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>Manpages in the context in which I use the term refers to a summary of
>user commands (Command Line Interface versus the Graphical User
>Interface) and their associated options. User commands duplicate (to a
>great extent) the functionality of the GUI, but are input from the
>command line rather than a field in the GUI.
In practice, man pages can be more flexible. I understand that
some UNIX die-hards have even written macros for doing a thesis
using man. However, this practice is recommended only for people
with patience and way too much time on their hands.
A point worth stressing: in their usual form, man pages are
extremely user-unfriendly. Unless you're very comfortable with
the command line and have some sense of the command you're
looking up, you may be overwhelmed by the averge man page. Part
of the problem may be that some man pages originated over 25
years ago and haven't been updated since.
In Linux, at any rate, alternatives such as HTML pages or texinfo
help are starting to be preferred over man pages. In fact, some
man pages now carry the warning that they are no longer being
maintained.
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
"The Open Road" column, Maximum Linux
3015 Aries Place, Burnaby, BC V3J 7E8, Canada
bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7189
"I should have known it from the start,
It's not the truth that really matters,
The real world tramples on such things,
Leaves your mental state in tatters."
-James Keelaghan, "Small Rebellions"
