do the same with Info. S> And the index just shows the headings. Don't you confuse the index with the table of contents here? (Note also that both are distinct to Info menus.) Indeed, the index shows the headings (see below for an example), but not {\em just} the headings. - --cut: (libc) Concept Index -- * abort signal: Program Error Signals. * aborting a program: Aborting a Program. * absolute file name: File Name Resolution. * absolute priority: Absolute Priority. * absolute value functions: Absolute Value. * accepting connections: Accepting Connections. * access permission for a file: Access Permission. * access, testing for: Testing File Access. * accessing directories: Accessing Directories. * address of socket: Socket Addresses. - --cut: (libc) Concept Index -- - --cut: (libc) Function Index -- * a64l: Encode Binary Data. * abort: Aborting a Program. * abs: Absolute Value. * accept: Accepting Connections. * access: Testing File Access. * acos: Inverse Trig Functions. * acosf: Inverse Trig Functions. * acosh: Hyperbolic Functions. * acoshf: Hyperbolic Functions. - --cut: (libc) Function Index -- S> This is the same problem I have with record stores, where I can know S> the name of a band but not have any clue which of eight sections to S> look in. The computers are somewhat different to the record stores, as you can easily have the same record pointed from several sections at once. - -- FSF associate member #7257 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAkto7EQACgkQMBO2oCMOM0ph+wCfcCLvWZzPYx2z90x9N1PfXZRB uCwAnj9bv5Itz9Bs2D1hltfV3jBq0iRs =D/9X -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |