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Subject: |
[patch] use semicolons in option descriptions, not periods |
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Date: |
Sun, 28 Jul 2013 21:27:24 +0200 |
Hi,
Attached patch replaces in several usage texts some periods with
semicolons, removes from them several inconsistent final periods,
properly double-indents continuation lines, and rephrases two or
three sentences a little for increased clarity.
Regards,
Benno
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0001-textual-use-semicolon-instead-of-period-in-option-de.patch
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Subject: |
Re: bug#14976: [patch] use semicolons in option descriptions, not periods |
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Date: |
Sun, 04 Aug 2013 12:28:20 +0100 |
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Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:17.0) Gecko/20130110 Thunderbird/17.0.2 |
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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