GNU bug report logs - #61325
30.0.50; Jokes in GNUS manual

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Message #44 received at 61325 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Po Lu <luangruo <at> yahoo.com>
To: Ihor Radchenko <yantar92 <at> posteo.net>
Cc: 61325 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#61325: 30.0.50; Jokes in GNUS manual
Date: Tue, 07 Feb 2023 20:36:34 +0800

Ihor Radchenko <yantar92 <at> posteo.net> writes:

> Po Lu <luangruo <at> yahoo.com> writes:
>
>>> 3.15 Exiting Gnus has
>>>
>>> ...
>>> 3.16 Group Topics
>>> ...
>>
>> I think this joke is fairly obvious for anyone who has tried to browse a
>> public news server.
>
> May you please elaborate which joke you are referring to?

This one:

3.16 Group Topics

    If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
    them hierarchically according to topics.  You put your Emacs groups over
    here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
    you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway.  You can
    even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
    groups or the sex groups—or both!  Go wild!

I do understand the rest as well.

> Agree. My other points remain. In particular, about joking on sex topic,
> which is present in the same paragraph.

There are such newsgroups on the Usenet, so why would cracking jokes
about them be any different from cracking jokes about any other
newsgroup?

Seriously, anyone who finds that joke offensive needs to grow up and get
a life!

> I do not mind not understanding. But I do prefer to have manuals written
> in such a way that I can at least distinguish jokes from the technical
> information I actually need to use GNUS. I admit that the paragraph
> about "kill files" is clearly distinguishable as a joke. Not so much for
> 3.16 Group Topics where jokes and non-jokes are rather mixed.
>
> Also, note that Gnus is also email client. Are people who intend to use
> GNUS for email supposed to understand Newsgroup terminology in order to
> use GNUS?

No, but they are not expected to understand the jokes in the manual for
a _newsreader_ either.

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