Re: [help-texinfo] Search full content of all info nodes similar to 'man -K '

[Michael Convey]

On Fri, Jul 31, 2015 at 4:00 AM, Gavin Smith <address@hidden> wrote:

On 31 July 2015 at 01:56, Michael Convey <address@hidden> wrote:
> This is very helpful and I'm using it frequently.

Full-text search for all Info files has been in the to-do list for a
long time. I have some idea how it could be implemented, for example
by going down a node's menu entries recursively, starting at (dir).
Whether I'm motivated to work on it depends on how useful it is likely
to be. I've never missed it myself.

​For experienced users, who likely know where to look, such a tool is less useful. However, for the less-experienced user, it is invaluable. Often, the man pages don't have the level of detail contained in the info nodes. For those of us who are learning, and don't know where to look, the lack of such a tool is a significant barrier due to dead ends and the resulting frustration. Often, I've thought, "this is too hard" not because I don't enjoy it or because the concepts are too hard; but, because I can't find the information I need. I'm pretty tenacious, so I suspect many, who are less so, quit in frustration. As a result, GNU/Linux is not for the faint of heart. I suspect the conversion rate to GNU/Linux from other operating systems would be much higher if the information were more easily accessible. ​

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