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Subject:Personability From:Mark Levinson <mark -at- MATIS -dot- INGR -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 19 Nov 1993 09:48:56 IST
I recently read through UNIX System Administration, by David
Fiedler and Bruce H. Hunter. (...) I found the book highly
readable, simply because of the informal style and the fact that the
personality of the authors came through.
** I think there's an important difference between third-party documentation
and packaged-in documentation. In the stuff that comes with the
product, you have to remember you're writing to a captive audience.
The product rang the doorbell, the reader opened the door to the product,
and you walked in too, uninvited. In such a situation, I think it's best
for your presence to stay as self-effacing as possible.
On the other hand, when your book doesn't come from the
manufacturer of the product, the buyer is turning to you voluntarily
rather than to the establishment, and I think that for that reason your
mandate to be yourself is stronger.
__________________________________________________________________________
Mark L. Levinson, SEE Technologies, Box 544, Herzlia, Israel
mark -at- matis -dot- ingr -dot- com | voice +972-9-584684, ext. 230 | fax +972-9-543917
