Diveintopython package - non-discoverable?

[Matthew Paul Thomas]

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On 4 Jan, 2006, at 2:27 PM, Simon Gerber wrote:
> ...
> Don't get me wrong, I *like* the fact that this stuff appears in Help
> after you've installed it. I had no idea that happened, and I think
> it's a cool feature. But I didn't know about it. And I have a vague
> feeling that perhaps a lot of people don't. Like John said a couple
> e-mails back, perhaps we should find out how many people actually
> read/use the Help? Having done my time in Tech Support, I have a
> suspicion the answer is 'not many'.

Agreed -- this is already documented in 
<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpfulHelp>.

> ...
> I think pretty much every package puts something in /usr/share/doc.
> Usually just a changelog and a licence. Only a few packages add
> anything useful to the HTML help. However, we already have a
> notification icon that tells us we need to reboot after a kernel
> package has been updated. What if we extend that so the user is
> notified when a package has installed some docs you can read with the
> help browser? Maybe along with a little notification pop-up letting
> you know you ought to click it and have a look?
> ...

If a program is shipped with useful help, it should have a 
"NameOfProgram Help" item in its Help menu. If it doesn't, it 
shouldn't. (Unfortunately much of Gnome flouts this expectation by 
being shipped with unusable help.) And except for very complicated or 
risky programs, it should not be necessary to read the help to *start* 
using the program; that should only be necessary when performing 
complicated functions. So I think such a notification would be 
inappropriate.

- -- 
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/
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