[MEncoder-users] Making manpage accessible

[Andrew Berg]

 On 8/9/2010 4:51 PM, Ilya Zakharevich wrote:
> ... But THIS attitude is very counter-productive.  It makes the
> manpage unusable to (IMO) 95% of people who want to read it.  While
> including a COMPLETE introduction is, of course, out of question, a
> very concise launch-vehicle IS possible (therefore, is NECESSARY).
It's not needed at all for the same reason word processor documentation
doesn't need information on how to write good thesis papers and band saw
documentation doesn't need information on making bird houses.
> IMO, all that is needed is a list of possible ISSUES with video
> encoding, and references to where the reader can get some starting
> information about what the issue is about.  When this list is
> finalized, it may be accompanied by references to mencoder's options
> related to each issue.
Some links on the MPlayer home page and a few "further reading"
references in the man page would be appropriate and useful, but the man
page is there to document the software, not what one should do with it.
Anything specific to MEncoder (using AVI, broken lavf muxer, etc.),
though, should definitely be included in the man page.