Man pages and info pages (was: Python documentation too difficult for beginners)

[Tim Harig]

On 2010-11-02, Teemu Likonen <tlikonen at iki.fi> wrote:
> * 2010-11-02 18:43 (UTC), Tim Harig wrote:
>
>> The manual format contains all of the information on one page that can
>> be easily searched whereas the info pages are split into sections that
>> must be viewed individually. With the man pages, you can almost always
>> find what you want with a quick search through the document. Info
>> pages are much harder to use because you have to try and figure out
>> which section the author decided to place the information that you are
>> looking for.
>
> There is also the problem that people are less familiar with info
> browsers than the usual "less" pager which is used by "man" command.

I thoroughly agree.  The default info viewers are quite possibly the most
counterintuitive programs I have ever encountered.  I never did bother to
learn how to use them.  I instead installed the more intuitive pinfo
program.

> With the text terminal info browser called "info" as well as Emacs' info
> browser you can use command "s" (stands for "search"). It prompts for a
> regexp pattern to search in the whole document, including subsections
> etc.

Right, pinfo offers this as well; but, then you have to figure out where in
the nodes that the search has taken you and how to navigate from that node
to find additional information that you may need.  I have, in general, come
to think of info pages as a failed experiment and I know very few people
who actually prefer them over the simpler man pages.