I have a dream, of a help/manual/doc system, which is simple to use?
Niel
niel at telia.com
Sat Feb 21 22:59:52 PST 2004
Written 21st january 2004.
I have a dream, of a help/manual/doc system, which is simple to use?
I have a dream, of a help/manual/doc system, which is simple, and yet
comprehensive to use.
When I need help to some question, when using freebsd, I often get very
confused, and cannot find out how to do it.
Often I find some manual, but then pages and pages start scrolling past my
eyes, and soon I am very confused, and my brain looses track of what it
trying to do. Often there is some tecnical abbreviations mixed into the
explanation, which we do not know at all, what is!
There exist a very comprehensive documentation for freebsd, man, faq etc. So
far, that is very good. Leave it as it is. That is okay for later reading.
But what I am searching for, is very short manuals for every topic and
program. How to install it, where the files are sitting, how to set-up.
Just a very simple example, for just to get a basic program running. And also
a very basic example for using the program, so you at least are getting it up
and running. Then you can later experiment with more complicated items and the
programs.
I am also in search for a very big handbook, with cross reference word, for
ALL words. So you can find out, where to look, every thinkable word you might
meet, when installing and using freebsd.
I am a newbee, and I cannot simply remember, where I last read -or found a
subject. I mean, most endusers simply do not have such a glue brain, that
they can remember. (Many times they simply tells themselves: "Let me stay
with windows. That I am used to.)
I have tried using linux red hat, caldera and suse, and I have now begun using
FreeBSD, and I find it the best system so far, with the most easy help
system. Nothing wrong with that.
To sum up. Please simple manuals for all the some 6.000 programs, shell
commands, etc, with lots of simple to understand examples, so one at least
can get started.
This is just a newbees hottest wish.
Even Microsoft have not yet found out, how important above is. It is the alpha
and omega, for using operating systems and programs, for ordinary people. ( I
have even found the same problems in manuals for tv, video and so on. )
I mean many people have difficulties just reading a simple explanation.
It is okay, to make very sophisticated programs, but it is as important, that
the enduser can find out, how to use it.
And, please use simple English words. We enduser come from all parts of the
world, and do not all have the English language as our native language. And
please no humour! :-) If you live in Africa, you do not know American slang?
Yes, I still have a dream ..... *smiling - positive*
Regards,
A freebsd "Grassroot", hoping to saw just a tiny seed in some smart
programmers mind, so we can start begin really using UNIX type operating
systems, instead og windows 98! *serious - thinking - :-) *
More information about the freebsd-newbies
mailing list