Re: HTML instead of GNU Info?

[karlheg@cathcart.sysc.pdx.edu (Karl M. Hegbloom)]

>>>>> "John" == John Goerzen <jgoerzen@complete.org> writes:

    John> Ben Pfaff <pfaffben@msu.edu> writes:
    >> Correct.  You have to get the .texi files, generally from the
    >> source packages, to be able to print them nicely.

 `texi2pdf' doesn't do too bad...

    John> Right, which is the whole problem.  You can't generate nice
    John> output from the package as-is.

 I think that's deliberate.

 People waste too much paper on things they print out on ungreppables
 and then only read once.  With `info', (or at least man pages) you've
 got the docs right under your fingertips inside your text editor or
 from a command shell.  You can search for a regexp in an info
 document by pressing the `s' key and typing a search expression.  It
 will recurse down the document's whole heirarchial info tree looking
 for your findit.  You can put the cursor on a function call, and use
 `info-look' or `cperl' to find it in the libc or perl5 info almost
 instantly, with no mousing around digging for menu clickers.[1] If
 you can look it up quickly like that, it is less likely to break your
 train of thought and distract you from your coding task.
 (<gripe/... to configure Apache, since it didn't work right when you
 try to search, or to wait around to find that `kfm' sits forever
 spinning the lone gear rather than showing you the man page it took
 five minutes to learn the URL to./  Emacs Makes A Computer Super.[2])

 With HTML you've got to start a browser and to search HTML, you need
 a web server with CGI and glimpse or suchlike.  And there's no cursor
 to put on it for dictionary/man lookups or paste-ins.  Thus, HTML is
 much less conveinient, and inferior, IMO.  Yes, `info' could be made
 to look nicer on the screen... on a GUI.  Many of us need both X11
 and terminal access to manuals.

 You can't search a printed page.  Get a laptop.  Quit killing trees
 and go sit under one.

 @wishforit{It sure would be neato to have `hyperdvi' quality output
 inside an emacs info reader, wouldn't it? and/or a much faster
 W3/info mode...}

Footnotes: 
[1]  If you can remember where a menu is, you can remember what the
     command is called.  The menu should tell you what command to
     type.

[2]  ... and email writers more verbose.