From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_INVALID,DKIM_SIGNED, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,MAILING_LIST_MULTI,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (minnie.tuhs.org [45.79.103.53]) by inbox.vuxu.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTP id 00322e40 for ; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 00:41:05 +0000 (UTC) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 3ACC8A272C; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 10:41:04 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 93116A26E7; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 10:40:38 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id 35BCCA26E7; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 10:40:32 +1000 (AEST) Received: from imap.thunk.org (imap.thunk.org [74.207.234.97]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3758FA26DC for ; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 10:40:26 +1000 (AEST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=thunk.org; s=ef5046eb; h=In-Reply-To:Content-Type:MIME-Version:References:Message-ID: Subject:Cc:To:From:Date:Sender:Reply-To:Content-Transfer-Encoding:Content-ID: Content-Description:Resent-Date:Resent-From:Resent-Sender:Resent-To:Resent-Cc :Resent-Message-ID:List-Id:List-Help:List-Unsubscribe:List-Subscribe: List-Post:List-Owner:List-Archive; bh=xKQesj2G+eXEv1LbA2sx3CKdWksEOLHhk6sySFrfdKE=; b=g+lUpMFs8BkMeVKzseyx1xk/QX LXIwsjOhnvR81T5DTik4t9nY7V6zu9jNGfTs96kWVWgMC/8y1eXS975nccyG8M4E/Igh9oeK3LH9i RePuwvR2g5eMMSzm7JgCXbRHNIJzRP9+d0N2DIZysB6xMd7hC/oIldlqbTFFvbsKpibQ=; Received: from root (helo=callcc.thunk.org) by imap.thunk.org with local-esmtp (Exim 4.89) (envelope-from ) id 1gOB8Q-0004Ot-UB; Sun, 18 Nov 2018 00:40:23 +0000 Received: by callcc.thunk.org (Postfix, from userid 15806) id 4F2967A046D; Sat, 17 Nov 2018 19:40:20 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2018 19:40:20 -0500 From: "Theodore Y. Ts'o" To: Ralph Corderoy Message-ID: <20181118004020.GC32299@thunk.org> References: <26292231.693.1542401951390.JavaMail.root@zimbraanteil> <20181117233832.9E28A215C0@orac.inputplus.co.uk> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20181117233832.9E28A215C0@orac.inputplus.co.uk> User-Agent: Mutt/1.10.1 (2018-07-13) X-SA-Exim-Connect-IP: X-SA-Exim-Mail-From: tytso@thunk.org X-SA-Exim-Scanned: No (on imap.thunk.org); SAEximRunCond expanded to false Subject: Re: [TUHS] man-page style X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: The Eunuchs Hysterical Society Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" On Sat, Nov 17, 2018 at 11:38:32PM +0000, Ralph Corderoy wrote: > > From somewhere that didn't fit in well with Unix. > Its saving grace is piping info(1) made it just dump all the text, > skipping its UI, e.g. `info gcc | less'. Because it used to print > formatting progress to stderr!?, it used to need less's `G' then `g' to > skip to the end, getting all the formatting work out of the way, and > then back to the start to redraw the screen, dumping the stderr. There is a place for quick reference guides, and a place for a full-fledged manual, and very often both are available. So people who are comparing, unfavorably, man pages and info files, are really comparing apples and oranges. (Or perhaps, just enjoy trying to tell info files to get off their lawn. :-) If you think the *contents* of the info file are terrible, then presumably you would also object to BSD's Programmer's Supplementary Documents (PSD), User Supplmenetary Documents (USD), or System Manager's Manual (SMM). And if it's just that you hate hypertext, that's just the formatting, and it's quite possible to convert the formatting into your choice of text, PDF, HTML, ePub, etc. You can take the source file for the info file, called the texinfo file, and process it using TeX to generate a dead-tree version of the file. Or you can convert the texinfo file to HTML, for thsoe who like browsers. Or further convert the HTML to ePub and then you can read it in your favorite eBook reader. Cheers, - Ted