On Wed, 25 Mar 1998, Dave C. wrote:
>
> Um.. Perhaps I'm missing something.. I have no printed copy of the exim
> manual.. I have the ascii text file, and I reference it regularly with
> no more difficulty than one might reference a man page...
>
> Eg, if you could telnet somewhere and type "man exim", you could just
> as easily telnet there and type "more /usr/src/exim-x.xx/doc/spec.txt"
> (I personally use 'less' myself since it scrolls up and down but you
> could use whatever text pager you liked..)
>
> Is there some reason online documentation has to be in manpage format?
> Now, I'm not opposed to it being so, I'm just curious why you are
> assuming "the exim manual" is on paper only?
>
>
No assumption was made only an example. Some system admin only hold
the source in one location sometimes a standard account. When they
build the system they would only install the binaries and any online
manual pages (for quick reference purposes). There is no guarrantees
that they will have access to the original source while working on a
seperate installtion. One that may have been made for a client based
at another location. Some people also tidy up the original source as a
compresed tar ball. Although some of these points do not make it
impossible to access the ascii form it can make it less convenient.
An online man page is the first place that someone will look for
information when they are stuck. This is particularly useful if the
system was installed by soemone else. The person who is stuck may not
know the reference documentation's location or even its existance.
--Sean
--
*** Exim information can be found at
http://www.exim.org/ ***
