I hate the user's manual of QNX!

I am a Chinese University student,I’ve learnt English for almost ten
years,and I’ve read a lot of user’s manuals from HP,NI,Microsoft,and I can
talk freely with my English teacher who is from USA,and I think Canadian
shall speak the same English as Americans do.But today I try to read the
manual of “Neutrino Microkernel system Architecture”,it killed my confidence
of my ability of English…I told myself times and times:calm down…you will
get it.but at last I gave up…
Can not you print your manuals with a little more easy english?you see…we
are non-english speakers and the one who have to read your manual must be a
new QNX comer.
Rose said:“somebody help?>…”

Have you read Texas Instrument’s docs? Just an example. On my mind QNX docs are beautiful and
clearly.

xxs <clxxs@263.net> wrote in article <9mtj9a$b6j$1@inn.qnx.com>…

I am a Chinese University student,I’ve learnt English for almost ten
years,and I’ve read a lot of user’s manuals from HP,NI,Microsoft,and I can
talk freely with my English teacher who is from USA,and I think Canadian
shall speak the same English as Americans do.But today I try to read the
manual of “Neutrino Microkernel system Architecture”,it killed my confidence
of my ability of English…I told myself times and times:calm down…you will
get it.but at last I gave up…
Can not you print your manuals with a little more easy english?you see…we
are non-english speakers and the one who have to read your manual must be a
new QNX comer.
Rose said:“somebody help?>…”

I’m french and I’ve been learning english for 5years as my second language (german was first),
and I feel too that it’s kinda hard to understand the QNX manual (particurlarly the Neutrino
System Architecture), but in my opinion it isn’t because I don’t speak english very well. It’s
more like a technical understanding problem, as the manuals are handling about very hard and
abstract stuffs.
Read those manuals more and more times and you’ll see that they’re very good. Don’t give up,
you’ll do it.
And even though it’s hard to understand, their manuals are at least well made (I mean by the way
the chapters are made)

So, I think that we both have to learn more technical things.

Malv
PS: Why do you think the Texas Instrument docs are hard ed1k?

ed1k wrote:

Have you read Texas Instrument’s docs? Just an example. On my mind QNX docs are beautiful and
clearly.

xxs <> clxxs@263.net> > wrote in article <9mtj9a$b6j$> 1@inn.qnx.com> >…
I am a Chinese University student,I’ve learnt English for almost ten
years,and I’ve read a lot of user’s manuals from HP,NI,Microsoft,and I can
talk freely with my English teacher who is from USA,and I think Canadian
shall speak the same English as Americans do.But today I try to read the
manual of “Neutrino Microkernel system Architecture”,it killed my confidence
of my ability of English…I told myself times and times:calm down…you will
get it.but at last I gave up…
Can not you print your manuals with a little more easy english?you see…we
are non-english speakers and the one who have to read your manual must be a
new QNX comer.
Rose said:“somebody help?>…”

Pascal Malvert <malvertp@club-internet.fr> wrote in article

PS: Why do you think the Texas Instrument docs are hard ed1k?

I’m unable to evaluate language, because I don’t know english. I work with TMS320C240 and I every
so often need to read their docs. I often find very important information in the strange places
such as notes for other topic, appendix for other bookset and so on. That information is a very
critical and that one often is specific to TI.

I am a Chinese University student,I’ve learnt English for almost ten
years,and I’ve read a lot of user’s manuals from HP,NI,Microsoft,and I can

I definitely bet my english capabilitiy is well below yours
but I thought RTP docs were neat and clear.

Lack of quantity at current date may be the problem tho…

kabe

I hate the manual for my Gigabyte motherboard!

"CPU Core Overvoltage Switch

Please Note:
Provide CPU core voltage override function, Incorrect using it may cause
your CPU broken. For power End-User use only!"

Dunno perhaps they ment to word it that badly to scare people from
overclocking the CPU. Just a guess. :slight_smile:


I know our docs people have done a good job (the awards speak for themselves,
which they have won numerous). Combining the topic (which isn’t exactly easy)
and the language barrier would account for some of the frustration alot of
people might see.

If you have questions about further explination regarding something in the
docs feel free to ask here, if something doesn’t make sense, just let us know
and we will help explain it the best we can.

