Re: fixing up /usr/doc
Bob Hilliard wrote:
> Chris Waters <xtifr@dsp.net> writes:
> > Basically, you shouldn't be looking in usr/doc/packagename unless
> > you've been directed to do so by other documentation -- and that
> > should tell you *which* directory, so you don't have to hunt around.
> False! According to debian policy, /usr/doc/ _is_ the proper
> location for supplemental documentation
*Supplemental!* Not for the main documentation. Policy also says that
a package MUST contain a man page. The only required supplemental
documentation is copyright and changelog.
If there *is* supplemental documentation of importance, and the man page
doesn't mention that fact, then I'd say that the man page is inadequate!
> When I install a package that I am not familiar with, I look in
> /usr/doc first.
That's you -- me, I really hate having to go to /usr/doc for basic
information on how to use a package, and it annoys me no end when I'm
forced to do so. Browsing /usr/doc is, as the other fellow noted, often
painful and usually fruitless. I think that expecting people to rely on
/usr/doc is an extremely bad idea. We have man pages, info pages, and
dwww. If we can't get important documentation into a format recognized
by one of those, then we're really failing in our task of creating an
easy to learn, easy to use system.
--
Chris Waters xtifr@dsp.net | I have a truly elegant proof of the
or xtifr@debian.org | above, but it is too long to fit into
http://www.dsp.net/xtifr | this .signature file.
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