From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Message-ID: <7ccea2864f1de4927830af66a9b9e380@csplan9.rit.edu>
To: 9fans@9fans.net
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:34:15 -0400
From: john@csplan9.rit.edu
In-Reply-To: <486912B1.40707@mtu.edu>
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Subject: Re: [9fans] sad commentary
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> erik quanstrom wrote:
>>> is not available under Plan 9. (Or is it?) As there is no simple
>>> introduction to Plan 9 new users will just go the easy way and get
>>> Windows or Linux.
>>
>> lack of an introduction is not the problem.  not being unix
>> is the problem.
>>
>
> Looking too much like UNIX while acting differently is part of the
> problem.  However, the bigger part is that the existing documentation
> can be a bit daunting for someone who is new to Plan 9, and still has
> only a vague notion of how the system works.  Like the UNIX man pages,
> the documentation is very detailed, and great for a reference.  But many
> new users need a bit of hand-holding, of the "Trust me, you want to run
> this command.  You'll learn why/how later, but for now, just RUN THIS
> COMMAND." sort.  At least until the 'new user' anxiety dies down a bit,
> and the return of rational thought allows one to digest the more
> extensive documentation.
>
> Besides, isn't not being UNIX one of the prominent features of Plan 9?
>
> Steven Vormwald
>
> PS: John, thanks for the link to the RIT Intro paper (in another message
> in this thread).  It helped a lot.

I've been thinking of writing a "Plan 9 for Dummies" style thing;
Nemo's book is excellent but definitely aimed at someone most
interested in writing code immediately.  Basically stealing the format
from all UNIX beginner's books ever written, it would have a chapters
about logging on, basic rio usage, basic commands, the file system
layout, acme and sam (to match the standard vi and emacs sections!),
rc programming, and C under Plan 9.  Imagine chapter one of Nemo's
book except greatly expanded.

Now, before I set quill to parchment (or fingers to keyboard as may
be), has anyone else started something like this?


John