Re: [Groff] The future redux

[Walter Alejandro Iglesias]

On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 12:00:53PM +0000, Deri James wrote:
> On Wed 26 Feb 2014 11:46:32 Ralph Corderoy wrote:
>> Hi jkl,
>>
>>>> man pages don't really need expressive typography.
>>>
>>> Man pages are constrained by xterm.  A better display system would
>>> invite tables, graphs, equations, and links.
>>
>> I don't think they are.  Or they didn't used to be.  It was common to
>> see man pages with `.if n' and `.if t', with the troff presenting the
>> same data in better form, e.g. ASCII art versus pic(1).  man pages used
>> to be commonly printed and high-quality output desired, screen devices
>> were glass TTYs, and Sun would ship printed paper man pages in
> folders.
>> I still check the PDF of a man page I alter as it shows flaws that
>> grotty(1) can't.
>>
>> Cheers, Ralph.
>
> I hardly ever use "man command", nearly always do "man -t command"
> because I have changed /etc/man.config to have the line:-
>
> TROFF           groff -Tpdf -mandoc | /usr/bin/okular -
>
> So when I issue that command the page shows up in an okular window, a
> much easier read, adjust zoom for comfort and great searching.


What do you want in a man page?  Videos?  3D holograms?

XTerm does not constrain nothing.  It does what is expected from a terminal.
Do you think your lawnmower needs a fix because you can take a ride on it?
It's not a motorcycle.

Man pages are not tutorials or complete manuals, they're just an aide-mémomire.
It takes more time to open Okular than reading what you need!

Seriously guys, you need a big dose of Common Sense.