I have a dream, of a help/manual/doc system, which is simple to use?

[Niel]

Written 21st january 2004.

I have a dream, of a help/manual/doc system, which is simple to use?

I have a dream, of a help/manual/doc system, which is simple, and yet 
comprehensive to use.

When I need help to some question, when using freebsd, I often get very 
confused, and cannot find out how to do it.

Often I find some manual, but then pages and pages start scrolling past my 
eyes, and soon I am very confused, and my brain looses track of what it 
trying to do. Often there is some tecnical abbreviations mixed into the 
explanation, which we do not know at all, what is!

There exist a very comprehensive documentation for freebsd, man, faq etc. So 
far, that is very good. Leave it as it is. That is okay for later reading.

But what I am searching for, is very short manuals for every topic and 
program. How to install it, where the files are sitting, how to set-up.
Just a very simple example, for just to get a basic program running. And also 
a very basic example for using the program, so you at least are getting it up 
and running. Then you can later experiment with more complicated items og the 
programs.

I am also in search for a very big handbook, with cross reference word, for 
ALL words. So you can find out, where to look, every thinkable word you might 
meet, when installing and using freebsd.

I am a newbee, and I cannot simply remember, where I last read -or found a 
subject. I mean, most endusers simply do not have such a glue brain, that 
they can remember. (Many times they simply tells themselves: "Let me stay 
with windows. That I am used to.)

I have tried using linux red hat, caldera and suse, and I have now begun using 
FreeBSD, and I find it the best system so far, with the most easy help 
system. Nothing wrong with that.

To sum up. Please simple manuals for all the some 6.000 programs, shell 
commands, etc, with lots of simple to understand examples, so one at least 
can get started.

This is just a newbees hottest wish.

Even Microsoft have not yet found out, how important above is. It is the alpha 
and omega, for using operating systems and programs, for ordinary people. ( I 
have even found the same problems in manuals for tv, video and so on. )

I mean many people have difficulties just reading a simple explanation.

It is okay, to make very sophisticated programs, but it is as important, that 
the enduser can find out, how to use it.

And, please use simple English words. We enduser come from all parts of the 
world, and do not all have the English language as our native language. And 
please no humour! :-) If you live in Africa, you do not know American slang?


Yes, I still have a dream .....    *smiling - positive*

Regards, 

A freebsd "Grassroot", hoping to saw just a tiny seed in some smart 
programmers mind, so we can start begin really using UNIX type operating 
systems, instead og windows 98!   *serious - thinking - :-) *