Absolute FreeBSD

[Chad Perrin]

On Fri, Dec 14, 2007 at 01:46:17AM -0600, Joshua Isom wrote:
> 
> On Dec 14, 2007, at 1:12 AM, Chad Perrin wrote:
> >For the record . . . title changes for new editions like that annoy me.
> >It can make it pretty difficult at times trying to determine whether or
> >not I'm about to buy a duplicate.  The switch from Learning Perl 
> >Objects,
> >References, and Modules to Intermediate Perl was another example of 
> >that
> >sort of annoyance.
> >
> 
> Perhaps you should look in /usr/local/lib/perl5/5.8.8/pod, which from 
> my experience, has been better than any book I've ever seen for perl.  
> Try running `perldoc perlintro` and `perldoc perllol`.  With exceptions 
> such as "old standard" languages, most free documentation that comes 
> with the interpreter/compiler tends to be better than any book.  A 
> print out of perl's documentation would be far more valuable than 
> almost any perl book on the market.

I use the hell out of perldoc.  There was a time when I wanted to read
the latest edition of PORM, aka Intermediate Perl, though, in part
because of the presentation of information (and not just the information
itself).  I also find it a lot easier to read huge chunks of technical
text in dead tree format than on-screen, and easier to read bound books
than printed pages (to say nothing of the cost of replacing toner and
drum in my laser printer if I use it all up printing out perldoc pages).


> 
> Although I haven't looked much into any FreeBSD book, I wouldn't be 
> surprised at all if FreeBSD's documentation combined with 
> freebsd-questions would outweigh it.

Yes and no.  For some purposes, it's easier to find what I need with
something like The Complete FreeBSD than freebsd-questions.  For others,
freebsd-questions makes it easier.  I'm not a "One True Answer" kind of
guy when it comes to different means of researching -- I prefer to use
the method best suited to what I need at a given moment.

-- 
CCD CopyWrite Chad Perrin [ http://ccd.apotheon.org ]
Baltasar Gracian: "A wise man gets more from his enemies than a fool from
his friends."