From: wirzeniu@kruuna.Helsinki.FI (Lars Wirzenius) Subject: Re: Tractatus Linuxicus Newbius Date: 27 Aug 1993 18:43:09 +0300
I'm commenting on an old article, but then I've been away for some
time. I'm not commenting on the general topic in this thread (i.e.,
to what extent, if any, Linux should be usable by various kinds of
newbies and novices).
las@io.org (Laszlo Herczeg) writes:
> The Linux system administrator's guide (SAG) was a very good first
> step in making Linux more accessible, but it is in .ps format, and how
> do you expect someone coming to Linux from the PC world to be able
> to read .ps if they don't even know what a compiler is ?
Thanks for the compliments. The answer to your question is that they
should either learn Postscript (this might not be the preferred
alternative), print it out or preview it, or get another copy in a
format that they can handle. Unfortunately, I have only been able to
provide the source code (plain text, except with some embedded
commands for the layout program, LaTeX), DVI (a formatted, but device
independent format), and Postscript. When I made the first public
release, I didn't have the tools to do other formats; I still don't,
but I will get them before I make a new release (don't ask me when,
'cause I have a habit of not meeting deadlines just to be nasty).
Unless something goes terribly wrong, then next release of the SAG
will also be provided in as a plain text file (formatted for 66 lines
per page, 80 columns, with form feeds between the pages), HP Laserjet
codes, and Epson codes. I think this should cover most people's
output options.