to print or not to print? the perennial online documentation dilemma

it occured to me while reading the most excellent Linux Network Administrators Guide that there are no good guidlines for when to print an online guide and when to leave it in electronic form.

the default choice is to leave it electronic, and leave it on the net. this allows updates to propogate seemlessly. however, modern displays make reading lots of online text, especially in book form, hard on the eyes. in addition, the nature of the text may make it impossible to access. for example, a text on setting up your network interface could very well interrupt your reading if your following along. :)

will i need to read this away from any computer? if i do, how much of it do i really need? will i need to take notes (this might affect printing format)? will i need to read this on a computer, but potentially disconnected from the internet? will the text be changing drastically in the following months? if i make the wrong choice, will it be easy to correct? (and if the answer to that last question is 'yes' then just keep it online at first. :)

No comments: