[Info-vax] Radical command line suggestion

[Stephen Hoffman]

On 2015-03-18 13:13:04 +0000, johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk said:

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

Um, "maybe"?  Modern ebook tools are so far past HELP, it's just not 
comparable.

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

That's true for any source, including OpenVMS.  Modern BSD 
documentation does decently well for its BSD-sourced content, BTW.

> 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).

There's also that what's in the VMS help files was written for an 
earlier era, and with the expectation folks would read the 
documentation from end-to-end.   Few of us have the time or effort or 
dedication to do that reading now, which means more than a few 
assumptions can be left unstated, and the terminology can be confusing.

There are inconsistencies around the packages, as well.  How many of us 
have gone looking for C messages or bugchecks in HELP /MESSAGE, for 
instance?

> 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.

Have you met BACKUP?


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