LYNX-DEV availability >= programming

[Philip Webb]

i'm glad i've started people talking & thinking about the problem
of availability & easy installation.  two brief comments on responses:

first, documentation should certainly be available in ALL languages
for which there are lynx users (assuming a translator volunteers)
& equally non-Latin alphabets should be fully supported:
no, that's NOT  esoteric  (to reassure Mr Kacar).

but Fote (on browsers & languages) falls into the trap i was pointing out:
it's no use just blaming the poor sods who are trying to set up a server
for not doing it properly: people need HELP with such things
&  browser.org  should offer some.  how about a page of FFEs
-- frequently found errors -- in mark-up & other things?

second, binaries for non-sysadmins: it looks as if i was right in thinking
there are a lot of nsa's & it also looks as if binaries can be provided
at least for some machine/os pairs.  it's an important step.

Mr Kacar says UNIX & VMS are supposed to have sysadmins; he also reveals
how much work he's facing as a sysadmin.  this is the heart of the problem,
or close to it.  our UNIX system has a sysadmin (not me!): you can send him
an e-message: you get an automated response  you are 302nd in the queue :
yes, that's what i got last month: 3 queries have gone unanswered since 9606.

it's not his fault: our system has always been underfunded -- it's not
the main u toronto system, but one serving humanities & social sciences -- ,
but now we have a provincial government intent on slashing budgets too.
this is happening all over the world, of course: others suffer far worse.

so real life is that i have to be my own sysadmin, find things out for myself,
get what help i need wherever i can find it.  if i'm to use 2-6 i will have
to compile it myself in my own subdirectory.  if i need  ncurses  or whatever
i'll have to find them somewhere.

if that's how things are in the world's most livable city (Fortune Magazine)
in the most livable country (UN, i think), what must it be like in Ukraine,
Zaire or a US ghetto?  and that, of course, is where terminal-challenged
people are most likely to be found.

so i know basic UNIX & C, i'm resourceful, i'm bright: i'll probably manage.
but my point remains: making 2-6 easily available to non-sysadmins
in unfashionable surroundings is MORE IMPORTANT than writing 2-7,
let alone itsi-bitsi patches for 2-6.

your turn again.
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