Re: Hyperref queries

real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Rowland McDonnell) writes:

David Kastrup <dak@xxxxxxx> wrote:

real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Rowland McDonnell) writes:

But the TeXbook is only any good for people who already possess `the
hacker nature'.

That's like saying a car maintenance manual should be rewritten for
people who have no mechanics background.

Nonsense!

[...]

TeX is not a system for the non-technically inclined.

Probably bad wording.

What I don't have is a formal, academic background in computing
technology - my degree was in physics, and so we took a slightly more
ad-hoc approach to computing than the CS people.

Knuth is not "CS people". He more or less created the discipline, so
there was no formal background for him to rely on or demand. But
thoughts are shaped by language, and there is such a language as
"computerese". If you are accustomed to thinking in those patterns,
some things are accessible, others foreign.

It is a toolbox, not a solution.

Just like the toolbox in my garage - which any technically competent
person can learn to use without any bother at all, and can do useful
work on the motorcycles in the garage using the manuals in the garage,
if they have any technical aptitude at all. Unlike with TeX...

More like repairing a violin.

In car maintenance terms, one could say that the people who can use
TeX documentation are those who have already attended a car
maintenance course and learnt all about maintaining lots of different
specific car models; the rest of us are just `okay at mechanicking'
and need a proper manual - which the elite doesn't see any need for,
because *they* already know most of what needs to be learnt due to
their intensive technical training in the specific field concerned.

I never had any TeX training.

It never used to be this hard to learn how to use a computer program,

Excuse me? I've had to write my own bootstrap loader and BIOS before
being able to use CP/M applications, and that was not uncommon at that
time.

and it's not changes in me that are the problem: I've got old-style
docs, and new-style docs, and it's clear that it's the style of modern
documentation that is the problem.

The attention span of people has declined, and the complexity of the
more and more conglomerate solutions has very much increased.

So documentation by necessity has to skirt all involved issues and give
hand-waving replacements. That does not work well with TeX.

--
David Kastrup
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Hyperref queries
    ... without the `hacker nature'. ... TeXbook or most modern computer documentation. ... repairer type skills either to fix a car or to use TeX. ... manuals to hand in case I've forgotten anything. ...
    (comp.text.tex)
  • Re: 2007 Honda CRV Maintenance Schedule
    ... mother has the same car and I went through her documentation. ... the all the manuals, service schedule booklet, original sticker price, ...
    (rec.autos.makers.honda)
  • Re: Autos on the up?
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  • Re: Online Car Manuals
    ... >online Car Maintanance Manuals in chapters, and hoped anyone with a car ... >- Do you own a car maintanance manual (I.e. Haynes)? ... >much lower price, for printing when you need to perform a certain task? ...
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