[Techtalk] abcde: parameters for mp3 ripping

[Roberta Gallini]

> So, just use 'abcde -o mp3'. It's true that manpages are kind of
> unreadable. Having them all in the same type of format has the benefit
> of being able to parse them much faster once you're used to it though.

And it's impossible to guess their meaning.

>
> Following the hint from the manpage, I found this in the config file
> (just search for OUTPUT):
> # OUTPUTTYPE can be either "ogg", "mp3", "flac" or "spx", or a combination
> # of them separated with ",": "ogg,mp3".
> #OUTPUTTYPE=ogg

I've read the man pages and I thought I had understood but nothing
happened or, rater, it didn't work anymore.

> OUTPUTTYPE=mp3. (without the # that is) Of course you'll have to have
> an mp3 encoder lying around. I think abcde does some probing but if
> the encoder is not in your path just search for "# Paths of programs
> to use". Didn't test this all but I see no reason why it wouldn't
> work.

Reading the manpages I got the idea the I had to write "mp3" for the format.

Reading what you write it seems I was wrong.

> Most programmers go through a lot of effort to
> give all console programs about the same look and feel so you can more
> easily find your way around them, just as in gui programs.

In my experience, that means that I have a lot of problems to "guess"
what they meant.

While I am good both with English and computer, I have problems with
manpages, their look and the fact that it's really hard to understand
where the things you need to know are.

It's really frustrating at times.

Roberta