Bug #7524 [NEW]: Inadequate instructions

From: edgar_ware at yahoo dot com dot au Operating system: Package version: PHP version: Irrelevant Package: Documentation Bug Type: Bug Bug description: Inadequate instructions Description: ------------ I've been attempting to set up an instance of PEAR using the instructions at http://pear.php.net/manual/en/installation.shared.php and I am finding them to be less than less than adequate for the task. My experience working with linux/unix is limited and rudimentary, and as the instructions at the aforementioned URL expect you to have far more knowledge than they should, they have bamboozled me several times. Firstly, the line "if you add ~/pear/bin to your path as the first entry in .bashrc (or whatever your startup file is)" makes no sense, and consequently as I cannot perform this step of the setup. The command "pear install -o PEAR" which you are asked to perform next does not succeed. I did not even bother attempting the "Installing a local copy of PEAR through ftp/ftps/sftp" method - if I can't get this to work using a method which requires only three steps, I'm not even going to bother with a method which requires fifty. If I thought that there were too many assumptions made in the "Installing a local copy of PEAR through SSH" section, GOD HELP anyone who tries to use the go-pear script. The standard of the documentation in PEAR and it's associated packages is unbelievably bad at the best of times. Too many times I have found myself poring over uncommented source code in a vain attempt to discover aspects of a pakage's functionality. I strongly suggest making some inroads into improving it as the poor standard of documentation which is generally assocuated with open source software unfairly taints the underlying programs which, once you wade through the unnecessarily compicated process of discovering how to use them, are generally very good. -- Edit bug report at http://pear.php.net/bugs/bug.php?id=7524&edit=1 --