Package: man-db
Version: 2.4.3-3
Severity: normal
Hi,
"man apropos" doesn't say anything about how the keyword database works,
which can lead to confusion. For example:
# apt-get install netpbm
# apropos pbm
pbm: nothing appropriate
(darn, netpbm has no docs! or maybe I need to update a man database?)
# man apropos
DESCRIPTION
Each manual page has a short description available within it.
apropos searches the descriptions for instances of keyword.
(Hmm, doesn't say anything about a database that needs to be updated...)
I suggest that the DESCRIPTION section in the apropos page makes a brief
mention of the existence of the database, e.g.
Each manual page has a short description available within it.
apropos searches a database of these descriptions for instances of
keyword.
keyword is usually...
The standard...
The database that apropos searches is updated by the man-db program,
which may be run by a periodic cron job, or manually after new man
pages have been installed.
It should also refer to man-db in its SEE ALSO section.
Or something like that. It just needs a bit of a clue; I had imagined
that post-inst scripts automatically updated the apropos database after
installing man pages and only realised that this wasn't the case when I
installed netpbm.
Regards, Phil.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: testing/unstable
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'testing'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.17
Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Versions of packages man-db depends on:
ii bsdmainutils 6.1.3 collection of more utilities from
ii debconf [debconf-2.0] 1.4.72 Debian configuration management sy
ii dpkg 1.13.22 package maintenance system for Deb
ii groff-base 1.18.1.1-11 GNU troff text-formatting system (
ii libc6 2.3.6.ds1-4 GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii libgdbm3 1.8.3-2 GNU dbm database routines (runtime
man-db recommends no packages.
-- debconf information:
man-db/build-database: true
man-db/rebuild-database: true
* man-db/install-setuid: true
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