Package: adduser
Version: 3.152
Severity: minor
Tags: patch
* What led up to the situation?
Checking for defects with a new version
test-[g|n]roff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=10 -ww -z < "man
page"
[Use
grep -n -e ' $' -e '\\~$' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <file>
to find (most) trailing spaces.]
["test-groff" is a script in the repository for "groff"; is not shipped]
(local copy and "troff" slightly changed by me).
[The fate of "test-nroff" was decided in groff bug #55941.]
* What was the outcome of this action?
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=0 -ww -z ":
an.tmac:<stdin>:199: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
troff:<stdin>:269: warning: special character 'u21B2' not defined
* What outcome did you expect instead?
No output (no warnings).
-.-
General remarks and further material, if a diff-file exist, are in the
attachments.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 13.0
APT prefers testing-security
APT policy: (500, 'testing-security'), (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Kernel: Linux 6.12.32-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=is_IS.iso88591, LC_CTYPE=is_IS.iso88591 (charmap=ISO-8859-1),
LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: sysvinit (via /sbin/init)
Versions of packages adduser depends on:
ii passwd 1:4.17.4-2
adduser recommends no packages.
Versions of packages adduser suggests:
ii cron 3.0pl1-197
ii liblocale-gettext-perl 1.07-7+b1
ii perl 5.40.1-3
pn quota <none>
-- no debconf information
Input file is deluser.8
Output from "mandoc -T lint deluser.8": (shortened list)
1 missing date, using ""
-.-.
Output from
test-nroff -mandoc -t -ww -z deluser.8: (shortened list)
1 Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
1 .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
1 special character 'u21B2' not defined
-.-.
Reduce space between words.
deluser.8:126:The \fB\-\-remove\-all\-files\fP option
deluser.8:159:If \fBdeluser\fP is called with the \fB\-\-group\fP option,
deluser.8:250:.BI \-\-stdoutmsglevel " prio"
deluser.8:252:.BI \-\-stderrmsglevel " prio"
deluser.8:254:.BI \-\-logmsglevel " prio"
-.-.
Use the correct macro for the font change of a single argument or
split the argument into two.
199:.BR "\-\-conf \fIfile\fP"
-.-.
Wrong distance (not two spaces) between sentences in the input file.
Separate the sentences and subordinate clauses; each begins on a new
line. See man-pages(7) ("Conventions for source file layout") and
"info groff" ("Input Conventions").
The best procedure is to always start a new sentence on a new line,
at least, if you are typing on a computer.
Remember coding: Only one command ("sentence") on each (logical) line.
E-mail: Easier to quote exactly the relevant lines.
Generally: Easier to edit the sentence.
Patches: Less unaffected text.
Search for two adjacent words is easier, when they belong to the same line,
and the same phrase.
The amount of space between sentences in the output can then be
controlled with the ".ss" request.
Mark a final abbreviation point as such by suffixing it with "\&".
Some sentences (etc.) do not begin on a new line.
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
Lines with only one (or two) space(s) between sentences could be split,
so latter sentences begin on a new line.
Use
#!/usr/bin/sh
sed -e '/^\./n' \
-e 's/\([[:alpha:]]\)\. */\1.\n/g' $1
to split lines after a sentence period.
Check result with the difference between the formatted outputs.
See also the attachment "general.bugs"
274:This works similar to \fBadduser\fR. See \fBadduser\fR(8) for all the
details.
-.-.
Split a punctuation from a single argument, if a two-font macro is meant.
206:.B \-\-stdoutmsglevel=debug.
224:.B \-\-stdoutmsglevel=warn.
247:.B \-\-stdoutmsglevel=info.
-.-.
Output from "test-groff -mandoc -t -K utf8 -rF0 -rHY=0 -rCHECKSTYLE=0 -ww -z ":
an.tmac:<stdin>:199: misuse, warning: .BR is for at least 2 arguments, got 1
Use macro '.B' for one argument or split argument.
troff:<stdin>:269: warning: special character 'u21B2' not defined
-.-
Additonally:
Remove wide character "u21B2" (symbol for the RETURN key).
-.-
Generally:
Split (sometimes) lines after a punctuation mark; before a conjunction.
--- deluser.8 2025-06-18 14:24:54.269250386 +0000
+++ deluser.8.new 2025-06-18 14:40:33.855367946 +0000
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ any other files on the system owned by t
Removing the home directory and mail spool
can be achieved using the \fB\-\-remove\-home\fP option.
.PP
-The \fB\-\-remove\-all\-files\fP option
+The \fB\-\-remove\-all\-files\fP option
removes all files on the system owned by the user.
