Unfortunately, Linux/Unix programmers WILL NOT use a simple/common word when a much more complicated one will do. I personally think it's to show off to everyone that they went to college and learned something.
The man pages are properly titled "Programmers manual pages." I shared and to some extent, still do your frustrations with man pages. These clowns, (the Unix/Linux documentation guys), gripe about Mickeysoft but you can't get them to write a simple explanation of how a process should be configured and what the da** arguments mean and do to the command.
If the hard core Unix/Linux guys disagree with me, just try to justify "vi" or a "sendmail" configuration as being anything other than a pain in the a**.
BTW, I have been using UNIX for 20 years and there are still quite a few things I still do not like, vi being the first.
Joe
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
On 12/3/2002 at 4:03 PM Joe Brandt wrote:
>>Oh there's plenty of documentation. It's just that much of it written
>>like reference manuals. You don't give someone new to a subject a
>>_reference manual_; you give them a tutorial. But coders don't like to
>>write tutorials.
>>
>>And not following instructions isn't unique to us. I hate to say it, but
>>half the time, when I have to put something together (bikes, exercise
>>equipment, etc.) I only look at the docs (usually written by some
>>English-as-third-language Taiwanese) if I can't figure out how it goes
>>together myself. Comedians do whole routines on this facet of male
>>thinking. But in the Open Source community, you get bashed around a few
>>times for not R'ing The F'ing M, and you figure out you'd better check
>>the man pages and start googling before you go asking questions.
>>
>>Fortunately, the people on this list are a little more tolerant than
>>most. ;-}
>>
>>Paul
>>
>>
>>
>>
>Yes that is my biggest complaint about Linux (I am a newbie) is that I
>try to RTFM and it is like it is written in a foreign language. I am so
>completely tired of "RTFM" that I am considering giving up. I have
>given up asking questions.
>Hobbies are supposed to relieve stress not cause it.
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