Re: lynx-dev Re: STARTFILE patch

[Leonid Pauzner]

14-Apr-99 03:37 Philip Webb wrote:
> 990414 Leonid Pauzner wrote:
>> 14-Apr-99 14:36 Henry Nelson wrote:
>>> I sincerely believe that the default for STARTFILE should remain
>>> "http://lynx.browser.org/";.
> -- quote from KW's discussion snipped --
>> Agree with Henry.

> but you quoted KW: he & HN have quite different views
> & yours were different again, ie to use the Main Help Page.

> can we please get serious?

I am quite serious.
Henry's point was the startfile probles should belong to PROBLEMS
since this most usual a local networking problem, not lynx.browser.org one.
So a person compiling lynx from sources could read PROBLEMS without
our advice.

Another item when we talk about "precompiled binaries" - they are
usually distributed without INSTALLATION, PROBLEMS, samples/ etc.
and used by less technical people. So they need another README file,
in additional to one from sources package.
Startfile problems, platform-specific paths, advise to check lynx.cfg, etc.
all should belong there (assuming a user cannot start lynx).
However, this is up to the binary distributions author.

In fact, most UNIX users already have lynx installed somewhere
on their system out-of-the-box, they may have no idea about
the package besides trying to start "lynx"
However, lynx -help always work unless the executable is corrupted.
How about adding a special text for -morehelp option (may be another name)
like we have for -permissions without arguments?
This can be a separate included file, easily maintainable in a root directory
and built into any lynx binary like we have for configure options currently.



> HN turns up once in a long while with loud advice for everyone,
> but he's very rarely around to answer all those anguished users
> who suddenly can't get Lynx to start
> & can't even hit `h'elp because Lynx won't start
> & can't check  lynx.cfg  because they don't know what it is
> & can't get thro' to their always over-worked sysadmin:
> THEY are the people who call in here needing down-to-earth advice.
> the way to help them is to make the STARTFILE default something local
> & i agree with LP (on further thought) that the Main Help Page is best;
> alternatively, KW's URL for the user's home directory would be ok.

> --
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