'386 Unix Wars

[Rahul Dhesi]

In <95 at comix.UUCP> jeffl at comix.UUCP (Jeff Liebermann) writes:

>The answer to this problem is in front of your face.  The
>index should be on-line.  One should be able to type a keyword
>and some database should belch the document name, current
>version, and page references.

Ah, for standard UNIX tools:

     cd /usr/man
     egrep 'bunch|of|things|to|look|for' */*

This is partly why I give BSD and SunOS much higher marks than System
V.  Although BSD's printed manual pages are only slightly better than
those of System V, the fact that they are online and can be searched
easily makes them much more useful.  Alas, I hear that newer BSD's
won't have the online documentation (I hope this is a vicious and false
rumor).

The System V philosphy, of making documentation available only in
printed form, and then having almost every page numbered 1 or 2, is
very silly.  I can understand this if the printed manuals are simply
copies of the online manuals and mimic their individual page
numbering.  But if the printed manuals are the only documentation, then
AT&T should at least get the page numbering right.  Pages are numbered
beginning from 1, and then you continue with 2, 3, 4, etc., until you
run out of pages.  Then you add an index, and the index refers you
to specific pages.
--
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