[Techtalk] Why is life without X important? (was: Re: info)

[caitlynmaire at earthlink.net]

Hi, Carla, and everyone else,
> 
> Hey everyone, I thought I was speaking English- the topic was the
> format of man pages/ info pages/ etc.

Yep, you were.  Being able to read them at the cnsole or in a term
window is the most useful format for all the reasons already listed. 
It's the lowest common denominator.  It is the one and *only* way you
can read man pages or info pages when X is not available.  X is *often*
not available in a secured server environment or in an emergency.

> If you have another connected PC, you have access 
> to all the information in the world.

Only if you have connectivity.  What if what you are troubleshooting is
that connectivity?  What if you are in a place where access to the
Internet is unavailable or prohibitively expensive?

> A laptop can hold entire libraries, for 
> those situations where there is no Internet access. On my work
> notebook I have all the technical documentation I can collect, and I'm
> always adding more.

I could fill my laptop 30GB hard drive and still not have enough.  Also,
sometimes it is incredibly covenient to read the right answer and just
cut and past it to the command line.  I support Linux (two distros at
the moment professionally, plus one more personally), Solaris 8 and 9,
AIX, and soon we're adding HP-UX.
> 
> These 'desert island' scenarios are unrealistic.

Not at all.  They are very realistic and happen with amazing regularity
to anyone who admins large numbers of boxes.

Regards,
Cait