E.


xxs <clxxs@263.net> wrote:

I am a Chinese University student,I’ve learnt English for almost ten
years,and I’ve read a lot of user’s manuals from HP,NI,Microsoft,and I can
talk freely with my English teacher who is from USA,and I think Canadian
shall speak the same English as Americans do.But today I try to read the
manual of “Neutrino Microkernel system Architecture”,it killed my confidence
of my ability of English…I told myself times and times:calm down…you will
get it.but at last I gave up…
Can not you print your manuals with a little more easy english?you see…we
are non-english speakers and the one who have to read your manual must be a
new QNX comer.
Rose said:“somebody help?>…”

I really have difficulty of reading the QNX user’s manuals,But I am not sure
enough it’s my fault or theirs(My confidence really has been killed?:),as I
am a newer to QNX, there must be a lot of new concepts and terms exist.But
still I think a good job of manual shall let the readers just think the
content of the book instead of guessing the meaning of the words.if someone
have to guess the words times and times while doing the reading he sure will
miss himself…so the following are some suggestions:

1,Give an explanation for the terms ,at least at the first time it appears.
the sentence “While QNX/Neutino also provides this
single-process,multiple-thread memory model for processors lacking an MMU”
is from QNX manual,why not “… lacking an MMU(Memory Manage Unit)” ?it is
also easy to print,isn’t it? the sentence is easy for XXS(my nickname) now
but not easy for the XXS one week ago…
2,To organize the sentences as short as possible
3,do not use the slang or not often used words…
“Buzzwords ofter fall in and fall out of fashion…”
Perhaps the words is very easy for you English speakers,but not easy for
me.Even now I do not know exactly the “Buzzwords”…I can bet that no one
can find the word in any dictionarys.Thanks to my chinese teacher who gave
me the skill of passing examination ,I can guess the word from context…But
do not let me do the guessing please,I am not passing the exam.

If it is my fault I say sorry (not appologize ^-^)…English has been my
necessary tool of doing my job.When I read the manuals from Microsoft and
National Instrument,I almost enjoy them.I really do not know what’s
wrong…but it does not matter,if one time reading confuse me I can do it
two or more times ,just as I do now.
Thanks all of you.
XXS

My feeling is you are reading too much “Software Manual” in english.
However, being an embedded OS, QNX have a lots of concepts “direct
connect” to the hardware world. Don’t afraid of things like “MMU”,
“DMA”, “SMP”, think of it’s an opportunitie to learn more :slight_smile:

As an non-native English Reader, I do enjoy the QNX manual. (these
manual receive a lot of reward though the year) I oppose the idea
of “write your english manual within mind that there are non-native
English reader reading them”. What you need then, is a good “translation”
of the manual.

Actually, if you are interesting, there are lots of artical about
QNX in chinese. Try “http://www.leadingtek.com.cn”, and this one
http://www.leadingtek.com.cn/qnx/conception.htm” could give you
a good idea of the basic QNX concept.

Good luck!

-xtang


xxs <clxxs@263.net> wrote:

I really have difficulty of reading the QNX user’s manuals,But I am not sure
enough it’s my fault or theirs(My confidence really has been killed?:),as I
am a newer to QNX, there must be a lot of new concepts and terms exist.But
still I think a good job of manual shall let the readers just think the
content of the book instead of guessing the meaning of the words.if someone
have to guess the words times and times while doing the reading he sure will
miss himself…so the following are some suggestions:

1,Give an explanation for the terms ,at least at the first time it appears.
the sentence “While QNX/Neutino also provides this
single-process,multiple-thread memory model for processors lacking an MMU”
is from QNX manual,why not “… lacking an MMU(Memory Manage Unit)” ?it is
also easy to print,isn’t it? the sentence is easy for XXS(my nickname) now
but not easy for the XXS one week ago…
2,To organize the sentences as short as possible
3,do not use the slang or not often used words…
“Buzzwords ofter fall in and fall out of fashion…”
Perhaps the words is very easy for you English speakers,but not easy for
me.Even now I do not know exactly the “Buzzwords”…I can bet that no one
can find the word in any dictionarys.Thanks to my chinese teacher who gave
me the skill of passing examination ,I can guess the word from context…But
do not let me do the guessing please,I am not passing the exam.

If it is my fault I say sorry (not appologize ^-^)…English has been my
necessary tool of doing my job.When I read the manuals from Microsoft and
National Instrument,I almost enjoy them.I really do not know what’s
wrong…but it does not matter,if one time reading confuse me I can do it
two or more times ,just as I do now.
Thanks all of you.
XXS

If it is my fault I say sorry (not appologize ^-^)…English has been
my
necessary tool of doing my job.When I read the manuals from Microsoft
and
National Instrument,I almost enjoy them.I really do not know what’s
wrong…

Enjoy reading the manuals from Microsoft ? I know what’s wrong, your a
masochist (meaning 3 on dictionary.com :slight_smile:

Hi XXS,

I see what you mean, I don’t know if I could get our docs people to print out
the full meaning behind the acronyms, but what I can do is make a suggestion
on where you can find out what each of those mean (when you are not sure).

www.whatis.com

Hope this helps.

