KDE -- the missing manual
Hello. I'm a newbie (with Linux in general as well as SuSE 8.2 Personal in particular) and I have a pile of stupid questions. (I hear a chorus of groans.) Before asking them, I'd like to RTFM, but I can't find it. What do I mean? Well, suppose that I use Kbear and can't figure it out. I take Kbear's "help" (or similarly named) menu option. That takes me to SuSE HelpCenter. Nothing there about Kbear, but I believe that Kbear is written for or as part of KDE, so I choose "Application Manuals | KDE". This leads me to a page that says enigmatically "SuSE HelpCenter / KDE / Application Manuals" (of which the last is a link). Clicking on "Application Manuals" takes me to another page that reads in full "SuSE HelpCenter / Application Manuals". No information. I don't yet use GNOME, but "Application Manuals | GNOME" takes me to a page that reads in full ""SuSE HelpCenter / GNOME". No information. "Application Manuals | Manpages" takes me to a blank page. OTOH, the link to "Bash Reference Manual" takes me to a Bash reference manual. What gives? Please KISCIS (keep it simple coz I'm stupid). Thank you!
Peter Evans wrote:
Hello. I'm a newbie (with Linux in general as well as SuSE 8.2 Personal in particular) and I have a pile of stupid questions. (I hear a chorus of groans.) Before asking them, I'd like to RTFM, but I can't find it.
What do I mean? Well, suppose that I use Kbear and can't figure it out. I take Kbear's "help" (or similarly named) menu option. That takes me to SuSE HelpCenter.
This happens with quite a few KDE applications, particularly the less used ones. Programmers are notoriously better at writing code than manuals and some KDE applications come without one. One solution is to write the manual yourself. Seriously. You need to know how to write or edit docbook xml documents, which is not much harder than writing HTML and certainly easier that witing TROFF documents for a traditional manpage. Then volunteer to help your favourite KDE project at www.kd.org. WTFM rather than RTFM. Alternatively, a search on Google or a specific question to a list like this often answers the question. -- JDL Non enim propter gloriam, diuicias aut honores pugnamus set propter libertatem solummodo quam Nemo bonus nisi simul cum vita amittit.
On Saturday 14 June 2003 07:26, Peter Evans wrote: <snip> OP can't find Kbear online help manual </snip> Both the menu uption (help | kbear handbook) and the icon on the toolbar (that looks like a book) work for me - are you sure you installed all the help files when you installed your SuSE? The KDE help centre stuff should automatically be there as part of the KDE base package. Try typing 'help:kbear' into Konquerer as that should get you to the same page. Not sure if this can help, hopefully other more knowledgable peeps will be able to help more! Yours -- Ray
John Lamb suggests that if I can't RTFM that's because it doesn't exist and I should therefore WTFM or at least consider doing so. In principle I'm not opposed to the idea -- and more broadly I do understand that GNU/Linux/Open-Source/GPL/whatever doesn't all come neatly prepackaged for my impatient and ungrateful consumption -- but the whole of KDE help seemed to be missing (although see below), so I didn't/don't think it's a matter of this or that bit of documentation not yet existing. Gar Ulbricht suggests that the documentation might not be installed. It is installed: all but one ("howtoenh") of the "YaST2 | Selections | Help and Support Documentation" little boxes are checked. (I'll investigate Gar's other suggestions in a few minutes: I thought that I should dash off this reply quickly, before other people spend time answering . . . because [fanfare]:) Ray suggests:
Try typing 'help:kbear' into Konquerer as that should get you to the same page.
It did! Splendid. I don't know what the hell "help:" is actually doing -- Did I mention that I was an ignorant newbie? -- so I tried it with a non-KDE program that's installed here: mined (an editor). (Before anyone points this out: yes, I do realize that the documentation for mined is on a web page.) Very interesting: I got the general info for KDE that I'd been looking for before.
participants (3)
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John Lamb -
Peter Evans -
Ray