Unix is a text-based operating system with unbelievably helpful text
manipulation tools.
Postgres is a creature of Unix which happens to have unbelievable text
searching and manipulation tools.
Yet, the only one file edition of the Postgres documentation is
in...pdf format. Huh?
I know. I know. I have already brought this up. And various ways of
creating a one file text edition of the documentation have been
proposed to me. I know.
But either I am a visitor from the Crab Nebula, or there is someone
else out there who would like to have a text file of the entire
documentation.
Two examples from other applications.
I use Vim. Vim's documentation is as easy to access as any
documentation on earth...as long as you know exactly what you are
looking for. Otherwise, it is a tremendous pain.
I also use the National Library of Medicine's MeSH subject headings.
25,000 descriptors with definitions, synonyms and a lot of other
things. They give it to you in single files either as text, xml, or
other ways. Big files. Hundreds of megabytes. That makes it so that
you can do just about anything with it you want. It is one of the
seven wonders of the world.
I do suggest that a plain text file of the entire documentation be
made part of the documentation armamentarium.
Respectfully,
John Gage
