[Geany] OT: How to get shorter lines in the Geany manual?

[Randy Kramer]

On Monday 31 August 2009 10:11:28 am Lex Trotman wrote:
> 2009/8/31 Randy Kramer <rhkramer at gmail.com>:
> > On Monday 31 August 2009 01:59:24 am Lex Trotman wrote:
> >> 2009/8/31 Randy Kramer <rhkramer at gmail.com>:
> >> > I think you'd have a decent CSS if the width=60 em line was
> >> > deleted. ;-)
> >>
> >> I don't, I don't like infinitely long lines that wrap themselves.
> >> Fixed size lines where everything is always in the same place is
> >> better, My two cents worth :-)
> >
> > Lex (and anybody that feels the same way),
> >
> > How do you feel if those fixed size lines are too wide for your
> > computer screen, and required that you scroll horizontally to read
> > each line? (I suspect you're a younger person with good eyes and
> > use small fonts, but treat this as a hypothetical question,
> > please.)
> >
> > Randy Kramer
> >
> :-) and how do you feel when each line has three sentences in it as
> : it
>
> streaches interminabley across your widescreen...

Well, in my browser, except for very rare occurrences when there is 
presumably something wrong with the HTML, that doesn't happen for me in 
any of the normal browsers I use.  Does it happen for you?  In a 
browser?  Which browser(s)?

> This is a question to which there is no right answer, or
> alternatively all answers are right for someone, we each have a valid
> opinion based on our own preferences.  The best the creators of Geany
> can do is provide some flexibility and hope it suits the majority of
> people.

Ok, at least until there is a perfect solution.  The feature of 
automatically wrapping to the width of the browser's (or 
whatever--editor, word processor, is a very common feature)--leaving 
the user free to adjust the width of the lines (by setting the width of 
the browser) to suit himself.

In the case where the pre-established width (in this case, 60 em) suits 
most users, not many people will agitate for a change.  (I was thinking 
about suggesting a survey, but, the above is why I won't.)  It seems, 
though, that having an easily adjustable width would satisfy more 
users.

And, even for you (although I don't know what software you're using, or 
how you're using it), you could adjust the width of your browser so 
that, for you, everything is always in the same place.

Anyway, I'm not really here to agitate the Geany developers 
(specifically).  As a "tilting at windmills" project, I would like to 
convince all web page builders to avoid specifying a width and letting 
the browser adjust it to suit the user.  Gives me something to do in my 
copious spare time. ;-)

> Oh, and I'm not sure I quality as a younger person, I was programming
> computers pre-Unix, thats right pre-Thomson & Ritchie Unix, not
> pre-Linux.

It was just a guess--sorry if I guessed wrong.  Hmm, could I guess at 
your age--I won't, but I'm guessing we're close to the same age--I 
started programming in 1968.  That was pre-C.  Without looking it up, I 
don't know if Unix came before or after C.  I started on IBM-360s and 
Univac 1108s.  Oh, wait, there was a smaller IBM that I used before the 
360--wow--I'll never remember what that was.

Have a great day!

Randy Kramer