On Dec 6, 2005, at 4:32 AM, Charles Forsyth wrote:
But most importantly, they try to ensure
consistency throughout the documentation set.
so does Plan 9; it just doesn't use your rules.
I'm curious about this comment. man(6) describes the macros it makes
available, but it says nothing about how they should be used in the
context of writing the man page itself. There is no mention
whatsoever of style or usage. (USG derived UNIXen suffered this
malady as well, to varying degrees.)
So how is an author to know how to write something that is congruent
with the current style? They can read existing man pages and try to
glean from them, but inevitably errors will creep in. And those
errors will become input to the next generation of authors, and so it
goes.
Wasn't it Steve Johnson who did the original sweep through the UNIX
man pages, editing out inconsistent usage and rationalizing the
layout? In the 1970s?
--lyndon
P.S. And no, I am not in any way pissing on Rob's work!
