Re: The end.


<corff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5gk62uF3fkhegU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tau <nill@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

:
The
: reason my minimal examples were not minimal in the sense that you
understood
: the word is that I could never be quite sure exactly what was causing
the
: problem.

You say it yourself, the examples were not minimal. If you were not quite
sure what exactly caused a problem, why on earth didn't you try to remove
line after line from your code in order to watch whether the problem
persists?
After such a procedure, the remaining few lines of code demonstrating a
problem constitute a minimal example.

I did that in just about all cases, with the exception of my first ever
'minimal' example (which wasn't far off being minimal, as either you or
someone else said) where the problem was not a matter of interaction with
Internet Explorer or Firefox, which would call for something else. I know,
as I've just spent 5 minutes deleting minimal examples from my desktop. But
in any case, what's the point of log files, error readouts etc. if the
presence of a bit of redundant coding makes any difference to the ease of
diagnosis?


I fail to understand why you prefer to take repeated bashings for your
unwillingnees, laziness and sloppyness rather than to go through a few
simple steps.


You've just demonstrated that this handing out of repeated bashings is your
entirely unnecessary passtime.


: reason that that people like Paul Aubin retire in their early thirties
: (that's just a guess as regards Aubin) from hugely well-paid jobs to
make
: even huger amounts of money writing ultra-easy, step-by-step,
instructions

Are you sure this is called "retiring"? In my understanding, this is a new
job.

: for computer packages that are simple to assimiliate by people who are
: either very simple or who have divergent minds that will read anything
into
: anything, given the opportunity. In all the TeX guidelines I have read,
the
: typical person with a non-linear, divergent, intuitive mind will, by the
: time they get to about page 3, be terrified: go on and they are in a
swamp
: of information the expressions in which they think they never
interpreted
: correctly; turn back and they are in a minefield they thought they might
: just, up to this point where they know they are now stuck, have
negotiated.

The best and simple documentation will become complex when complex tasks
are involved, and won't be a remedy against short attention spans. And
the best documentation is useless if the user cannot even follow the most
fundamental guidance --- like the simple request for a log file.
Complexity
is at the heart of our lives, and cutting through complexity is a
formidable
task. This, however needs cooperation rather than complaints.

Given your mentioning of Paul Aubin, I had a look at his introduction of
AutoDesk (http://www.paulaubin.com/pdf/mastering_aad_ch2.pdf) and in my
eyes, his reading involved active attention and participation by the
reader
as much as reading the introductory pages to lshort.pdf (the not so short
LaTeX introduction) requires. First, the concepts and essentials are
rolled
out; then, the workflow is demonstrated; then, the first example is done.

I truly wonder how you can claim to be able to read the one while finding
yourself "in a mine field" when reading the other.


Well perhaps you should open your mind. Take a few tips (eg. your favourite:
chili symbols to indicate a 'red hot tip'); as I say, there's a reason why
there's money in that kind of tutorship.
I originally thought you one who would be good at writing that sort of
thing; evidently, though, you are more interested in viewing TeX as the
sophisticated person's instrument of sophisticated discourse.

--Tau


I tend so see panic while approaching deadlines as a major cause of
irritation and incoherence when reading the LaTeX stuff.

Oliver.
--
Dr. Oliver Corff e-mail: corff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


.

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