On Tue, Jul 24, 2001 at 02:49:27PM +0200, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >From: Michael Stone <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To go back to the subject of the LSB, man pages have nothing to do with > >being able to run a binary accross distributions. > > Of course thay have: think about the fact that different distributions use > different programs with the same name but slightly different functionality. > If you have no man page for them as it is currently the case you have no luck.
Right now in the linux world I have a good chance of not being able to compile a binary that will work on multiple distributions. That's the immediate issue that needs to get fixed--binary compatibility. There are other issues related to that (such as file locations, etc.) Not having man pages is a completely different class of problem. The argument about binaries with incompatible arguments is specious--an lsb program relying on behavior not defined in the lsb is out of spec regardless of whether that behavior is documented in a manpage. And lsb behavior is documented in a big honkin' binder with LSB written on the front, so manpages aren't *required* for documented behavior either. The lsb is never going to go anywhere if people try to use it as a club to push their own pet projects. If your distribution of choice doesn't have man pages then complain to them--it's not part of the minimum set that the lsb *must* specify. Maybe after the more important issues are all resolved there will be time for things like mandating man pages and demystifying dotfiles. -- Mike Stone
