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Re: duff link to functions in manual



On 2020-03-17 14:11, Richard Torrens (lists) wrote:
In article <82abe874635c9983c1175a25a62ec508@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
   Jeremy Nicoll - ml sed <jn.ml.sed45@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Which search engine should I use?


Maybe this isn't a popular point of view, but I'd say: none of them.

If someone wants to search your site, or any other specific site on
the internet, they should use whatever search engine they prefer,
themselves.

If every site has its own link to the site-author's preferred search
engine then every user has to lean how to use lots of search engines.

Not entirely true: with such a search page no learning is needed.

There's not a lot of learning required at, for example:

 https://www.google.co.uk/advanced_search?hl=en

either.  I /never/ use google's ordinary search page (or toolbar) as
although you can achieve much the same using them, you have to know
how to build the search parms by hand.  Use the advanced page and it
is a doddle.


Most non-riscos people haven't the faintest idea that there are tricks
to using seach engines optimally, and would (given the choice) would
just use the default.

Most people in general don't know it.  I don't see any evidence that RO
people are especially knowledgeable.  Enthusiasts for all OSes/platforms
are perhaps slightly more likely to know.  I'd expect programmers (and
maths/engineering types, used to constructing conditional statements)
to be much more likely to know.  The whole point of a search, for any
non-trivial thing, is to exclude the irrelevant hits.


Google has a page of search hints but I have never found similar hints on
other engines.

That makes one wonder if other engines are even capable of doing more
carefully-defined searches.  If they're not, then - for searches for
technical rather than personal info (ie where privacy surely isn't a
concern), I would use Google were fine control of what one is search for
is easy.

--
Jeremy Nicoll - my opinions are my own