E.


xxs <clxxs@263.net> wrote:

I really have difficulty of reading the QNX user’s manuals,But I am not sure
enough it’s my fault or theirs(My confidence really has been killed?:),as I
am a newer to QNX, there must be a lot of new concepts and terms exist.But
still I think a good job of manual shall let the readers just think the
content of the book instead of guessing the meaning of the words.if someone
have to guess the words times and times while doing the reading he sure will
miss himself…so the following are some suggestions:

1,Give an explanation for the terms ,at least at the first time it appears.
the sentence “While QNX/Neutino also provides this
single-process,multiple-thread memory model for processors lacking an MMU”
is from QNX manual,why not “… lacking an MMU(Memory Manage Unit)” ?it is
also easy to print,isn’t it? the sentence is easy for XXS(my nickname) now
but not easy for the XXS one week ago…
2,To organize the sentences as short as possible
3,do not use the slang or not often used words…
“Buzzwords ofter fall in and fall out of fashion…”
Perhaps the words is very easy for you English speakers,but not easy for
me.Even now I do not know exactly the “Buzzwords”…I can bet that no one
can find the word in any dictionarys.Thanks to my chinese teacher who gave
me the skill of passing examination ,I can guess the word from context…But
do not let me do the guessing please,I am not passing the exam.

If it is my fault I say sorry (not appologize ^-^)…English has been my
necessary tool of doing my job.When I read the manuals from Microsoft and
National Instrument,I almost enjoy them.I really do not know what’s
wrong…but it does not matter,if one time reading confuse me I can do it
two or more times ,just as I do now.
Thanks all of you.
XXS

Hardware Support Account <hw@qnx.com> wrote:
: Hi XXS,

: I see what you mean, I don’t know if I could get our docs people to print out
: the full meaning behind the acronyms, but what I can do is make a suggestion
: on where you can find out what each of those mean (when you are not sure).

: www.whatis.com

We typically expand abbreviations (and include them in the glossary) only if
they’re specific to QNX.

The word “buzzword” is another way to say “jargon,” but with a negative
connotation. Here’s how Merriam-Webster defines it:

1 : an important-sounding usually technical word or phrase often of
little meaning used chiefly to impress laymen
2 : a voguish word or phrase – called also buzz phrase

(You might find their online dictionary useful: www.m-w.com – it’s the
one we use here.)

We try to keep an informal tone in our documents – as if you had someone
sitting beside you, telling you what to do. This helps to keep the docs
from becoming too dry.

If you have specific problems understanding the documentation, please post
questions in these newsgroups, and we’ll try to improve them.


Steve Reid stever@qnx.com
TechPubs (Technical Publications)
QNX Software Systems

Hi XXS,

| 1,Give an explanation for the terms ,at least at the first time it
appears.
| the sentence “While QNX/Neutino also provides this
| single-process,multiple-thread memory model for processors acking an
MMU”
| is from QNX manual,why not “… lacking an MMU(Memory Manage
Unit)” ?it is
| also easy to print,isn’t it? the sentence is easy for XXS(my
nickname) now
| but not easy for the XXS one week ago…
I see your point and agree. When abbreviations like this appears once
and has no much importance, there’s no problem; but sometimes they’re
critical.

| 2,To organize the sentences as short as possible
I didn’t get what you’re trying to say here…

| 3,do not use the slang or not often used words…
| “Buzzwords ofter fall in and fall out of fashion…”
| Perhaps the words is very easy for you English speakers,but not easy
| for me.
I just ignore words that I can’t find in my dictionaries. :slight_smile: It may
be because I have learned much of my english reading (and not with
teachers).
Anyway, I think the QNX user’s manual is very useful and complete,
as it helped in many doubts. I think that one thing that lacks in
QNX docs is a man utility for shell help. I’ve used them with linux
and they’re quite useful.

Carlos Augusto <vassora_at@zipmail.com.br> wrote:
: Anyway, I think the QNX user’s manual is very useful and complete,
: as it helped in many doubts.

Thanks!

: I think that one thing that lacks in
: QNX docs is a man utility for shell help. I’ve used them with linux
: and they’re quite useful.

Most QNX commands have a usage message. If the command’s name is “xxx” (for
example), just type:

use xxx

Stuff that’s ported typically doesn’t have a usage message, but might give
you some help if you type one of the following:

xxx -?
xxx -h
xxx --help

You just have to hope that -? and -h don’t have another meaning to the
command…


Steve Reid stever@qnx.com
TechPubs (Technical Publications)
QNX Software Systems