Re: [Bug-tar] Re: tar man page

[Benno Schulenberg]

Sergey Poznyakoff wrote:
> [Matthew wrote:]
> > ...and I don't care for reading a tome when all I want is to
> > know what option follows symlinks.
>
> You don't need to. There is a concept index as well as option
> index, which allow you to quickly find whatever you want

Sorry, no way.  Man pages are simply searchable with </>string, and 
then repeated <N>s to find other occurrences.  In info one has to 
type </> and <Enter> repeatedly, which is majorly awkward.  Plus man 
highlights the searched string, where info just places the cursor. 
Furthermore, man pages are scrollable by line, whereas info pages 
are paginated, which is majorly annoying, making the eye lose the 
point of reading.  (Info's help says ESC ESC [ B scrolls forward 
one line, but it doesn't: it moves the cursor down one line, or 
scrolls half a page -- or gets stuck at the bottom of a node, which 
is infuriating.  Compared to that, having just one flat file is 
heaven.)

> > man pages are IMO more readable than --help output.
>
> Tastes differ. In my opinion both are equally awkward.

Like Matthew already implied: piping --help output into less is more 
typing, plus all formatting with bold and underline is gone.  These 
latter things greatly improve readability, giving the eye something 
to hold on to.

Benno