[9fans] unexpected tabs in man pages after font change
Hi, I've just installed a compact sans font (from http://input.fontbureau.com/ ) and manual pages started to look broken. As you can see in the screenshot (man 2 control), there are white spaces that looks like tabs in the middle of the text with apparently no reason. Even in the troff source (why the hell we still use troff for manual pages? :-D) I can see no command that explain this behaviour. Any tip to fix them? Giacomo [image: Immagine in linea 1]
Re: [9fans] unexpected tabs in man pages after font change
Interestingly enough the problem disappears with a mono font. I suspect that troff is inserting such tabs instead of spaces when it thinks they are the same. Indeed libframe (as far I could understand from the manual and the sources) properly handles such variable width fonts. Looks like I've to inform troff about the glyphs sizes... but how? Giacomo 2015-03-04 17:13 GMT+01:00 Giacomo Tesio giac...@tesio.it: Hi, I've just installed a compact sans font (from http://input.fontbureau.com/ ) and manual pages started to look broken. As you can see in the screenshot (man 2 control), there are white spaces that looks like tabs in the middle of the text with apparently no reason. Even in the troff source (why the hell we still use troff for manual pages? :-D) I can see no command that explain this behaviour. Any tip to fix them? Giacomo [image: Immagine in linea 1]
Re: [9fans] unexpected tabs in man pages after font change
On Wed, Mar 4, 2015 at 5:13 PM, Giacomo Tesio giac...@tesio.it wrote: why the hell we still use troff for manual pages? What do you propose we use instead? -- Aram Hăvărneanu
Re: [9fans] unexpected tabs in man pages after font change
Well... docx, obviously! :-D Seriously, a markdown/asciidoc like language would be far easier to write and update. We could even compile it to troff, we we had to print it. However, this is not a rant specific to plan9. Linux is not better from this point of view. Giacomo 2015-03-04 22:31 GMT+01:00 Aram Hăvărneanu ara...@mgk.ro: On Wed, Mar 4, 2015 at 5:13 PM, Giacomo Tesio giac...@tesio.it wrote: why the hell we still use troff for manual pages? What do you propose we use instead? -- Aram Hăvărneanu
Re: [9fans] unexpected tabs in man pages after font change
troff is great. easy to maintain programmatically. sl
Re: [9fans] unexpected tabs in man pages after font change
2015-03-05 0:56 GMT+01:00 s...@9front.org: And btw, programs don't write man pages... yet. Are you familiar with the conventions that power godoc? No, but I know quite well it's predecessors (Docstrings, Javadoc etc...). They are great for API, but IMHO not every unix man page can be generated from code. They are a specialized kind of prose. What I can't undestand I why we still need troff for them. It's almost like using a teletype to chat! :-) Giacomo
Re: [9fans] unexpected tabs in man pages after font change
Well, while a bit offtopic... what do you mean by programmatically. And btw, programs don't write man pages... yet. Giacomo 2015-03-04 23:39 GMT+01:00 Stanley Lieber s...@9front.org: troff is great. easy to maintain programmatically. sl
Re: [9fans] unexpected tabs in man pages after font change
Well, while a bit offtopic... what do you mean by programmatically. Programmatically = using a program. If you arrange your troff sources in a thoughtful way, you can perform changes using scripts or other programs without needing to stare at each line of source individually. (I realize that not all man pages conform to such a style). For example, changing all instances of bold text to italic, without needing to hand-edit each instance manually. This is the opposite of what you see is all you get. And btw, programs don't write man pages... yet. Are you familiar with the conventions that power godoc? sl
