Re: [Patch] Adding examples to the man pages

[Dave Gilbert (Home)]

Alfred M. Szmidt wrote:
>    This is unfortunate, since coreutils contains tools which are
>    heavily used by beginners as well as expert users.  
>
> Beginners should read the info pages to begin with, since they contain
> more useful information then the man pages.  So I fail to see how this
> argument holds water. :)
>
>    I, for one, welcome improvements to the manpages.
>
> I wasn't objecting to them directly, but even so the man pages should
> already direct the user to the info pages, and this information is far
> better suited for the info pages.

Info pages, powerful as they are, are almost exclusively GNU only.
Man is the universal source of documentation for Unix like systems and
it seems to me that the basics should be in man pages - and examples
of the common operations are a useful case - and if you really
do want to have larger docs not in man then a pointer to info is
ok.

Given that a user may read a generic unix guide hence the reason this is 
going in man; having said that I'd be perfectly happy for you to put
this stuff in info as well if you feel like it.

However, whatever either of our views on whether info or man is more 
'better' I would like to get some examples into the man side of things.

So if I finish off the rest of the coreutils set in a manner similar to 
the patch I sent are you happy to take it?

Dave