Re: Gripes with "info" Command

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2006 14:54:01 -0800
> From: Dave Jarvis <address@hidden>
> 
> http://joot.com/dave/writings/articles/unix.shtml

Sorry, but that page is mostly based on ignorance.  The author
obviously never heard about "info --usage" (which mimics `man' for
those who are addicted to its notion of ``documentation''), nor about
index-search.  The fact that there's a better Info reader in Emacs
(which is why the master menu mentions Emacs) is obviously also a
surprise.

Some comments and suggestions:

 . READ THE TEXT YOU ARE POSTING BEFORE GRIPING.  Then you will avoid
   the risk of silly gripes such as "Unintuitive: what File: dir
   mean?" (the answer is staring at you in the very first line),
   "Confusing: what is Texinfo?" (it clearly says that Texinfo is a
   documenting system).

 . BE REASONABLE.  Info is a text-mode only reader, so don't expect it
   to present a GUI.  There _are_ GUI Info readers out there (one is
   part of Emacs), which do highlight hyperlinks, have Search commands
   available off the menu bar, and generally give you what a modern
   user sitting in front of a graphics terminal expects, like toolbar,
   tooltips, etc.

   However, as limited as this reader is, it does say right at the
   beginning ``"h" gives a primer for first-timers''.  I have no doubt
   you didn't even consider trying that advice.  Why not?

 . "How do I search?"  I could ask the same in IE, being used to
   Ctrl-S.  DON'T EXPECT A PROGRAM YOU NEVER USED TO BEHAVE LIKE THE
   EXPLORER, especially if it was designed for a much limited set of
   resources.

 . "Does not tell you to use the arrow keys to select a link."  A user
   who needs to be told that they can use arrow keys to move across
   displayed text should have their brains checked out.

 . "Does not say how to select a subsection."  "Pressing "m" prompts
   me to type the menu item. Useless."  It's all there in the opening
   screen, you just didn't bother reading it.

 Etc. etc.

  CONCLUSION

  It is easy to lose sight of the real issues when your only intent is
  to smear and attack software you never bothered to spend a few
  minutes of learning.