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RE: Info tutorial is out of date


From: Drew Adams
Subject: RE: Info tutorial is out of date
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 16:01:16 -0700

    >     Emacs Info is too close to the standalone Info to justify two
    >     separate manuals
    >
    > Today. But that closeness is artificial.

    No, it's deliberate: the Founding Fathers wanted to make sure it would
    be possible to learn _an_ Info reader and use any of these two based
    on that knowledge.

But you pointed out things that go against that aim of the FFs, and you
pointed out that because of those things there are (already) two manuals.

    > I see no reason why we can't have two versions of the tutorial.

    One reason is that it's not easy to present the right one to the user
    based on her reader.  Remember: learning Info is a bootstrap-kind of
    problem--you learn to use a tool by using that same tool.  If we don't
    make the beginning of the bootstrap 110% reliable (which includes
    showing the right manual), the results will be catastrophic.

So, how do you deal with that problem currently, since there are apparently
already two manuals? Somehow, you are able to tell, and to give the
standalone-reader reader the standalone-only manual.

Your bootstrap doesn't need to teach anything about `n' and `p', does it?
This is all very abstract. Why don't you show us something concrete that
presents a real obstacle to doing things the right way?





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