paschotta_at_web de writes:
> On Fri, 23 Aug 2002 22:01:27 -0500
> Len Philpot <len_at_philpot.org> wrote:
> [...]
>> never get there. I'm having the do *EVERYTHIHG* by trial and error,
>> since the man page is so vague (or maybe I'm just stupid...?).
> Hi,
> I just wanted to add that fvwm2 is a great window manager - but I agree
> that the man page is hard to read and understand!
> So here is a little suggestion to improve the man page: Insert a section
> (at the beginning) which deals with the basic configuration faqs - and
> show examples right there. Most important: Let this section be organized
> by *the point of view of a beginner* who just wants to change color of
> background, change the root menu, change the window styles. If he passed
> that he will have enough starting enegery to go through the rest of the
> man page. ;-)
So, why don't you go ahead and write something like that?
With this ongoing discussion about the manpage, I'd like to add my two
cents (US or Euro - I don't know). I've been using fvwm longer than I
can remember. However, I can remember the times when it was
maintained by Rob Nation, and I think there's still a tape with my
config-file for fvwm 1.xy, although I doubt that I can find a drive to
read it.
The thing I like most about fvwm is it nearly infinite flexibility and
configurability. That comes with a price, the documentation is only
for someone who is willing to read a whole reference manual before he
starts using the program. But even the best documentation would be
long (probably too long for newbies) and difficult to understand
because for many things you have to understand the whole picture
(which sometimes includes more than fvwm).
And frankly, I don't want the fvwm developers to write documentation
for beginning. I want them to fix old bugs and add new features so I
can get more out of it. That works pretty well so far. If fvwm came
with a graphical configuration tool, I could as well use Gnome, KDE,
or M$-Windows.
Also, I don't think the fvwm developers would be very good at writing
a tutorial for beginners. You have to remember how it was when you
were a newby to write something a newby can understand.
It would probably be best if someone who wrote or modified his first
fvwm2rc not too long ago would write a few paragraphs about what he
wanted and how he achieved it. I'm sure the developers would be
willing to comment on it and give advice if there are better ways to
achieve the desired behavior. But it's *YOU*, the newbies out there
who know what the confusing things are, not the fvwm developers!
Fvwm and its documentation are open source, if there's something you
don't like, fix it. If you are able to edit your fvwm2rc, you should
be able to write a little text about it, you don't need a degree in
computer science for that.
Thank you for your attention, I go back to lurking now.
Rainer
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Received on Sat Aug 24 2002 - 21:16:27 BST