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Date:      Thu, 5 Jul 2012 15:57:09 +0100
From:      Jonathan Anderson <jonathan.robert.anderson@gmail.com>
To:        Wojciech Puchar <wojtek@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl>
Cc:        freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org, Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org>
Subject:   Re: Better error messages for command not found (was Re: Pull in upstream before 9.1 code freeze?)
Message-ID:  <2336980A-5AAB-4D45-8177-71609A7B31F7@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <alpine.BSF.2.00.1207051635550.2537@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl>
References:  <86bojxow6x.fsf@ds4.des.no> <4FF35864.5030109@FreeBSD.org> <CAC8HS2Hx%2BqV1zYSzyM6wYzbyA6BStd3HEwc-VDhv40DHM=qCvw@mail.gmail.com> <CAOjFWZ5ikPz_yDhEQutiXVG354qRHYJTn-M_S4Cx-=YRgFP7eQ@mail.gmail.com> <20120704185104.GA42355@DataIX.net> <4FF4B36A.2040608@FreeBSD.org> <20120704180134.7c649e1b@bhuda.mired.org> <4FF4BEED.10103@FreeBSD.org> <20120704225519.GB19945@DataIX.net> <4FF4CAD1.8080804@FreeBSD.org> <20120704234104.GA392@DataIX.net> <8E9DECBB-3D1E-4129-A958-9DB0DF69ECC3@kientzle.com> <4FF4E105.50502@FreeBSD.org> <20120704203711.2732b645@bhuda.mired.org> <2EA305F0-87D9-47BE-B3E6-366659BF77AF@kientzle.com> <20120704214216.29085927@bhuda.mired.org> <alpine.BSF.2.00.1207051635550.2537@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl>

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On 5 Jul 2012, at 15:36, Wojciech Puchar wrote:
>> mwm@IPGhosterCrawlerI:~$ mmap
>> No command 'mmap' found, did you mean:
>> Command 'jmap' from package 'openjdk-6-jdk' (main)
>> Command 'jmap' from package 'openjdk-7-jdk' (universe)
>> Command 'gmap' from package 'gmap' (multiverse)
>> Command 'gmap' from package 'scotch' (universe)
>> Command 'tmap' from package 'emboss' (universe)
>> Command 'smap' from package 'slurm-llnl' (universe)
>> Command 'pmap' from package 'procps' (main)
>> Command 'moap' from package 'moap' (universe)
>> Command 'umap' from package 'libunicode-map8-perl' (main)
>> Command 'map' from package 'sgt-puzzles' (universe)
>> Command 'amap' from package 'amap-align' (universe)
>> mmap: command not found
>=20
> are you serious that linux distros have such a think now?
> I didn't use linux for a long time and no plan to use it, but you are =
joking isn't it?

They do, and it's actually very useful in two cases:
1. new users =97 "my friend told me to try out latex, but when I type =
'latex' nothing happens! oh wait, that's how I make it work"
2. confusingly-named packages. on FreeBSD:

[nick ~]$ latex
zsh: command not found: latex
[nick ~]$ pkg search latex | awk '{print $1}'
latex-chapterfolder-2.0.20051124
latex-supertabular-1_3
ja-latex2html-2002.2.1j2.0_11
latex-beamer-3.07_4
latex-feynmf-1.08.19961202_7
pidgin-latex-1.0_5
latex-biblatex-0.9e
latex-pgf-2.10
latex-svninfo-0.7.4_3
latex-keystroke-1.0.20001109_5
latex-aastex-5.2_3
klatexformula-3.1.2_2
latex-nomencl-4.2.20050922
jlatexmath-0.9.7
latex-acm-1.1
latex-circ-1.0f_5
html2latex-0.9c
rtf2latex2e-1.0
latex-timing-1.0.19940515_6
latex-aa-6.1_3
latex-ucs-20041017_5
tomboy-plugin-latex-0.6
latex2e-2003.12_1
latex-etoolbox-2.0.a
db2latex-0.8p1_1
dblatex-0.3.2
latex2html-2008
latex2slides-1.0_5
platex-jsclasses-1.0.20110510
ja-platex-otf-1.2.4_6
ja-platex209-1.0_7
latex-mk-2.1_2
rtf2latex-1.5
latex-prettyref-3.0_4
latex-texpower-0.2_4
latex-arydshln-1.71.20040831_5
latex-logreq-1.0
cpp2latex-2.3
latex-biblist-1.4.19920113_5
platex-japanese-1.3_4
latex-caption-3.1.20100114_1
latex-auto-greek-1.0b_4
latexmk-431
latex-service-0.1_2
latex2rtf-2.0.0
latex-tipa-1.3_4
latex-mathabx-1.0.20050518_4
latex-logpap-0.6.20040201_5
htmltolatex-1_15
latex-bytefield-1.2.20050731_5
latex-resume-20010823_3
latexdiff-0.5_2
easylatex-0.080
csv2latex-0.18,1
latex-subfloat-2.14.20030821_5
latex-csquotes-5.0b
latex-ltablex-1.0_1
latex-cjk-4.8.2_5

Compare to bash on Ubuntu:

[jra40@kent ~]$ latex
The program 'latex' is currently not installed.  You can install it by =
typing:
sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-base

This kind of thing makes the system *very* discoverable for non-experts =
(even non-experts wrt a particular package). You don't need to check =
mailing lists or freshports or whatnot, you can just try stuff out, and =
when it doesn't work, the system sometimes helps you find the thing =
you're looking for. For some people (like me), "just try stuff out" is =
an excellent way to start playing / getting familiar with a new system; =
it makes it more likely that I will stick with that system.

The command line shouldn't have to be a scary place for new users.


Jon
--
Jonathan Anderson

jonathan@FreeBSD.org
http://freebsd.org/~jonathan/=



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