Note that if you activate both options
\fB\-\-remove\-home\fP will have no additional effect
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ to remove system users or groups
while ignoring the case where the removal already occurred.
.SS "Remove a group"
-If \fBdeluser\fP is called with the \fB\-\-group\fP option,
+If \fBdeluser\fP is called with the \fB\-\-group\fP option,
or \fBdelgroup\fP is called,
a group will be removed.
The primary group of an existing user cannot be removed.
@@ -196,14 +196,14 @@ This implicitly sets \fB\-\-backup\fP al
Defaults to the current working directory.
Valid modes: \fBdeluser\fP, \fBdeluser \-\-system\fP.
.TP
-.BR "\-\-conf \fIfile\fP"
+.BI \-\-conf " file"
Use \fIfile\fP instead of the default files
\fI/etc/deluser.conf\fP and \fI/etc/adduser.conf\fP.
Multiple \-\-conf options may be given.
.TP
.B \-\-debug
Synonymous to
-.B \-\-stdoutmsglevel=debug.
+.BR \-\-stdoutmsglevel=debug .
Deprecated.
.TP
.B \-\-group
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ Valid modes: \fBdeluser \-\-group\fP, \f
.TP
.B \-\-quiet
Synonymous to
-.B \-\-stdoutmsglevel=warn.
+.BR \-\-stdoutmsglevel=warn .
Deprecated.
.TP
.B \-\-remove\-all\-files
@@ -244,14 +244,14 @@ Valid modes: \fBdeluser\fP, \fBdeluser \
.TP
.B \-\-verbose
Synonymous to
-.B \-\-stdoutmsglevel=info.
+.BR \-\-stdoutmsglevel=info .
Deprecated.
.TP
-.BI \-\-stdoutmsglevel " prio"
+.BI \-\-stdoutmsglevel " prio"
.TQ
-.BI \-\-stderrmsglevel " prio"
+.BI \-\-stderrmsglevel " prio"
.TQ
-.BI \-\-logmsglevel " prio"
+.BI \-\-logmsglevel " prio"
Minimum priority for messages logged to syslog/journal and the console,
respectively.
Values are
@@ -266,12 +266,13 @@ information to itself while still leavin
.B \-\-version
Display version and copyright information.
-.SH LOGGINGâ²
+.SH LOGGING
\fBdeluser\fR uses extensive and configurable logging to tailor its verbosity
to the needs and wishes of the system administrator.
-This works similar to \fBadduser\fR. See \fBadduser\fR(8) for all the details.
+This works similar to \fBadduser\fR.
+See \fBadduser\fR(8) for all the details.
.SH EXIT VALUES
Any program (person), that produces man pages, should check the output
for defects by using (both groff and nroff)
[gn]roff -mandoc -t -ww -b -z -K utf8 <man page>
To find trailing space use
grep -n -e ' $' -e ' \\f.$' -e ' \\"' <man page>
The same goes for man pages that are used as an input.
For a style guide use
mandoc -T lint
-.-
Any "autogenerator" should check its products with the above mentioned
'groff', 'mandoc', and additionally with 'nroff ...'.
It should also check its input files for too long (> 80) lines.
This is just a simple quality control measure.
The "autogenerator" may have to be corrected to get a better man page,
the source file may, and any additional file may.
Common defects:
Not removing trailing spaces (in in- and output).
The reason for these trailing spaces should be found and eliminated.
"git" has a "tool" to point out whitespace,
see for example "git-apply(1)" and git-config(1)")
Not beginning each input sentence on a new line.
Line length and patch size should thus be reduced.
The script "reportbug" uses 'quoted-printable' encoding when a line is
longer than 1024 characters in an 'ascii' file.
See man-pages(7), item "semantic newline".
-.-
The difference between the formatted output of the original and patched file
can be seen with:
nroff -mandoc <file1> > <out1>
nroff -mandoc <file2> > <out2>
diff -d -u <out1> <out2>
and for groff, using
\"printf '%s\n%s\n' '.kern 0' '.ss 12 0' | groff -mandoc -Z - \"
instead of 'nroff -mandoc'
Add the option '-t', if the file contains a table.
Read the output from 'diff -d -u ...' with 'less -R' or similar.
-.-.
If 'man' (man-db) is used to check the manual for warnings,
the following must be set:
The option "-warnings=w"
The environmental variable:
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
or
(produce only warnings):
export MANROFFOPT="-ww -b -z"
export MAN_KEEP_STDERR=yes (or any non-empty value)
-.-
