[OS X TeX] MacTeX and LaTeX package documentation

[André Bellaïche]

Le 15 oct. 06 à 14:15, Martin Costabel a écrit :

> Franck Pastor wrote:
>> Le 15-oct.-06 à 12:20, André Bellaïche a écrit :
>>>
>>>
>>> P.S. Before clicking on them, now I know this is possible, I can  
>>> guess the meaning of 3 icons, on the 8 displayed on the Texdoc/ 
>>> CTAN page. Maybe 5, if icons number 3 and 4 both mean package.
>>>
>> Note that if you let the cursor of your mouse lay upon the icon  
>> during several seconds, a small windows pops up with a small  
>> explanation inside.
>
> In addition, the status line of your browser shows you the URL of  
> the links.
>
> In addition, in the top menu there is a "Home" entry which opens a  
> page with a very long list of detailed explanations of all these  
> icons.
>
> I seems prolonged contact with the Mac interface has the potential  
> to transform normally intelligent persons into babies that start  
> crying as soon as their infant formula doesn't have exactly the  
> right temperature.

Dear Martin,

You seem to miss the point. I had no idea that these small pictures,  
I have seen dozen of times when looking for a doc could be icons (and  
I am not the only one), even worse "links". I maintain a small web  
site, and every link is blue (for text) or surrounded by a blue frame  
(for pictures).

I know, in fact I found one day by myself that you can tell links  
from other objects on the page by passing your mouse on it. If the  
cursor becomes a hand, there is a link under. But I cannot try this  
test on everything which come in my sight.

For your second remark, I can just say that things would be more  
clearer if instead of "Home", the author of the page had written  
"Explanations". Most of the time, you find nothing in a "home" page,  
except an index. The babel/CTAN page itself looks as dull and  
uniformative as a "404 error" page, or a "About this system" page.  
So, you use the quickest way to get out of it: clicking on "search".  
It seems to be the only thing put there to help you.

Finally, there are two ways people learn to use computers. Either,  
when they are 10 or 12, they push every button and click on  
everything. They like to play, and they have plenty of time. I am a  
little too old for both. Or, they have a 7 or 15 days Unix/C tutorial  
when they enter the graduate school (or what stands for that in  
France). This did not exist in my time. So, I learn half by trial and  
error, half by asking silly questions on mailing lists.

André------------------------- Info --------------------------
Mac-TeX Website: http://www.esm.psu.edu/mac-tex/
          & FAQ: http://latex.yauh.de/faq/
TeX FAQ: http://www.tex.ac.uk/faq
List Archive: http://tug.org/pipermail/macostex-archives/