Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?]

From	"Thomas Schmitt" <scdbackup@gmx.net>
Newsgroups	linux.debian.user
Subject	Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?]
Date	2021-05-17 18:00 +0200
Message-ID	<CfNOV-7N-7@gated-at.bofh.it> (permalink)
References	<CfN2y-8k3-9@gated-at.bofh.it>
Organization	linux.* mail to news gateway

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Hi,

Greg Wooledge wrote:
> That's in the info(1) tool.  I agree, info has a better search ability
> than pinfo(1).

Oops. I did not make the connection from your final statement to your
mentioning of pinfo. (I could make excuses that you mention "info and pinfo"
on the way to the end. But actually i did not make a connection to that
either.)

> Let's take date as an example, and let's say that we want to know what
> the %F does, because we saw someone use it.
> In the man page, which has everything all together, it's simple:
> unicorn:~$ man date | grep %F
>        %F     full date; like %+4Y-%m-%d

At least in this case, pinfo might not be a sincere contender. I read that
it aims to be like the web browser "lynx".
info is more rugged in respect to traditional shell use. As you already
demonstrated it would work fine with grep.

Paradoxly, i would blame the highly condensed information in "man date"
on the fact that man pages in many GNU packages are more or less formatted
versions of the program's help text:

  $ date --help | grep %F
    %F   full date; same as %Y-%m-%d

> unicorn:~$ info date | less

Don't tell this Richard Stallman. :))

Whatever, neither info document nor man page really serve the needs of users
who want to learn how to use a program. At best they can give an introduction
of concepts and list all invocation details. This serves those who already
have a good idea of what they are looking for. Examples can help.

When i feel clueless then i ask the all-knowing seer g*.com in plain english.
It yields lots of rumors but in most cases it gives me better ideas what to
look for.
(Please don't tell this Richard Stallman either ...)

Have a nice day :)

Thomas

Thread

OT: minimum bs for dd? Bob Bernstein <poobah@ruptured-duck.com> - 2021-05-15 22:30 +0200
  Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2021-05-15 22:40 +0200
  Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? IL Ka <kazakevichilya@gmail.com> - 2021-05-15 22:40 +0200
    Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Bob Bernstein <bob@fanatick.org> - 2021-05-16 09:40 +0200
    Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-05-16 19:50 +0200
      Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net> - 2021-05-16 20:40 +0200
        Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2021-05-17 00:40 +0200
          Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2021-05-17 00:50 +0200
            Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? "Thomas Schmitt" <scdbackup@gmx.net> - 2021-05-17 09:00 +0200
              Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2021-05-17 12:30 +0200
            Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2021-05-17 13:20 +0200
          Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-05-17 08:10 +0200
            Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-05-17 08:40 +0200
              Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-05-17 09:30 +0200
                Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? David <bouncingcats@gmail.com> - 2021-05-17 10:00 +0200
                Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-05-17 14:10 +0200
                Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-05-17 10:10 +0200
                Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2021-05-17 14:30 +0200
                Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-05-17 15:00 +0200
                info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net> - 2021-05-17 15:00 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-05-17 15:10 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net> - 2021-05-17 15:20 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] IL Ka <kazakevichilya@gmail.com> - 2021-05-17 15:30 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net> - 2021-05-17 16:00 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2021-05-17 15:40 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] "Thomas Schmitt" <scdbackup@gmx.net> - 2021-05-17 16:10 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2021-05-17 17:10 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] "Thomas Schmitt" <scdbackup@gmx.net> - 2021-05-17 18:00 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2021-05-17 20:30 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2021-05-17 20:50 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2021-05-17 21:00 +0200
                Re: info pages WHERE? -- was [Re: OT: minimum bs for dd?] <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-05-17 16:10 +0200
            Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2021-05-17 16:20 +0200
          Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2021-05-17 08:40 +0200
            Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz> - 2021-05-17 13:40 +0200
        Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-05-16 20:50 +0200
          Re: OT: minimum bs for dd? "Andrew M.A. Cater" <amacater@einval.com> - 2021-05-16 23:40 +0200

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