How do you read manuals?

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lmuserx4849

Re: How do you read manuals?

Post by lmuserx4849 »

gregoryshock wrote: Fri Jul 27, 2018 8:03 pm My Eyes don't work very well with computer screens. Whenever I need to read something long I prefer printing it. But I've been having trouble. Recently I had to print a manual 117 pages long. I reprinted it 5 times and never once did I get it to come out perfect. Apparently something malfunctioned. It printed pages 1-90 and then it started all over and printed 1-117. I didn't notice so I went to staples to buy longer staples. After I started reading it, I noticed what happened!

How do you read your manuals? Is a tablet easier on the eyes then a regular computer screen?
It depends on the manual file format, (ie., pdf, html, man page, text).

I don't think most manuals are intended to be read cover to cover. They are searched and used as needed. If it is a really important book, I always buy a hardcopy.

It all starts with the desktop - the theme, fonts, and colors. I use KDE Plasma. I normally turn down pure white to a soft gray. I've been playing with dark themes. There are all kinds of studies done on the best font and background colors for reading.

The viewing software makes all the difference in the world. I love okular for pdfs. And use less for man pages, firefox for html. man pages can be easily formatted into pdf or html. I configure each app to work with my vision. Text can be zoomed in and out easily with either the plus/minus on the keyboard or rolling the mouse wheel. If I'm going to read, rather than glance, I put the document in full screen, F11, and the mouse wheel is used to scroll forward and backward.

You'll notice on the libreoffice documentation page, they have a link to purchase a hardcopy at lulu.com. The debian handbook can also be purchased at lulu.com.
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all41
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Re: How do you read manuals?

Post by all41 »

You could also try opening man pages with yelp.
example:

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yelp man:redshift
or

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yelp man:libreoffice
Much easier reading and navigation
Everything in life was difficult before it became easy.
JosephM
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Re: How do you read manuals?

Post by JosephM »

How do you read your manuals?
Not very well any more. I think I need glasses ;)
When I give opinions, they are my own. Not necessarily those of any other Linux Mint developer or the Linux Mint project as a whole.
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all41
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Re: How do you read manuals?

Post by all41 »

Ask optometrist about 'occupational lenses'.
You can get a pair specifically for eye/monitor distance.

Regarding yelp try this test:
1. Open a terminal and enter

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info grub
2. The open another terminal and enter:

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yelp info:grub
Compare the two
Everything in life was difficult before it became easy.
sgtor
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Re: How do you read manuals?

Post by sgtor »

[/quote]
Redshift must be a cinnamon app, I don't have it in xfce.
[/quote]

Code: Select all

sudo apt install redshift
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all41
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Re: How do you read manuals?

Post by all41 »

Redshift must be a cinnamon app, I don't have it in xfce
It is installed by default if Xfce 19
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