[hpfr]

In the replies, the author writes:

> I literally did not know info pages existed for the first 15 years I used GNU tools, and I've still never used one

A bit of irony: the link and screenshot in the OP are from the HTML version of an Info manual! In my book, that counts as using one :). HTML Info manuals are right up there with Stack Overflow for most queries about GNU tools. Most people who have searched the web for how to do something with Make, GCC, or tar have used an Info manual, unwittingly or otherwise. There are even two types of HTML export¹: one web page per node, good for sharing links, and everything on one page, good for lazy full-text search.

And while the TUI program is indeed pretty niche these days (probably partly due to the fact that it’s not installed by default in many environments), any Emacs user worth their salt is intimately familiar with Info-mode :D

1: https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/

[SanjayMehta]

I find it very hard to believe someone could use GNU for 15 years and not stumble across info pages.

Especially if you’re a developer.

[alexey-salmin]

I think it's not that you don't stumble, it's just that you avoid them concsiously or subconsciously.

For me it's almost 20 years now but the reflex is still "check the man quickly, then go to full html docs if necessary". It developed very early and then I never applied enough force to break it.

When thinking of my early Linux usage experience I guess the primary reasons why the reflex developed were the following:

1) In the beginning you barely understand what's happening and turn to docs very frequently, often feeling desperation by that point. Figuring out a complex interface in this state of mind feels extremely frustrating, because you're already in process of figuring out something else. Man/less interface is very limited but it's also comforting in its simplicity.

2) When you finally subside to the "info xxx should give you access to the complete manual" instruction it shows you the same man page but in a frustrating interface which feels like a cruel joke (you're desperate to solve something, remember). I didn't have doc packages installed and I had no way of knowing that at the time. I still think it's a horrible usability solution and if "info" showed the install instructions instead the story could have been different.

[klodolph]

Issue #1 can be sidestepped by using the HTML docs, which are still info pages.

Issue #2, I think, is a packaging issue related to licensing and the peculiarities of Debian packaging rules. Normally, any time you install a package, you get the man pages and info pages.

[alexey-salmin]

Everything can be sidestepped, it's not the point. The point is for some users (a majority I suspect) info pages have the entry barrier too high. Not very high per se, but too high compared to what you normally expect from documentation which is no entry barrier at all. That happens due to an unfortunate combination of circumstances most of which have nothing to do with info pages format itself which is quite good.

[ilikepi]

Is it possible this is less of a reflection of the author's abilities and more of a reflection of your lack of imagination? Not everyone who reaches a destination follows the same path. Stack Overflow was launched just over 15 years ago, for what it's worth.

EDIT: fix typo