random Linux notes 2012-04-28

Old Machine? Use Light-weight Desktop: Xfce, LXDE

Content moved to: Linux: How to Install New Window Manager (Gnome, KDE, Xfce, xmonad, etc)

Learn Technical Writing from Unix Man in 10 Days

Quote from man apt-get:

remove
    remove is identical to install except that packages are removed
    instead of installed.

Translation:

kicking
    kicking is identical to kissing except that receiver is kicked
    instead of kissed.

Disappearing URL in Doc

so, i was reading man git. Quote:

Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest git documentation can
be viewed at http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/.

but if you go to that URL, it shows a list of over one hundred forty empty dirs.

I guess unix/linux idiots can't be bothered to have correct documentation. Unskilled in writing is one thing, but they are incapable of maintaining a link or updating docs?

does this ever happen to Apple's docs? If it did, i don't ever recall seeing it from 18 years of using Mac.

more records of careless dead link:

• A Record of Frustration in IT Industry; Disappearing FSF URLs
• Python Doc Links Dead
• unix: Hunspell Path Pain
• Why Qi Lisp Fails and Clojure Succeeds
• Hackers: Dead Links and Human Compassion?

apt-get Package Naming Confusion

so a friend told me about a game named “githug”. It's a command-line app that teaches you git, as if playing a game.

githug site says: gem install githug. I ran which gem and got no result, so i brainlessly typed sudo apt-get install gem and it went. But apparently, the gem package isn't what i want. What i wanted, turns out, is called “rubygems”, which is ruby's package management system.

there are several issues thus far:

• in unix, never brainlessly run things on command line (like i just did) unless you sure know what you running
• WTF is “gem” and “gem” named the same?
• question: how do YOU find a description of a package in “apt-get”?

now, continuing the story… so i: sudo apt-get install rubygems then i gem install githug all went well, except, when i type which githug nothing is to be found. WTF is going on?

What is /var/lib/ For?

“githug” is installed in /var/lib/gems by default. You need to either call it with full path or add it to your $PATH.

(the command updatedb and locate are helpful in locating files. They are basically a cached version of find …. (Thanks to [Huynh Kang https://plus.google.com/116962894211949702064/posts]))

Why the faak is it in /var/ dir?? To refresh my Unix Philosophy, see: Unix directory structure. Quote:

/var, a short for “variable.” A place for files that may change often.

in unix shit, there's always some tech justification that makes you feel better.