Re: Do users know about README.Debian and /usr/share/doc/packagename (Was: libcifpp)
Hi Pierre, On 2021-10-04 22:18, Pierre Gruet wrote: > Do you know if users read our manpages? I feel we can expect /some/ > users will type > > man command > > if something is not working as expected, but for sure not all of them will. I have few years of experience in teaching administration, programming and data analysis on Debian. I have the opportunity to peek over the shoulder at how students work, with their experience ranging from day one to around two years or so. My samples are quite modest, though. My experience is that rarely anyone I encounter look at system-provided files and documentation, be it manpages or PDFs in -doc packages. Students are used to look up for everything using their favorite search engines, usually ending up at Stack Exchange or outdated/too up-to-date web-hosted documentation. Encouragement to use manpages (even when they are literally at one's fingertips) rarely works. Probably because the command line environment is overly intimidating for the newcomers. Of course this is only my experience, and only with the beginners. Just thought that it might be worth sharing. As for less subjective analysis, does anyone know whether popcon is able to detect usage frequencies of individual files? Best, Andrius
Re: Do users know about README.Debian and /usr/share/doc/packagename (Was: libcifpp)
On 10/5/21 8:48 AM, Andreas Tille wrote: Hie Pierre, Am Mon, Oct 04, 2021 at 09:18:32PM +0200 schrieb Pierre Gruet: This is interesting, thanks for sharing this information. Actually I cannot say I am surprised. Do you know if users read our manpages? I feel we can expect /some/ users will type man command if something is not working as expected, but for sure not all of them will. The users *I* interviewed are not aware that there are manpages and despite I told them they probably forgot in the mean time. However, I'm not sure whether I picked a representative set of users. Have you sometimes used debconf to spread information? Extremely rarely if I felt the system admin should know something. Not to be read by users. This (or debian/NEWS) gives a chance to reach some end users at the cost of implementing the debconf mechanism / writing a NEWS text. But if they skip the information and do not know about the /usr/share/doc/packagename directory... I'm using debian/NEWS from time to time if I feel the need but more to do my "duty as Debian Developer" not because I hope the message is received by those who should know. I am interested in ideas or comments on this issue! I'm interested as well. Kind regards Andreas. I am a Debian user and definitely read the docs shipped with Debian packages. However an average user is a very undefined criterium. Some blindly copy paste stuff from internet in root context, others do read the docs and man pages. So please provide docs if this might be useful. You might consider looking on some game packages which provide download scripts for the non-free parts of games. Best regards, Alex
Re: Do users know about README.Debian and /usr/share/doc/packagename (Was: libcifpp)
Hie Pierre, Am Mon, Oct 04, 2021 at 09:18:32PM +0200 schrieb Pierre Gruet: > This is interesting, thanks for sharing this information. Actually I cannot > say I am surprised. > > Do you know if users read our manpages? I feel we can expect /some/ users > will type > > man command > > if something is not working as expected, but for sure not all of them will. The users *I* interviewed are not aware that there are manpages and despite I told them they probably forgot in the mean time. However, I'm not sure whether I picked a representative set of users. > Have you sometimes used debconf to spread information? Extremely rarely if I felt the system admin should know something. Not to be read by users. > This (or debian/NEWS) > gives a chance to reach some end users at the cost of implementing the > debconf mechanism / writing a NEWS text. But if they skip the information > and do not know about the /usr/share/doc/packagename directory... I'm using debian/NEWS from time to time if I feel the need but more to do my "duty as Debian Developer" not because I hope the message is received by those who should know. > I am interested in ideas or comments on this issue! I'm interested as well. Kind regards Andreas. -- http://fam-tille.de
Re: Do users know about README.Debian and /usr/share/doc/packagename (Was: libcifpp)
Hi Andreas, Thanks for forking the thread and launching this conversation. Le 01/10/2021 à 08:48, Andreas Tille a écrit : Hi, Am Thu, Sep 30, 2021 at 02:10:50PM +0200 schrieb Pierre Gruet: My concern with this is the average user might not even know about the README.Debian file and could forget to check in the manpage. My gut feeling is that the average Debian Med user does not know about the docs we are providing. At least all those users I had the chance to ask have never read any README.Debian neither did they confirmed they know about /usr/share/doc/packagename. This is interesting, thanks for sharing this information. Actually I cannot say I am surprised. Do you know if users read our manpages? I feel we can expect /some/ users will type man command if something is not working as expected, but for sure not all of them will. But I am unsure there is a better way, as a debconf information, for instance, would be shown only once and only to the system administrator... I agree that debconf information (or debian/NEWS) will be seen only once by some admin and it is not sure whether the admin is a user at the same time and will pass the information. While I'm aware that this is not a good situation I do not have any idea how to enhance it. Have you sometimes used debconf to spread information? This (or debian/NEWS) gives a chance to reach some end users at the cost of implementing the debconf mechanism / writing a NEWS text. But if they skip the information and do not know about the /usr/share/doc/packagename directory... Kind regards Andreas. I am interested in ideas or comments on this issue! Best regards, -- Pierre
