[MPlayer-users] Documentation hard to find (WAS: Re: PATCH: mplayer is leaking file descriptors)

[Chris Phillips]

as one of the "users" you seem to be representing i'm all for RTFM. as a 
moderator at linuxquestions.org where RTFMing is next to illegal it gets 
so frustrating repeating yourself time after time...

maybe there should be a side link directly to the docs but after that i 
don't see a problem at all. Most people here will accept an rtfm with good 
grace and read the documentation... but then that's all covered by that 
link posted here a few adys ago about reading documentation. While the 
docs might be a *tiny* bit hard to find, that's no defense from just 
asking "how can i join two avi files?" for the hundredth time that month. 
Personally it always seems to me that there's such an unappreciated 
difference with being a "newbie" and "ignorant and dumb".

> I agree. Somehow I've got a feeling that there's a bit too much RTFM:ing 
> around here and the docs - doesn't really make you feel very welcome. And 
> altough there's plenty of info around, it's currently so scattered that you 
> have to dig hard to find it.
> 
> How about putting a brief link list, something like this, on the front web 
> page (before the news):
> 
>   MPlayer is the hottest/best/most popular media player for Unix.
>   And it's open source!
> 
>   + _Download_ - get the latest stable version
>   + _Features_ - extensive list of Mplayer features
>   + Support & discussion
>     + _FAQs_ - frequently asked questions on classified topics
>     + Beginners: user discussion & support goes on at
>       mplayer-dev at mplayerhq.hu [_subscribe_here_]
>     + Developers & programmers: development discussion goes on at
>       mplayer-dev at mplayerhq.hu [_subscribe_here_]
>   + Bug reports - if you find a bug, do the following:
>     1) check _already_submitted_bugs_
>     2) send to mplayer-users list in _this_format_ or
>        use _bug_report_submit_form_.
>     3) If you have a patch, see _patch_instructions_.
>   + CVS - instructions how to get the sources of the "bleeding edge" version.
> 
> And most of all, on the linked pages, be as brief as you can. I can assure you 
> that the users appreciate it *very* much.

chris
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