On May 27, 2012, at 11:59 AM, Eric Weir wrote:

> On May 26, 2012, at 11:11 PM, Chris Jones wrote:
> 
>> Talking of educational.. in reference to what you wrote elsewhere
>> regarding Vim help, I thought I might mention that there are two
>> distinct parts to Vim's help: the ‘user manual’ and the ‘reference
>> manual’.  
>> 
>> Maybe the following illustrates the difference between the two:
>> 
>> | :h cpo
>> | :h user-manual
>> 
>> The user manual provides structured overviews of pretty much every area
>> of Vim without going into too much detail. Studying at my own pace, one
>> chapter at a time helped find my bearings. Mind you, I mean studying..
>> not printing it and just reading through it.. splitting the screen and
>> practising in a scratch buffer until you really know what's there. The
>> good thing is there are links to the reference manual whenever you feel
>> like digging..
>> 
>> Once you've worked through that, you will be able to find what you're
>> looking for in the reference manual much more easily and what you find
>> there will make better sense.
> 
> Thanks, Chris. I was going to say I had no idea there was a 
> user-manual---until I took a look at the pdf version. In fact, I had a hard 
> copy of the book, but got rid of it because I couldn't understand it. I went 
> looking for it but found that, alas, I have indeed gotten rid of it. May have 
> to get myself another copy. The pdf is too maddening to navigate around in. 

Just discovered I hadn't completely gotten rid of it. I'm into a serious 
"simplifying" jag. Stuff to the dumpster. Stuff in boxes to be taken to 
Salvation Army, etc. I reorganizing stuff in one box I found the book at the 
bottom of the box. 

Thumbing through it it doesn't strike me as incomprehenisible as it did before. 
Maybe I've learned something. Maybe now I can learn from the book.  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA  USA
[email protected]

"Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position, 
but certainty is an absurd one."
 
- Voltaire

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