4 ms·

also, "ls" lists files in your current directory.

scott_s 17y ago
That's unfair. I was thinking the same thing when I first started reading, but he provides pointers to excellent resources for producing manpages. I've written manpages before, and I hadn't heard of asciidoc or ronn. It's easy to posture and and use snark to deride someone for saying something you already know. But I think gentle reminders that our systems are discoverable is a good one. I'm currently TAing a Computer Systems course, and that's a key point I want our students to realize.
- andrewcooke 17y ago
  oh come on. first i wasn't deriding the original post - if i was "deriding" anything, it was whoever decided it was worth posting here (and those that upvoted it). second, if a rather gentle observation like that is enough to get you offended, you're too sensitive. or you get your rocks off "defending" people that don't need it, or whatever...
  - scott_s 17y ago
    Or I like that HN encourages good discussion. Sarcastic "I already knew that" posts are not good discussion. And I did upvote it, for that reminder and for the pointers to the programs that aid in writing manpages.
    - andrewcooke 17y ago
      one good thing about HN is that it's selective. there's always some small nugget of information in a post, if you look hard enough. that shouldn't be sufficient for an up-vote.
jnovek 17y ago
"also, "ls" lists files in your current directory." It's fantastic that you're very comfortable with Unix-based operating systems! Unfortunately, there are lots of people that aren't. There was a time when you weren't. This is probably the most straightforward explanation of man that I've ever seen, and I have bookmarked it in order to pass it on when I encounter people who would benefit. I don't know about you, but I really enjoy helping people out who are struggling to learn something new. I hope someday we can get past Unix "RTFM" culture.
- andrewcooke 17y ago
  There was a time when you weren't. there certainly was. but i didn't and i don't expect to learn that kind of thing here.
grandalf 17y ago
I think you missed the point of the article. Chris himself invented a man alternative, called cheat, and he seems to have had a revelation that maybe the man standard is a good one. Ruby itself has ri and rdoc as man alternatives. I think the point was that man is a widely accepted "unix way" of doing documentation. Just as Unicorn uses unix sockets to great effect, maybe we should focus on writing good manpages instead of reinventing documentation systems over and over again. That doesn't mean cheat, ri, rdoc aren't better in various ways, just that publishing documentation via the man standard is a nice way to maintain standardized docs.

That's unfair. I was thinking the same thing when I first started reading, but he provides pointers to excellent resources for producing manpages. I've written manpages before, and I hadn't heard of asciidoc or ronn. It's easy to posture and and use snark to deride someone for saying something you already know. But I think gentle reminders that our systems are discoverable is a good one. I'm currently TAing a Computer Systems course, and that's a key point I want our students to realize.

andrewcooke 17y ago
oh come on. first i wasn't deriding the original post - if i was "deriding" anything, it was whoever decided it was worth posting here (and those that upvoted it). second, if a rather gentle observation like that is enough to get you offended, you're too sensitive. or you get your rocks off "defending" people that don't need it, or whatever...
- scott_s 17y ago
  Or I like that HN encourages good discussion. Sarcastic "I already knew that" posts are not good discussion. And I did upvote it, for that reminder and for the pointers to the programs that aid in writing manpages.
  - andrewcooke 17y ago
    one good thing about HN is that it's selective. there's always some small nugget of information in a post, if you look hard enough. that shouldn't be sufficient for an up-vote.

jnovek 17y ago

"also, "ls" lists files in your current directory." It's fantastic that you're very comfortable with Unix-based operating systems! Unfortunately, there are lots of people that aren't. There was a time when you weren't. This is probably the most straightforward explanation of man that I've ever seen, and I have bookmarked it in order to pass it on when I encounter people who would benefit. I don't know about you, but I really enjoy helping people out who are struggling to learn something new. I hope someday we can get past Unix "RTFM" culture.

andrewcooke 17y ago
There was a time when you weren't. there certainly was. but i didn't and i don't expect to learn that kind of thing here.

grandalf 17y ago

I think you missed the point of the article. Chris himself invented a man alternative, called cheat, and he seems to have had a revelation that maybe the man standard is a good one. Ruby itself has ri and rdoc as man alternatives. I think the point was that man is a widely accepted "unix way" of doing documentation. Just as Unicorn uses unix sockets to great effect, maybe we should focus on writing good manpages instead of reinventing documentation systems over and over again. That doesn't mean cheat, ri, rdoc aren't better in various ways, just that publishing documentation via the man standard is a nice way to maintain standardized docs.