4 ms·

I bought it just few days ago find it helpful but also i wish there was more context / explanation around some black magic syntax

dredmorbius 3y ago
Definitely this. If only to note, say, the section(s) of the Bash manpage or GNU Info Manual in which topics are discussed. Taking the first-listed example, the '%%', '##', etc., substitutions are covered in Parameter Expansion. I tend to go first to manpages, though I'm well aware that GNU deprecates these (exceedingly unwisely IMO) in favour of the Info Doc format (and its dedicated single-purpose reader). I'll note that the manpage alone renders to 120 pages (man bash | pr | less) onscreen, which is fairly formidable. The PDF-formatted GNU bash manual (a fine format for a reference of this sort) runs 196 pages: <https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.pdf https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.pdf>
- ftaghn 3y ago
  People all too often forget that there is often a lot of extra documentation hidden in /usr/share/doc/ when you install -doc packages, at least on deb systems, and not just info and manpages. For example, the bash manual you cite is in /usr/share/doc/bash/bashref.pdf along with its html version as bashref.html. There is also an /example/ folder filled with commented programs and functions to serve as reference. And a README that suggests looking for "Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide" which is a massive online book filled with all sorts of esoteric knowledge. You can also find things like the release changelogs and one that details incompatibilities from previous versions. While there are exceptions, most packages have useful goodies in there to check first before one has to think about looking things up online.
  - dredmorbius 3y ago
    On Debian, install the dwww package (<https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/dwww https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/dwww>), and point your browser at <https://localhost/dwww/ https://localhost/dwww/>. What you'll find is both a set of pages & hierarchy of documentation as well as search (via swish++) through that space. And yes, there is an absolute trove of information available: - Manpages - Info pages - Default package information - Supplementary package documents, if installed - HOWTOs from the Linux Documentation Project. - Debian-specific documentation (installation, administration, security, policy, and other manuals) - RFCs (divided into several groups, for manageability / relevance) - Resources such as the Linux Gazette There's also a commandline utility, dwww, which will invoke your browser of choice. Point that at a terminal-based browser (w3m, lynx, links, elinks, etc.) and you can quickly scan through docs from your terminal.

dredmorbius 3y ago

Definitely this. If only to note, say, the section(s) of the Bash manpage or GNU Info Manual in which topics are discussed. Taking the first-listed example, the '%%', '##', etc., substitutions are covered in Parameter Expansion. I tend to go first to manpages, though I'm well aware that GNU deprecates these (exceedingly unwisely IMO) in favour of the Info Doc format (and its dedicated single-purpose reader). I'll note that the manpage alone renders to 120 pages (man bash | pr | less) onscreen, which is fairly formidable. The PDF-formatted GNU bash manual (a fine format for a reference of this sort) runs 196 pages: <https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.pdf https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.pdf>

ftaghn 3y ago
People all too often forget that there is often a lot of extra documentation hidden in /usr/share/doc/ when you install -doc packages, at least on deb systems, and not just info and manpages. For example, the bash manual you cite is in /usr/share/doc/bash/bashref.pdf along with its html version as bashref.html. There is also an /example/ folder filled with commented programs and functions to serve as reference. And a README that suggests looking for "Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide" which is a massive online book filled with all sorts of esoteric knowledge. You can also find things like the release changelogs and one that details incompatibilities from previous versions. While there are exceptions, most packages have useful goodies in there to check first before one has to think about looking things up online.
- dredmorbius 3y ago
  On Debian, install the dwww package (<https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/dwww https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/dwww>), and point your browser at <https://localhost/dwww/ https://localhost/dwww/>. What you'll find is both a set of pages & hierarchy of documentation as well as search (via swish++) through that space. And yes, there is an absolute trove of information available: - Manpages - Info pages - Default package information - Supplementary package documents, if installed - HOWTOs from the Linux Documentation Project. - Debian-specific documentation (installation, administration, security, policy, and other manuals) - RFCs (divided into several groups, for manageability / relevance) - Resources such as the Linux Gazette There's also a commandline utility, dwww, which will invoke your browser of choice. Point that at a terminal-based browser (w3m, lynx, links, elinks, etc.) and you can quickly scan through docs from your terminal.