man pages (was: '386 Unix Wars)

[Vernon Schryver]

In article <1991Jan10.212820.19557 at cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>, cy5 at cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Conway Yee) writes:
> Why [are AT&T on line manuals] so expensive?  Presumably, all the
>	documentation is already
> online somewhere so that it can be easily updated.  Nobody uses
> typewriters anymore.  Everything is word processed.

The same arguement applies to (other) software.  Few of us still use card
punches or rotory reperforators, but we want more than media cost for our
programing efforts.  (Weren't roff or nroff used for the first UNIX
technical reports?)

Maybe the AT&T lisense fees for manuals are high for the same reason the
AT&T lisense fees for System V are non-trivial.  (Last I heard their
starting negoiating point for SVR4 was a significant percentage of the list
cost of the hardware.)  Maybe AT&T is trying to find a way to make money on
computers, or to at least meet a rather awesome payroll.  There's been a
bit of that going around since the first commercial machines.


Vernon Schryver,   vjs at calcite.uucp