discuss: GNU Linux Tools Summary
Subject:
Re: GNU Linux Tools Summary
From:
"Michael T Kerrisk" ####@####.####
Date:
8 Jul 2004 08:40:26 -0000
Message-Id: <19456.1089275999@www62.gmx.net>
[ooops, posted a copy of this from an unsubscited address, so
reposting here from my address that's subscribed to ####@####.####
Hello Gareth,
I've had a scan of your "GNU Linux Tools Summary". First some general
comments:
-- the material is presented in an unfocussed, unstructured way. Is the
document meant to be read linearly? In that case it is simply confusing.
-- there's a lot of esoteric material; I'd eliminate this and increase the
detail on the essential areas
-- there are some significant technical errors
-- I saw many examples of sentences that were not grammatical, or
presented multiple ideas in a single sentence
Overall, there is useful material in the document, but I'd agree with
David Lawyer that there really is a lot of technical work still to be done
to make it useful to the average user. (You mention that the document is
undergoing language review; that seems a little premature.)
Here's a question: what is the raison d'etre for this document, as
compared to say the "Introduction to Linux" (
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/ ) (and perhaps the "Bash Guide
for Beginners" ( http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginners-Guide/html/Bash-
Beginners-Guide.html )). I know you may have an answer to that question,
but then the next question is: how is that (your answer) reflected in the
structure and writing of your guide? The answer to that latter question
might help you reshape the material.
Some more specific comments below...
Cheers,
Michael
=====
Your abbreviation of control characters as "cntrl-X" is idiosyncratic. If
abbreviated, it is usually written as "ctrl-X"; but why save just two
vowels (as you do)? Best write it in full: "control-X".
=====
You state in the intro:
[[
This guide is aimed at beginners to intermediate users learning about the
command-line tools available to them. Advanced users may wish to use it as
a command reference, but it is less likely that this document would be
useful to them.
]]
That's fine, but then you go into far too much esoteric material. I would
eliminate discussions of the following altogether:
pgrep
pkill
skill
snice
slocate
lastlog
style
diff3
sdiff
figlet
join
enscript
chcase
rgrep
fgrep
The entire section 13 (Mathematical tools)
The entire Section 18. (Graphics tools (command line based)) and 19 (Audio
tools)
and other stuff as well...
=====
4. Shell Tips
Some specific examples would make "Automatic Command Completion" easier to
understand.
As a whole, this section seems unfocussed -- it's a kitchen sink approach
to describing things.
=====
6.2 Usage
You say:
[[
>>
This symbol appends (adds) information to the end of a file or creates one
if it doesn't exist. **The usage is the same as the > operator.**
]]
It is not the same as ">". That's the point: it _appends_, as opposed to
overwriting. Remove that sentence.
=====
6.3.2
The notation:
command_1 $command_2
for command substitution is simply wrong! $command_2 will be treated as a
*VARIABLE NAME*. You must write:
command_1 $(command_2)
=====
6.3.3. Using the pipe instead
Equating the use of a pipe with cmdsubs is just wrong, and the given
example (using less(1)) is wrong as noted above.
=====
I'd be inclined to eliminate 7.1 ("Mass...") altogether. This is somewhat
esoteric.
=====
9.5. Recovering from a system freeze
This section is distribution specific -- not in SUSE for example. Best to
remove it.
--
Michael Kerrisk
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