[Info-vax] Radical command line suggestion

[johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk]

On Tuesday, 17 March 2015 13:58:37 UTC, Stephen Hoffman wrote:
> On 2015-03-17 04:45:30 +0000, JF Mezei said:
> 
> > Since I have never been accused of being normal, I am allowed wacky 
> > ideas from time to time...
> 
> If by "wacky" you mean extending the existing morass slightly, sure.
> 
> > In ios (the cisco one), typing ? on the command line gives you list of 
> > options at this point of entering command:
> 
> Ayup.  Command completion, support for wrapping files and for 
> objects[1] and combined with native piping support, iterators, 
> replacing the existing stone-knives-and-bearskins of the HELP library 
> interface[2], and the "wacky ideas" like a CLI-integrated 
> context-sensitive shortcut into the HELP file.  All sorts of fodder for 
> hauling DCL forward from the 1970s...
> 
> --------
> [1] Objects are part of what .NET and PowerShell does, for the 
> Windows-familiar folks.
> [2] Something akin to Lynx would be vastly superior to the current 
> navigation, and man and info both have decided advantages over HELP.
> 
> -- 
> Pure Personal Opinion | HoffmanLabs LLC

man and info may have advantages (vs HELP) as tools for navigation. Maybe
HELP needs an update then?

There's also the small matter of the quality of the actual content, rather
than the way it is presented and navigated.

The quality of content frequently provided for use with man and info
leaves a great deal to be desired when compared with the usual 
quality of content in VMS's HELP (and associated layered products help).

As others here have noted, UNIX-style commands typically growed in a
semi-anarchic way. VMS had the advantage of attempts at consistency,
logic, and some level of uniformity. It'd be a shame to lose it.