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[parent] [thread] 2 comments
1. kstrau+(OP)[view] [source] 2025-11-19 22:52:34
Yep, especially when so many instances of TFM were awful. Perl's docs were fantastic, or so at least I thought at the time, but they were the first large open source project docs I devoured. I can imagine someone coming from another language not even considering just looking at the man page because they were used to awful documentation.
replies(1): >>broken+ed
2. broken+ed[view] [source] 2025-11-20 00:31:40
>>kstrau+(OP)
You are right, Perl's docs are so unusually good that newcomers can't believe they don't need the internet to find clear answers, and go searching/asking anyway, sometimes in wrong places.

FreeBSD has the same problem: plenty of its new exploring users dismiss the most well-intentioned advice to read its excellent Handbook as a sort of joke.

replies(1): >>kstrau+xi
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3. kstrau+xi[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-11-20 01:15:29
>>broken+ed
I’ve seen that one firsthand! “I want to do a thing.” “That’s in chapter 5 of the handbook.” “Oh cool. Is there a substack or something that explains it?”
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