[bug #58653] Please add back in the mdoc(7) manual

[INVALID.NOREPLY]

URL:
  <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58653>

                 Summary: Please add back in the mdoc(7) manual
                 Project: GNU troff
            Submitted by: hackerb9
            Submitted on: Wed 24 Jun 2020 10:13:31 PM UTC
                Category: Macro - mdoc
                Severity: 3 - Normal
              Item Group: Documentation
                  Status: None
                 Privacy: Public
             Assigned to: None
             Open/Closed: Open
         Discussion Lock: Any
         Planned Release: None

    _______________________________________________________

Details:

According to Ingo Schwarze on the groff mailing list, the groff
project recently convinced the Linux man pages project to remove their
mdoc(7) manual as it was outdated by a few decades. 

However, the groff project lacks anything equivalent to mdoc(7).

Ingo suggested I try mandoc.bsd.lv, but I found it more cryptic and
less helpful.

Yes, there is a man page for groff_mdoc(7), but it is a "complete
reference" which is rather difficult for a beginner to get started
using mdoc. In contrast, mdoc(7) from the Linux man pages was a quick
reference on the macro names and their meanings, laid out in a logical
fashion. At the top, mdoc(7) informs the reader to check groff_mdoc(7)
for the nitty gritty.

groff_mdoc(7) appears to have been based upon mdoc.samples(7) which
was written as a companion to mdoc(7). Although groff_mdoc(7) removed
all references to mdoc(7), it does not stand alone well. As somone new
to the world of troff, I found mdoc(7) to be necessary when I
attempted my first serious man pages. If I had had only groff_mdoc(7)
available, I would have given up.

Please import the old mdoc(7) file into the groff project so that it
can become available on all GNU/Linux machines once again. Please do
not wait to update it before importing. Even outdated, it is extremely
useful and mostly correct. Once in Savannah, it can be iteratively
improved via bug reports.

The mdoc(7) file can be viewed online here:

  https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/mdoc.7.html

And the troff can be found here:

 
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/docs/man-pages/man-pages.git/tree/man7/mdoc.7?id=6474f351fd8ac68e6e0c8820bb8926c6b9e3ec97

Thanks!





    _______________________________________________________

Reply to this item at:

  <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58653>

_______________________________________________
  Message sent via Savannah
  https://savannah.gnu.org/