Re: fixing up /usr/doc

[Zack Brown <zbrown@lynx.neu.edu>]

On 24 Dec 1998, Ben Gertzfield wrote:

> >>>>> "Zack" == Zack Brown <zbrown@lynx.neu.edu> writes:
> 
>     Zack> /usr/doc is virtually unusable because of the many bogus
>     Zack> entries it has. The directory listing takes a long time to
>     Zack> even start to display, and most of the entries are pretty
>     Zack> much empty anyway. why not make /usr/doc a place where real
>     Zack> documentation (and *only* real documentation) can be
>     Zack> found. Right now users have to sift through endless stubs to
>     Zack> get to the real stuff.
> 
> The point of /usr/doc/packagename/ is not only the docs, but as you
> must have noticed, the copyright and changelog information.
> 
> All Debian packages must come with copyright information in
> /usr/doc/packagename/.

I know... but shouldn't that information be somewhere else? I mean, it
renders the directory useless. If you have to have copyright information in 
/usr/doc, then at least put the real docs somewhere else so people can get  
to them. it's a real pain wading through that directory looking for docs.

I don't maintain any Debian packages, but I *use* Debian, and I'm telling
you -- that directory sucks. Since there's no overwhelming reason to keep it
that way, why not change it? Copyrights and ChangeLogs have their place, but
that place is not /usr/doc. /usr/doc should be a place users can go to
explore package documentation, not painstakingly cd from
virtually-empty-directory to virtually-empty-directory.

Zack