On Tue, 10 Jul 2001 10:09, Tom Brinkman wrote:
> On Monday 09 July 2001 05:13 pm, Robert wrote:
> > What do you think of this....
> >
> > With the mass of how -tos on the net, I think it would be helpful to
> > have then printed, bound and offered for sale, for the cost of the
> > "publishing" , kinkos style publishing that is. Does anyone have any
> > thoughts?
>
> I know many users of anything would prefer hard copy instructions,
> while many like myself, when i open a box, that's the first thing I
> throw away, last thing I look for ;~>>
>
> Problem with hardcopy instructions and tutorials for computers
> users, any OS, is that they're usually obsolete, dated, maybe even
> misleading ... by the time the ink is dry.
>
> Best docs, tutorials, and advice for Linux will be found online.
> I know it's easier to learn how to open the cover of a book, but
> research online will yield better results. Specially after you gain
> some Web searching skills and begin to intuitively learn where to look
> first. (which is often Google ;)
>
> I don't believe there's any distro that has made a bigger effort to
> provide more online resources than Mandrake has/does. OTOH, many
> resources are dated, whether printed or online. They were produced by
> people who volunteered their time and effort. The only reason they're
> maybe not current is because new volunteers ..... haven't.
It is true about online documentation being more current than the printed
ones, but there are advantages to having a hardcopy. IMHO, having a reference
open next to your computer is a lot more usable than having to switch between
views on a screen to read command options.
Besides, to answer Robert's question, there is a book (there might be others)
called Linux Complete (ISBN 1-57176-199-3 1956), which has a lot of the
HOWTOS and many MAN pages as well.
George
