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Date:      Fri, 8 Jan 1999 13:08:13 +1030
From:      Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com>
To:        Chris Browning <brownicm@netunlimited.net>
Cc:        questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Printed man pages (was: Looking for the best webmaster.)
Message-ID:  <19990108130813.M92409@freebie.lemis.com>
In-Reply-To: <XFMail.990105235246.brownicm@netunlimited.net>; from Chris Browning on Tue, Jan 05, 1999 at 11:52:46PM -0500
References:  <3.0.3.32.19990105174116.006b8694@silk.net> <XFMail.990105235246.brownicm@netunlimited.net>

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On Tuesday,  5 January 1999 at 23:52:46 -0500, Chris Browning wrote:
> On 06-Jan-99 Eddie Lawhead wrote:
>> At 12:03 PM 1/6/99 +1030, Greg Lehey wrote:
>>> On Tuesday,  5 January 1999 at 19:08:31 -0600, David Kelly wrote:
>>>> Wolfram Schneider writes:
>>>>> On 1999-01-05 14:32:27 -0600, James Moore wrote:
>>>> [...]
>>>>> You need a postscript printer to print the manpages.
>>>>>
>>>>> FreeBSD has more than 1400 manpages. If you print them all
>>>>> you need more than 3000-4000 pages paper.
>>>>>
>>>>> You can download the FreeBSD manpages from
>>>>> ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/2.2.8-RELEASE/manpages/
>>>>
>>>> Most of the manpages are printed in Greg Lehey's book, "The Complete
>>>> FreeBSD". Book is cheaper than the paper and toner required to print
>>>> the manpages. See http://www.cdrom.com/
>>>
>>> The general consensus is that the man pages are a waste of space, and
>>> they make the book too heavy.  The next edition won't have them.  If
>>> anybody has strong feelings about this, please let me know.
>>>
>>
>> I think the man pages are great in the book.  It is nice to have
>> something easier to read than a screen when we want docs.
>
> I'm very sad to hear that O'Reilly will no longer publish the 4.4 BSD manuals.
> Glad I got a set. Maybe someone feels that they're becoming not quite relevant
> or something.

O'Reilly was very disappointed in the sales of the 4.4BSD manuals.
It's a reason why they're not interested in publishing any FreeBSD stuff.

> But that's where I go. There are things that are better on a
> printed page. I usually have Greg's book or a browser open to one page and the
> BSD _book_ open to another. Invaluable, both of them. You can't do this stuff
> w/out man pages and yes, it's a pain in the pants to have to read them off a
> screen sometimes. Besides, you never know when you might want something that
> just had to get left out of Greg's selection. Maybe if enough folks pestered
> O'Reilly they would re-issue. Just my 2 cents' worth. Thanks Greg & please,
> please Tim!

I was talking about a book with O'Reilly last year, but it seems to
have petered out.  I suspect they've decided to do it without me, but
they may be doing it.  I'll enquire.

Greg
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