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Is Linux Documentation Lacking?
eldavojohn writes "A number of blog posts are surfacing that are calling out the helpful open source community on their documentation. No, not the documentation for the highly skilled technical people, but the documentation from beginner to apprentice. A two-part series by Carla Schroeder lists bad documentation as 'Linux Bug #1' and advises users to use Google as the documentation. We've discussed before some of open source's documentation being out of date. Is it really as bad as these blogs paint it? Has it come down to using Google before a man page?"
Well I've been using Linux since 1979, and the documentation has never been that great. I remember asking Linus and some of the other developers about it when I ran into them at Studio 54, but they were too stoned to answer. Man, it was crazy back then, you'd get high and write a program and you wouldn't even care about the documentation. You'd just copy over someone else's man pages, or paste in Beegees lyrics, or whatever you're drug-addled brain came up with at the time.
man microwave
> You've lost me already. I'm having to look up what "man" does.
try:
man man
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
I just put in a blank CD. Then a folder appears on the desktop with a button to burn the CD. I drag the file I want into there and hit that button. I'm not sure what this MAN thing is everyone keeps talking about.
Worse, it's responses like the GP's that compounds the problem.
Noob: I don't know how to use Linux! Won't someone help me?
BOFH: *grumble*grumble* Look, here's the "man" command, dumbass. It obviously means "MANual". Get it? Figured you looked too stupid to figure out how to use Linux...
Noob: Um... when I type that, all I get is "What manual page do you want?" How do-
BOFH: Why you rotten little... just how stupid ARE you? Were you born and raised with Windows or something? You type in the command, kernel function, or standard library call in after "man", just like we've done for the past TWENTY FUCKING YEARS OF UNIX. Hello? Have you been paying ANY attention at all, you worthless little Windows runt? If I hear you badmouthing one of the most hallowed and revered of Unix commands again, I'll-
Noob: So... er... what man command do I use to learn how to burn a CD?
BOFH: (eyes starting to turn red, veins now starting to pop out of head, teeth clenching almost to the point of shattering them by the pressure) You... were... asking... about... MANPAGES... YOU... STUPID... ASSHOLE! What the fuck is WRONG with you? You don't use man to burn a CD! Where the hell were you raised? In Redmond? I bet you don't even know what revision of the CD filesystem to use to optimize storage and retain symlinks! As everyone ALREADY KNOWS, ASSHAT, you have to build up an ISO image from on-filesystem objects using the proper options for your image of choice, make sure the appropriate kernel options are compiled in (or, of course, make and install the proper modules via modprobe or insmod, or via the autoloading mechanism which ONLY the uneducated scum use because they don't know the glories of "pure" Linux from ten or so years ago, the stupid "modern" bastards), THEN you can "burn a CD", as you so quaintly put it! WHAT PART OF THIS IS NOT OBVIOUS TO YOU?!?
Noob: I...
BOFH: (starting to shake from pure rage) You're clearly too much of a moron to truly enjoy Linux! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, WINDOWS USER! OUT! AND TAKE YOUR GODDAMNED "PRETTY" GUI WITH YOU!
Noob: Hey, guess what? In the time it took you to rant about all that, I got my CD burned under Windows and didn't have a raving insular lunatic insult me. And I was able to do it without having to study the history of an operating system. Sounds like I'm using Windows from now on.
BOFH: *sniff* Why don't people like Linux? We're so superior!