From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from smtp.kernel.org (aws-us-west-2-korg-mail-alma10-1.taild15c8.ts.net [100.103.45.18]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 5BBE842FCA7 for ; Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:45:22 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; arc=none smtp.client-ip=100.103.45.18 ARC-Seal:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1784213127; cv=none; b=TSGxPijOYVL2xbvuM8GiF9JGhTyTfSHy+YPHuIyWVrFKIxDTht/AMGknNKo2dPTzQ3vXXhnjiul4fF5GRI0dvdORaVT3r2BD1L2+1Y7D7eMIZQ2I8NEN96v5ZtTVWfYlfjYViJUVla9MDoYf+lwxn9nWWjQtQ1NTviQtotuPQEg= ARC-Message-Signature:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1784213127; c=relaxed/simple; bh=WFEUcanCYCKuryGhz4Sfn9t50YZXdflKKC1pzghHE3A=; h=Date:From:To:Subject:Message-ID:References:MIME-Version: Content-Type:Content-Disposition:In-Reply-To; b=crj3Bx0JGen+icKMQ2Lh4Pp+tDPHyh43IePRWOrj6FQ8rgbHukg6OP7w6ew8XCnyJD0+OOJZ1LHsqdJTWsfsjhdsLf5HGNZvkH827weeMwadI+O9yQlOaROZuhNUkdei70wguMrUM3DwsFm/6fFrfYmLE0Fp1jcMleRSXfss6WU= ARC-Authentication-Results:i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=kernel.org header.i=@kernel.org header.b=NiR21L7c; arc=none smtp.client-ip=100.103.45.18 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=kernel.org header.i=@kernel.org header.b="NiR21L7c" Received: by smtp.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 387C71F00A3E; Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:45:19 +0000 (UTC) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=kernel.org; s=k20260515; t=1784213119; bh=5GQ+Yw8BDCtz3MkqHbD9BciZq/qAW8QMbrr75JKTVpY=; h=Date:From:To:Subject:References:In-Reply-To; b=NiR21L7cxNtRW9GonQ8/4KJDm2HpNRR5K6C5Z4XT3GxPHOcHvWhWgQIlP/eE/pRsH dpJ8uY/GAirF2w/As1bc6uJkDpHLfmXcdk9eTqkmNSrtKbA+8x63L4mtbqYDa12TjS W3Viv9/fRluNCIIwXD8Dg77YmDHvec/fKGJIhGplufszaNZjOfw+fEga9pBqYD8+Qu rLZPuF1MmE3htKzwsw3gUtMaYNkmUBX4ic2HbssEXG+eY2pZYa9/0oMHI1G/x8VOOj pJx0hzZrHm/z0RDspBdo+oQko4LzPIToLMt8xpPztfHHDjyvRJF88Be5jdNpp6ANr5 l8jkOU1/SdDdw== Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:45:16 +0200 From: Alejandro Colomar To: Douglas McIlroy , linux-man@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: syntax of options in man1 Message-ID: References: Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: linux-man@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha512; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="q7m4m7rsyrkm42gb" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: --q7m4m7rsyrkm42gb Content-Type: text/plain; protected-headers=v1; charset=utf-8 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable From: Alejandro Colomar To: Douglas McIlroy , linux-man@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: syntax of options in man1 Message-ID: References: MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: [Added linux-man@] Hi Doug, On 2026-07-16T09:46:25-0400, Douglas McIlroy wrote: > Here's a typical option heading (from tail(1)) > * -n, --lines=3D[+]NUM* >=20 > It is tempting to assume (incorrectly) that the short alternative is -n= =3D4. > As far as I can tell, the convention that "=3D" is part of only the long > alternative is described nowhere. Agree. I've had that concern for a long time. > I think the description belongs in intro(1). Agree. > Incidentally, the actual content of intro(1) is absurdly bloated and much > of it is way off topic. Agree. I think there should be a separation between an introduction to the entire system (maybe this could be intro(0)), and an introduction to the first section of the manual (intro(1)). What do you think? Have a lovely day! Alex > Doug --=20 --q7m4m7rsyrkm42gb Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAABCgAdFiEES7Jt9u9GbmlWADAi64mZXMKQwqkFAmpY7nYACgkQ64mZXMKQ wqncUBAAtKvn6AbMtY8Klx1wUiAprtlktrBdO5rd9mCQWpcuE+F8nw28awFF5Cza KItadKdFBPwuYpwprOWHLsc9ar69QTgb4pK/hUrV/jDqKRzrRU1lf5pA1jjMHXCf YVz+rfrKSiEq1HLndfUZAEoXYVTnFnU01HdxhVLXd15HsHXne6APF4aITRtgeGGQ 1r4kWT80jklndUmwtPT4oLUiqCpf/xd5rY2PorAo/M7QGWSjDg7P6vahXCC5uQzk IUp7i1SzOyioztSZ+SLb3a+8CgA9q/JJ+t5CSezl0WigPl3Z4DSeSRf8cdmc9gMe UEuUamcFElBWiSqOVAIHVOvil/8fsUWfGZ37zlsz46PEtKIInMqkWHr+Tcm4SKlz tpeir08gktw0hdw1QvgJdjcmW5SbPeE5qhZ41y6XjW33X4kd8+zbih4hpebCpb4y iHJaRpaS2BtUGtzOiyFvTvm++V5QY5tD+y4t9LNvaxkQTI6WY+U+i2TBD0MUXbfa jDIwyMLQg5M5xBa2FLfp2SaZVvwe/MhyMM2whCx4b18dE4/4I45QAahlz9h1Cbbs RI7pmXAZH9/oQ4oPOEOxrT5YQoeXrZaarD+GLoGvTbVAPpTQvbmAOM+gUm7GQZxl WHbLZFpohy785SwUJYRq5Hh1szPCQp8fVJEapEM0UTluQ86v+ho= =ZmdV -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --q7m4m7rsyrkm42gb--