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Postings from March 2011
On Fri, 4 Mar 2011, Abigail wrote: > On Fri, Mar 04, 2011 at 10:56:37AM -0600, Dave Rolsky wrote: >> >> I also think we should consider writing the docs assuming they will be >> mostly viewed on the web, > > Personally, I find that an almost alien thought. > > Why would anyone use a web interface for something that's already > there locally? Because people are used to reading docs on the web for almost everything. Heck, even for Perl modules, I often go to search.cpan.org because it provides a better interface for reading the docs. Frankly, it's somewhat shameful that Perl doesn't ship with a great in-browser doc reader app for installed docs. At the very least, we should be generating html every time a Perl module is installed. Just because you (and other people on this list) are very comfortable with the status quo does not mean that it's good for everyone. I think we need to spend a lot more effort thinking about what's best for new users. What does a college kid getting into programming need to get started with Perl? I don't want to start ranting about Perl dying, but I do think that catering to potential new Perl programmers is very, very important. Right now the Perl core docs don't do a very good job of that. -dave /*============================================================ http://VegGuide.org http://blog.urth.org Your guide to all that's veg House Absolute(ly Pointless) ============================================================*/Thread Previous | Thread Next