docs/master

diff preface.roff @ 30:d996f130e279

Some rework and new text in the Preface.
author markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
date Wed, 09 May 2012 15:50:40 +0200
parents 6c63083b4c19
children 029e11dd4de1
line diff
     1.1 --- a/preface.roff	Wed May 09 15:19:30 2012 +0200
     1.2 +++ b/preface.roff	Wed May 09 15:50:40 2012 +0200
     1.3 @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     1.4  to modernize, stream-line and to exploit the concepts
     1.5  even more thoroughly.
     1.6  
     1.7 -.U2 "The Path to this Thesis
     1.8 +.U2 "Background to this Thesis
     1.9  .P
    1.10  I have discovered nmh in September 2009. At that time I used to use the
    1.11  mail client mutt, like many command line-attracted Unix users do.
    1.12 @@ -96,7 +96,7 @@
    1.13  Nmh would hardly be hurt by my work as I would not interfere with
    1.14  them. But nmh would profit from my experiences.
    1.15  
    1.16 -.U2 "Focus and Delimitation of the Document
    1.17 +.U2 "Focus of this Document
    1.18  .P
    1.19  This document describes my work on the experimental version, named
    1.20  \fImmh\fP. It explains the changes I did to nmh, with having the focus
    1.21 @@ -111,25 +111,25 @@
    1.22  thoughts on style, mainly based to the Unix philosophy, are present
    1.23  throughout the discussions.
    1.24  .P
    1.25 -This document is written for the community \(en developers and users \(en
    1.26 -around MH-like mail systems.
    1.27 +This document is written for the community around MH-like mail systems
    1.28 +\(en developers and users.
    1.29  First of all, the document shall propagade the design goals and
    1.30  implementation decisions of mmh. But as well, it shall clarify my
    1.31 -perception of the
    1.32 -concepts of MH and Unix, and the therefrom resulting point of view.
    1.33 -Further more, the document shall explain this view on nmh and mmh.
    1.34 -Despite the focus on MH-like systems, this document can be useful
    1.35 +personal perception of the
    1.36 +concepts of MH and Unix, and explain the therefrom resulting point of view.
    1.37 +Despite the focus on MH-like systems, this document can be worthwhile
    1.38  to anyone interested in the Unix philosophy, as well as anyone
    1.39 -involved in old software projects, be it code-related or community-related.
    1.40 +involved in old software projects, be it code or community-related.
    1.41  .P
    1.42 -The reader is expected to know Unix, C and email well. Good Unix shell
    1.43 +The reader is expected to have good knowledge of Unix, C and emailing.
    1.44 +Good Unix shell
    1.45  knowledge, including shell scripting, is required. MH relies fundamentally
    1.46  on the shell. Without the power of the shell, MH becomes a motorbike
    1.47 -without winding roads.
    1.48 +without winding roads: boring.
    1.49  Introductions to Unix and its shell can be found in XXX.
    1.50  The reader is
    1.51  expected to be familiar with the C programming language, although the
    1.52 -document should be quite readable without knowledge of C, too.
    1.53 +document should be understandable without knowledge of C, too.
    1.54  The book by Kernighan and Ritchie is the definitive guide to C.
    1.55  Some book about system-level C programming is worthwile additional
    1.56  literature. Rochkind and Curry have written such books.
    1.57 @@ -143,6 +143,17 @@
    1.58  concrete is the literature by Kernighan and Pike XXX.
    1.59  The term paper ``Why the Unix Philosophy still matters'' by myself
    1.60  provides an overview on the topic, including a case study of MH.
    1.61 +Although a brief introduction to MH is provided in Chapter 1, the reader
    1.62 +is encouraged to have a look at the \fIMH Book\fP by Jerry Peek.
    1.63 +It is the definitive guide to MH and nmh.
    1.64 +The current version is available freely on the Internet XXX.
    1.65 +.P
    1.66 +This document is neither a user's tutorial to mmh nor an introduction
    1.67 +to any of the topics covered. It contains discussions on Unix, email
    1.68 +and system design on an advanced level.
    1.69 +However, as knowledge of the fundamental concepts is the most valuable
    1.70 +information over some program or software system a user can aquire,
    1.71 +this document might be worth a read for non-developers too.
    1.72  
    1.73  
    1.74  .U2 "Organization
    1.75 @@ -171,6 +182,7 @@
    1.76  
    1.77  .\" End or Preface. Start of the normal text.
    1.78  .\" Switch to arabic page numbers and start on a right page.
    1.79 +.
    1.80  .if e \{
    1.81  .	pn 1
    1.82  .	af PN 1