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Path: utzoo!utcs!mnetor!yetti!peter
From: peter@yetti.UUCP (Runge)
Newsgroups: net.followup,net.news.group
Subject: Re: Re: net.doc
Message-ID: <267@yetti.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 25-Oct-85 20:13:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: yetti.267
Posted: Fri Oct 25 20:13:35 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 25-Oct-85 23:15:48 EDT
References: <96@tekadg.UUCP> <2850@pesnta.UUCP> <354@ihdev.UUCP> <1011@oddjob.UUCP>
Organization: York University Computer Science
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> I agree with Peter that "man -k" is extremely useful; much more useful than
> a VMS-style "help" command, which depends on a command name's ability to
> convey the gist of the command's function (which, of course, would not work
> with UNIX command names, and often does not with VMS command names). 

There's a lot of unintentional humor in this comparison.  The percentage of
meaningful VMS commands relative to the total set is far higher than for
UNIX (the only meaningful Unix command I can remember off-hand is yes :-)),
and man -k is notorious for its inability to find anything appropriate.

VMS Help has a lot of faults (particularly if you just slap what Digital
provides on your system without doing some common-sense deletions and
additions to cover the local environment) but at least on VMS, I can work
effectively without a bookshelf full of manuals; my employer won't buy
me a set, but the point is: I couldn't justify it anyway -- the stuff I need
is almost all online. On VMS, self-instruction through the HELP facility is
a meaningful and feasible activity. On Unix, the thought of trying to learn
how to do things by reading man files seems ludicrous (at least for ordinary
mortals). For one thing, on our 780, asking for a man file to be
retrieved and formatted is something you do before leaving your office for
a coffee or a washroom break. When you get back, it will probably be waiting
for you - not the one you actually needed, mind you; it wasn't "refer"
that had the %codes, it was "addbib"! But surely, you could use another
cup of coffee?
-- 

   Peter H. Roosen-Runge, Department of Computer Science, York University
                          Toronto M3J 1P3 , Ontario, Canada
_____________________________________________________________________________
"Eccles, is the ship sinking?"   "Only below the sea."  
"We must try to save the ship -- help me get it into the lifeboat."
_____________________________________________________________________________