bug#14976: [patch] use semicolons in option descriptions, not periods

[Pádraig Brady]

On 08/04/2013 10:12 AM, Benno Schulenberg wrote:
> 
> Hello Pádraig,
> 
> On Sat, Aug 3, 2013, at 18:08, Pádraig Brady wrote:
>>  -  -d, --directory            list directory entries instead of contents,
>>  -                               and do not dereference symbolic links
>>  +  -d, --directory            list just names of directories, not their 
>> contents
>>
>> So I was wondering why that clarification was added.
>> I guess that it's obvious from the output for -l and -F
>> that the symlink is being operated on: [...]
>> whereas with -d it's not: [...]
> 
> Okay, I see.  Although I still think it's an unneeded detail in a
> help text, the addition of "by default" makes it better.

In retrospect, given it is a bit of an esoteric case,
and the ls man page is already too long, and the extra
line introduces slightly awkward indentation,
it is probably best to remove.

>> Also I don't like the "just names" in the new description as
>> it might imply that it overrides -l or something.
> 
> Well, the phrase was taken from the info documentation, where it says:
> "List just the names of directories, [...] rather than listing their 
> contents."  :)  But I see your point.
> 
> The thing is, I have to read the phrase three times before I realize
> that "directory entries" does not mean "entries OF directories" but
> "entries that ARE directories".  The problematic word is "entries",
> which makes me think of "items in a container", whereas in fact it
> refers to "items on the command line", which requires some stretch
> of the imagination.
> 
> So I propose the following change:
> 
> -  -d, --directory            list directory entries instead of contents,
> +  -d, --directory            list directories themselves, not their contents,
> 
> 
> (Oh, by the way, when you modify a patch, please make a note of this
> in the log message -- I don't like to see changes that I would never
> have made booked without further ado under my name.)
> 
> For the tail --follow thingy I have the following suggestion:
> 
> -                             -f and --follow[=descriptor] are equivalent\n\
> +                             an absent option argument means 'descriptor'\n\

The latest patch is attached,
with all the above discussed changes.
I'll wait for confirmation before pushing.

thanks,
Pádraig.

0001-doc-more-semicolons-instead-of-periods-in-option-des.patch
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