Post ABfrSpZYGS6de3emAa by mirkwood@mk.nixnet.social
 (DIR) More posts by mirkwood@mk.nixnet.social
 (DIR) Post #ABfrSp2EGLS1yi4AEK by alexandra@mk.nixnet.social
       2021-09-22T01:50:42.418Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       By the way I like to answer technical questions so if anybody thinks I might be able to help them understand something I'd be happy to take a shot. No guarantee I'll understand it well enough to explain it though. Same goes for tool recommendations or "how do you do this".
       
 (DIR) Post #ABfrSpZYGS6de3emAa by mirkwood@mk.nixnet.social
       2021-09-24T03:24:44.025Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Something makes me think that though you can help me in the short term, only I can help myself in the long term. I have to swallow the bullet and read some man pages. I have been eyeballing the coreutils manual for the longest time but also the Emacs manual. Am I headed in the right direction?
       
 (DIR) Post #ABfrSqBTzQRnXhP4IC by alexandra@mk.nixnet.social
       2021-09-24T03:36:18.312Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       man pages are handy for reference, but only sometimes are they suitable as the only documentation you read. Find the actual manual for software when you can, the one with chapters (nowadays it's often just called "the documentation" or "the docs"); *don't* read it cover to cover (you'll forget most of it unless you work with the software on a very constant basis), but read the "getting started" or "introduction" section and the explanations of how the software works, and skim whatever else interests you.Some software relies on a wiki-style structure for documentation, which can make it harder to "read the manual;" there's still usually a "getting started" page or similar and a list of important pages somewhere though.Again, remember that most documentation is intended as reference material, not something you read all the way through. Good documentation will make clear what parts you need to read and what parts are meant for you to put on the shelf and pull down when you need them.Unfortunately, not all software has good documentation. Very often the best way to find out how to do something ends up being looking up a third-party tutorial or a forum post somewhere. Don't be afraid to go looking for information wherever you can find it; just don't blindly trust people that tell you to curl | sh or add new repositories to your package manager or delete stuff and you'll probably be fine.
       
 (DIR) Post #ABfrSqeYFLhQzr0HbM by alexandra@mk.nixnet.social
       2021-09-24T03:37:54.863Z
       
       0 likes, 2 repeats
       
       Learning how to find and use documentation is probably one of the three most important skills you can have in the field of computing. Unfortunately a lot of it is just practice, but it's practice you'll accumulate quickly by setting things up and solving problems for yourself.
       
 (DIR) Post #ABhQHni4XY8qEk4tXc by avalos@mstdn.social
       2021-09-24T21:43:00Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @alexandra What are the other two?
       
 (DIR) Post #ABhQZqS951I9xOETZY by avalos@mstdn.social
       2021-09-24T21:46:15Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @alexandra @mirkwood There's also the texinfo manuals you get for some software with the “info” command, the ones that are also nicely accessible from within Emacs. They are very good. An example of a really nice manual is the one for Org Mode.
       
 (DIR) Post #ABhQeTGMj9OpTxvcYa by alexandra@mk.nixnet.social
       2021-09-24T21:43:25.356Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @avalos@mstdn.social I don't know
       
 (DIR) Post #ABhQeTi14LW8rirhei by avalos@mstdn.social
       2021-09-24T21:47:04Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @alexandra Then, I guess one of them is knowing what is the other. :P