[Suggestion] man-pages modules for all base modules

[Rava]

How do I download man pages for offline use?
Sadly, my suggestion years ago to have man pages not deleted when creating modules, but moved to a different folder instead, like so:

Code: Select all

#lets presume the following:
#$MODULE represents the module name without extension, e.g. 001-core
#$MODFOLDER represents the folder in which the files and folders are installed in
#  or copied in for later dir2xzm e.g. /mnt/sda2/Porteus_modules/5.0rc3/
#so that in this example $MODFOLDER${MODULE}/ would be 
#/mnt/sda2/Porteus_modules/5.0rc3/001-core/
#and $MODFOLDER${MODULE}-man-pages/ would be
#/mnt/sda2/Porteus_modules/5.0rc3/001-core-man-pages/
#$boldred and $off are escape sequences for echo: bold+red marking and for
#  switching off any marking

## instead of deleting the man pages copy them for an extra manpages module
## and delete them afterwards
cp -a --parents $MODFOLDER${MODULE}/usr/man/* $MODFOLDER${MODULE}-man-pages/
if [ $? - eq 0 ]; then
	rm -r $MODFOLDER${MODULE}/usr/man
else
	echo -e ${boldred}"WARNING! Something went wrong when copying the manpages files and folders.
See above for any error message.
No write access in target folder / target folder read-only?
No free disk space in target folder?"$off
fi

cp -a --parents $MODFOLDER${MODULE}/usr/local/man/* $MODFOLDER${MODULE}-man-pages/
if [ $? - eq 0 ]; then
	rm -r $MODFOLDER${MODULE}/usr/local/man/man?/*
else
	echo -e ${boldred}"WARNING! Something went wrong when copying the manpages files and folders.
See above for any error message.
No write access in target folder / target folder read-only?
No free disk space in target folder?"$off
fi

and then make an extra manpages module like so

Code: Select all

dir2xzm $MODFOLDER${MODULE}-man-pages/ $MODFOLDER${MODULE}-man-pages.xzm

is sadly not implemented yet.
Since the above is scripted it would take only the small amount of extra time to create the manpages module, the copying is automatic and should not be that much slower than deleting the files and folders (unless the target directory has very slow write rates) and would only be done once prior the creation of the main module and the manpages module.
.
Especially for situations where the set up Porteus machines do have no permanent internet access or no internet access at all, having man pages locally could be vital. In most - especially richer - countries having permanent internet access is usually no issue, but… we create our Linux system especially for the use of older machines, and some people who use such machines are in countries or maybe only areas of countries with non-permanent internet access.
Or only temporary having not the funds for permanent internet access, e.g. because of the changes due to Corona-Chan measures that disrupt commerce globally.

Now, instead, how do I download a man page?
man wget gets me the page via lynx, which is fine when I have internet, and I do get nothing which is bad when I have no internet:

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                         Linux Manpages Online - man.cx manual pages (p1 of 163)
   [INS: :INS]

                                    Manpages

   Manpage: ____________________ go

NAME

   Wget - The non-interactive network downloader.

SYNOPSIS

   wget [option]... [ URL ]...

(NORMAL LINK) Use right-arrow or <return> to activate.
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.
 H)elp O)ptions P)rint G)o M)ain screen Q)uit /=search [delete]=history list 

I think everybody agrees that making 163 screenshots of the example man page of wget alone is a less than desirable solution, much less an optimal one.
Trying to ask lynx how to download a file also fails:
After I pressed "h" :

Code: Select all

Alert!: Unable to access document.
  Arrow keys: Up and Down to move.  Right to follow a link; Left to go back.

[Ed_P]

Rava what is the URL you used for your Linux Manpages Online manual?

Do these modules work for you? https://mirrors.edge.kernel.org/pub/lin ... man-pages/
From http://manpages.courier-mta.org/

[burdi01]

Might Slackware Current's man-db package be what you are looking for?

[Rava]

@both
I could find my way around finding offline man pages, but I aside from the code snippet above I acted like a less tech savvy user who needs offline man pages and used the tools at hand:
executing man [name] gets you to lynx, and pressing "h" in lynx to get help of how to download the current web page gets you the lynx help text not found error.

A normal user would be at his wits end on how to solve the problem since he tried the tools as given my Porteus:

He tried man (he could be a Linux or *IX* user but new to Porteus) and was directed to lynx and then he would get the help in lynx unavailable info.
That would mean end of the line for most users.

Therefore the thread is named [Suggestion] and has already a script [ code ] snippet that would take care of creating man-pages module for every base module created.

Rava what is the URL you used for your Linux Manpages Online manual?

I use man wget as I wrote here:

man wget gets me the page via lynx, which is fine when I have internet, and I do get nothing which is bad when I have no internet

_________________________________________________

Might Slackware Current's man-db package be what you are looking for?

I am only interested in the man pages of the programs already installed, usually every program comes with a man page, but during module creation that gets purged, therefore my code snippet that would let any maintainer create not only his/her 00X-whatever-module.xzm but also a 00X-whatever-module-man-pages.xzm and the probably few folks who need offline man pages can choose to download these modules.

Or even others might see it as a good idea to at least have them downloaded, when not activated by default. What if for whatever reason you get a network error and the man page of one or the other network tool would have the info you needed? But since you are offline you could never read the info since all man pages are purged.

Or all created like my code snippet above base man-pages modules can be put into one single man page module, that is also okay - but when updating only one of the base modules, and it removed a program and has a different as alternative, the all-in-one man-pages module would not be accurate.

[ncmprhnsbl]

future releases of porteus will have a "man.xzm", that includes the missing man pages(and the tools necessary to access them), available for download .. maybe via "bundles"..

[Rava]

^
Yay!


I now close this thread.

[Ed_P]

A good suggestion Rava. Normally when I need help with a question or problem about a command I use Google. For offline scenarios your suggestion is perfect. Might even be a quicker solution to problems without using Google.

[Rava]

A good suggestion Rava. Normally when I need help with a question or problem about a command I use Google. For offline scenarios your suggestion is perfect. Might even be a quicker solution to problems without using Google.

It depends, duckduckgo gives you solutions as well… but your learning experience curve stays flat.
While when you have to figure it out for yourself (and you need manpages for that) you have to understand stuff you previously did not know much about, and so your learning curve goes up.