Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 16:24:24 +0300 (IDT)
From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
To: George Foot <mert0407 AT sable DOT ox DOT ac DOT uk>
cc: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: A Very New Beginner
In-Reply-To: <33f4dace.29862291@news.easynet.co.uk>
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.970818162355.17172P-100000@is>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Precedence: bulk


On Fri, 15 Aug 1997, George Foot wrote:

> On Fri, 15 Aug 1997 10:24:52 +0100, John Lawrence
> <jlaw AT mail DOT nbs DOT ac DOT uk> wrote:
> 
> >It might be useful if the FAQ could be split into 2 or 3 documents.
> >I remember when I got djgpp up and running it took a while to work out
> >which bits of the FAQ I actually needed to know..
> 
> I personally think that is a very good idea -- provided it is made
> clear what each deals with, and which are compulsory downloads (if not
> all three).

I disagree.  For starters, people always get confused as to which
parts of a package to download, so the best solution is to make a
package a single file.  That way, if they've got the FAQ, they've got
it all.

Also, it is sometimes very hard to split the problems into
categories.  For example, if the compiler crashes, does this belong to
the "Compiler FAQ", to the "Installation and System Configuration
FAQ", or to the "Memory Problems FAQ"?  Probably to all of the above.
Do I then repeat these questions in all three parts?

Finally, the FAQ is not necessarily meant to be read in its entirety.
If you think it's too large for that, just leave it alone until you
have a question or a problem.  When you do, look into the Table of
Contents or the indices at the end and try to find keywords or phrases
that seem to be relevant to what you are after.  In other words, treat
the FAQ as a reference book, not a tutorial.

In fact, the FAQ itself tells you this right at the beginning, in the
first section named "If You Are In a Hurry".