From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from out5-smtp.messagingengine.com ([66.111.4.29]) by ewsd; Sun Mar 18 06:07:55 EDT 2018 Received: from compute1.internal (compute1.nyi.internal [10.202.2.41]) by mailout.nyi.internal (Postfix) with ESMTP id 65CC520C04 for <9front@9front.org>; Sun, 18 Mar 2018 06:07:53 -0400 (EDT) Received: from web5 ([10.202.2.215]) by compute1.internal (MEProxy); Sun, 18 Mar 2018 06:07:53 -0400 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=fastmail.fm; h= content-transfer-encoding:content-type:date:from:in-reply-to :message-id:mime-version:references:subject:to:x-me-sender :x-me-sender:x-sasl-enc; s=fm2; bh=Dx4WAlhU/6++nyfNXvclaqm+Odwyq NMrOWCJATpvNYI=; b=qMsi8LQNfH/AAjkBkzzUJJm99pEwm5i3/PjK3XqkYB5gE t31PoHN1y/PBB5UcMhXADLFs2Z8P/HlLcrBByEk8Z4pbkGJM23jvWR2fOyrz0+Pa 6n0MWPnvbA2tOmeJm/BspP/AiIHCMhsxI/oanGXWx1mFPcnXXRKYcrCMXlc6Sqke WYDuY86OHHSN/GioDm3LBvWO9NIpNeYRalL5EUyDI3JZ9EG+xIDqzLcRTksSxwGA FrWXFzv01P7hgzvw9XByDAgSFU64jHJAlAk2+ma5TXp0xZ+egBkYlDggdJCck/nz irkDAcLSFE8sT6Ane0MxG6PL7lJSEwmEHHdYCPOYA== DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d= messagingengine.com; h=content-transfer-encoding:content-type :date:from:in-reply-to:message-id:mime-version:references :subject:to:x-me-sender:x-me-sender:x-sasl-enc; s=fm2; bh=Dx4WAl hU/6++nyfNXvclaqm+OdwyqNMrOWCJATpvNYI=; b=TmqypSRtlwT8E3e9Qd0dhn mJECfcrPpd70jrmB+yApFEoePp0fLxyztXp8uVji5vr+vu9Psa4F6Z0UjV7oQRU2 ibC2+ZKFPkefaprDW4i540sfkkCochZJIJts1zVxTQlqHesqyo9vfIRaaud9zkPT OqBEIQq/dQzhEEAfquiMubx3eP6znrBvYBxUKKBzG/HjpTwtl4tWNJ/Ryhb9Tau2 dkPpMikewtMaJn8fyuP6VI0WSyhJNNJhQtQjLsrCt+76yDizKV1mvcn5c9wESDVr lO9uzJYc4ZdLJOLownWK+26AbOS72geEC+iQoF+lnY6ectGGleokqyC3j5WBkjPg == X-ME-Sender: Received: by mailuser.nyi.internal (Postfix, from userid 99) id 40E429E078; Sun, 18 Mar 2018 06:07:53 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <1521367673.3679709.1307063336.6286C914@webmail.messagingengine.com> From: "Ethan A. Gardener" To: 9front@9front.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" X-Mailer: MessagingEngine.com Webmail Interface - ajax-5ce6c4ba In-Reply-To: <8ADDB08FEC580BCDA1A069F2B6469597@5ess.inri.net> Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2018 10:07:53 +0000 Subject: Re: [9front] Argument lists in Plan 9 man pages References: <8ADDB08FEC580BCDA1A069F2B6469597@5ess.inri.net> List-ID: <9front.9front.org> List-Help: X-Glyph: ➈ X-Bullshit: replication XML replication general-purpose deep-learning template Seeing as this appears to be a thread for declaring opinion along with an intent to do nothing, I may as well weigh in. ;) On Thu, Mar 15, 2018, at 2:57 AM, sl@stanleylieber.com wrote: > > The argument against my point of view is that the man pages are > supposed to be kept short enough, and programs should have few enough > flag options, that it never becomes a problem wading through tens of > paragraphs to locate the flag option you're looking for. I formerly held to this opinion, with the exception that I never even tried wading through more than 4 or 5 paragraphs at most. I have to admit that even 2 paragraphs of verbiage around the options could be really annoying at times. I use the word "verbiage" because it sounds like "foliage", which in this context reminds me of attempting to proceed through jungle undergrowth. > Parsing the big paragraphs for flag options is > cognitively disruptive and prone to error Exactly. I implied I'll do nothing at the top, but that may turn out to be false. I really got back into programming in the last few weeks, but once I really got going I found it somewhat addictive. There's always another fascinating puzzle to solve, and I don't want to stop. Then, of course, it takes my energy away from everything else. I decided to limit programming to one day a week, but I need something lighter to fill the rest of my time. I've got a few other things to write at the moment, but when they're done, maybe I'll have a go at man pages. -- The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne. -- Chaucer