I've used the manual a great deal in recent years, and have found it to be one of the most helpful reference documents of the many I encounter. In my opinion it's a reference document with a friendly feel.
I recall having to read this particular section within the last year, but do not recall having any real issue with it. I may well have had to read it a few times. I may well have made up a test case or two. I may well have scratched my head. But I think that's because we're dealing with something intrinsically complex, not because the manual is poor. Hopefully I came out a little wiser as I had put some effort into understanding it. And after all, this kind of process is partly what software engineering is all about. While it may be true that the comments of a relative newcomer may be helpful in developing improvements, this needs to be kept in check. The danger is that too much time and detail can be put into explanation & examples etc., when the real need is for users to carefully think over and apply the subject matter. There are few real mysteries in software engineering and those that initially appear to be so, usually yield to a little careful study and determined experimentation. Regards, Philip. -----Original Message----- From: David Ferguson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 28 September 2010 19:38 To: 'Eli Zaretskii' Cc: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: directory search fails! > -----Original Message----- > From: Eli Zaretskii [mailto:[email protected]] > If you could point out where the text I suggested makes > things less clear, that'd be most appreciated. > > TIA Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Spend all of your time you want trying to suggest improvements to a document that has had widespread adoption and maturation over the past decades, that's your privilege and option. Feel free to critique and editorialize on the existing documentation to your heart's content. Don't expect me, or anybody else (though I give kudos to Paul's remarkable patience and tolerance) to do anything more than 'sorry, do not agree'. My time is too valuable to spend trying to change your mind on this topic. I simply don't care what you think. I feel quite comfortable knowing that many people disagree with me on many subjects. However, you may have observed that the groundswell of opinion endorsing the various suggested improvements has not occurred. That's because most of the people still bothering to read any of these posts apparently do not believe them valuable enough to endorse or even comment upon. I don't quite know why I am still wasting time on these, but I do want to provide (to Paul and the other authors) at least one voice that reflects that I am quite happy with the style and content of the doc. -daf _______________________________________________ Help-make mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-make
