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Explain better the alternatives for handling man pages.

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Richard M. Stallman 1996-02-24 19:28:55 +00:00
parent a6c37fced3
commit 1339837210
2 changed files with 48 additions and 32 deletions
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40
doc/standards.texi
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@ -2338,24 +2338,32 @@ need not know the history of the erroneous passage.
@node Man Pages
@section Man Pages
It is ok to supply a man page for the program as well as a Texinfo
manual if you wish to. But keep in mind that supporting a man page
requires continual effort, each time the program is changed. Any time
you spend on the man page is time taken away from more useful things you
could contribute.
In the GNU project, man pages are secondary. It is not necessary or
expected for every GNU program to have a man page, but some of them do.
It's your choice whether to include a man page in your program.
Thus, even if a user volunteers to donate a man page, you may find this
gift costly to accept. Unless you have time on your hands, it may be
better to refuse the man page unless the same volunteer agrees to take
full responsibility for maintaining it---so that you can wash your hands
of it entirely. If the volunteer ceases to do the job, then don't feel
obliged to pick it up yourself; it may be better to withdraw the man
page until another volunteer offers to carry on with it.
When you make this decision, consider that supporting a man page
requires continual effort each time the program is changed. The time
you spend on the man page is time taken away from more useful work.
Alternatively, if you expect the discrepancies to be small enough that
the man page remains useful, put a prominent note near the beginning of
the man page explaining that you don't maintain it and that the Texinfo
manual is more authoritative, and describing how to access the Texinfo
For a simple program which changes little, updating the man page may be
a small job. Then there is little reason not to include a man page, if
you have one.
For a large program that changes a great deal, updating a man page may
be a substantial burden. If a user offers to donate a man page, you may
find this gift costly to accept. It may be better to refuse the man
page unless the same person agrees to take full responsibility for
maintaining it---so that you can wash your hands of it entirely. If
this volunteer later ceases to do the job, then don't feel obliged to
pick it up yourself; it may be better to withdraw the man page from the
distribution until someone else agrees to update it.
When a program changes only a little, you may feel that the
discrepancies are small enough that the man page remains useful without
updating. If so, put a prominent note near the beginning of the man
page explaining that you don't maintain it and that the Texinfo manual
is more authoritative. The note should say how to access the Texinfo
documentation.
@node Reading other Manuals

40
standards.texi
View File

@ -2338,24 +2338,32 @@ need not know the history of the erroneous passage.
@node Man Pages
@section Man Pages
It is ok to supply a man page for the program as well as a Texinfo
manual if you wish to. But keep in mind that supporting a man page
requires continual effort, each time the program is changed. Any time
you spend on the man page is time taken away from more useful things you
could contribute.
In the GNU project, man pages are secondary. It is not necessary or
expected for every GNU program to have a man page, but some of them do.
It's your choice whether to include a man page in your program.
Thus, even if a user volunteers to donate a man page, you may find this
gift costly to accept. Unless you have time on your hands, it may be
better to refuse the man page unless the same volunteer agrees to take
full responsibility for maintaining it---so that you can wash your hands
of it entirely. If the volunteer ceases to do the job, then don't feel
obliged to pick it up yourself; it may be better to withdraw the man
page until another volunteer offers to carry on with it.
When you make this decision, consider that supporting a man page
requires continual effort each time the program is changed. The time
you spend on the man page is time taken away from more useful work.
Alternatively, if you expect the discrepancies to be small enough that
the man page remains useful, put a prominent note near the beginning of
the man page explaining that you don't maintain it and that the Texinfo
manual is more authoritative, and describing how to access the Texinfo
For a simple program which changes little, updating the man page may be
a small job. Then there is little reason not to include a man page, if
you have one.
For a large program that changes a great deal, updating a man page may
be a substantial burden. If a user offers to donate a man page, you may
find this gift costly to accept. It may be better to refuse the man
page unless the same person agrees to take full responsibility for
maintaining it---so that you can wash your hands of it entirely. If
this volunteer later ceases to do the job, then don't feel obliged to
pick it up yourself; it may be better to withdraw the man page from the
distribution until someone else agrees to update it.
When a program changes only a little, you may feel that the
discrepancies are small enough that the man page remains useful without
updating. If so, put a prominent note near the beginning of the man
page explaining that you don't maintain it and that the Texinfo manual
is more authoritative. The note should say how to access the Texinfo
documentation.
@node Reading other Manuals