Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 19:30:20 -0800 From: "Dave Walton" <walton@nordicdms.com> To: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com>, questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Complete FreeBSD, 3rd edition (was: Printed man pages (was: Looking for the best webmaster.)) Message-ID: <19990108033021.16814.qmail@modgud.nordicdms.com> In-Reply-To: <19990108125205.J92409@freebie.lemis.com> References: <36936F9C.33BAFF88@uk.radan.com>; from Mark Ovens on Wed, Jan 06, 1999 at 02:13:48PM %2B0000
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On 8 Jan 99, at 12:52, Greg Lehey wrote: > On Wednesday, 6 January 1999 at 14:13:48 +0000, Mark Ovens wrote: > > > > What plans do you have for the next edition, Greg?. Timescales, > > changes etc? > > I'm hoping to have it out by April. I'm open to suggestions about > what should be included. There was something that I wished was in there about 6 months ago, but I can't remember what it was. It'll probably come to me as I'm browsing through my new copy of the 3rd edition... > That's how the Second Edition got so big. The First Edition didn't > have so many long man pages. It's always hard to resist creeping features, even when the "features" are man pages. I'd suggest setting a strict, inviolable limit of 200 pages at most for man pages, and including only the most critical system repair commands. For example, include ed instead of vi. There are times when you can't use vi, so ed is more critical. Not to mention that vi takes 20 pages! (For those who think 200 pages sounds like a lot, compare to the 2nd edition's 1100 pages!) > I think the better approach would be to consider a man pages book. We > had thought of this back in 1995, but we never got round to doing it. > What do you people think? The question isn't ``is it a good idea?'', > it's ``would you buy one?''. I bought the 4.4BSD set. The only time I've used them is when I found myself in a real bind and happened to be at home. They are just too big, and too rarely needed, to carry to jobs. I think I'd feel too guilty about the waste of paper to repeat the purchase. I really think a limited section of the most crucial man pages is the way to go. If it was a separate book, it would be harder to resist "creeping pages" and it would be harder to keep in print due to lower demand. Dave ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Walton Webmaster, Postmaster Nordic Entertainment Worldwide walton@nordicdms.com http://www.nordicdms.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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