Post AapD4wxWMFsQGhfWRE by penguin42@mastodon.org.uk
 (DIR) More posts by penguin42@mastodon.org.uk
 (DIR) Post #AaooNObYLekmluH7WC by liw@toot.liw.fi
       2023-10-16T05:41:45Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Being technically correct in a way that makes the end result worse for people is not a good kind of correct.Context: using typographically correct dashes in formatted manual pages instead of the dash people actually type when searching in pages.If I run the man program and can't find the option "--foo", because the formatted version expresses the dashes using a character other than the one I get when I press the "-" key, I"m unhappy.Even if the problems stems from the manpage source.
       
 (DIR) Post #AaooNPbad0NRsJIfDM by smallsees@social.dropbear.xyz
       2023-10-16T05:58:02Z
       
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       @liw Technically Correct is the best Correct. 😁 prepping in man pages is hard; I have often tried searching for something, with no results and then scroll down to what (my human eye perceives) is the same thing.
       
 (DIR) Post #AaooNQp66GmBeUcxuK by liw@toot.liw.fi
       2023-10-16T05:44:16Z
       
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       Yes, this was a reference to the current (and repeated) discussions about manual pages and dashes in Debian.
       
 (DIR) Post #AaopBgLke8m6HorWm8 by liw@toot.liw.fi
       2023-10-16T06:06:58Z
       
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       @smallsees I agree that writing good manual pages is difficult. I also say that making it harder by insisting on treating the "-" character in special ways serves no useful purpose.If one i using groff for typography, for writing a book, then, yes, being correct about the various kinds of dashes makes sense.When writing a manual. page, which are mostly read using the man(1) command in a terminal, it's actively harmful. On a terminal, the typographical distinctions vanish.
       
 (DIR) Post #AapD4wxWMFsQGhfWRE by penguin42@mastodon.org.uk
       2023-10-16T10:35:12Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @liw I think I'd hit it when copy-pasting from an example section as well; damn annoying.  I guess one fix would be to automatically scan the manpages for it in the packaging and reject the build on a bad manpage.  That way the formatter gets to be technically correct but you dont actually end up with wrong-dashes.