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I despise programs that do it. Especially if they went out of the way to make packages but manual is just "go to webpage, fuck you". Also the dumb trend of doi

by xani_ 4y ago

I despise programs that do it. Especially if they went out of the way to make packages but manual is just "go to webpage, fuck you". Also the dumb trend of doing command help subcommand instead of command subcommand --help it's annoying to have to back to the middle of the command just to add help there and get the manual

XorNot 4y ago
Oh thank god I thought I was the only one. This drives me up the wall - you get all the way through a command, go "oh wait, I don't actually remember what I need..." and the only thing `--help` does is print `For help please call command help the command you wanted`.
jvanderbot 4y ago
I agree but I think you misunderstood. Any program installed via Ubuntu Snap does not come with its man page, regardless of whether the authors wrote the best man page ever. If you install via apt like normal, there's the man pages. Snap is canonical competitor with docker, ... Kinda
- xani_ 4y ago
  Yes. That is the problem. It should. There should be a way to call snap in a way that gives you manual and it should be available via the usual cmdline tools
CannisterFlux 4y ago
I like that git lets you get help either way, or via "man git-subcommand". Maybe it started the subcommand trend (it was the first big mainstream program I recall using it), but at least it keeps kind of faithful to the old skool way of doing things.
- xani_ 4y ago
  I remember when man couldn't handle man git command and that was eventually added "a b" -> "a-b" translation.
susam 4y ago
> it's annoying to have to back to the middle of the command just to add help there and get the manual While I agree with the larger point of your comment, I work around this particular inconvenience of going back to the middle of the command by using the GNU Readline (or Zsh Line Editor in Zsh) key bindings. The key sequence to go back by one word and enter the new "help" argument is: command subcommand <Alt + b> help <Space> In the Emacs/GNU Readline notation the additional key sequence can be expressed as: M-b help SPC That's 7 extra key presses which is exactly the same number of key presses it would take to type and append " --help" at the end of an existing command.
- xani_ 4y ago
  Now time it, smartass Now imagine you're 2 subcommands deep, smartass Yes I know how readline works
  - susam 4y ago
    Typing M-b to go back by one word to insert a new argument is of course going to be slower. It is going to be even slower when we are two sub-commands deep. The M-b keybinding is merely a workaround, not a fix. I believe the snarky remark was unwarranted. I didn't mean to doubt your knowledge of readline. Like I said, I do agree with the larger point you made in your comment. I too find the non-standard help trends inconvenient. My comment was meant for sharing a workaround that helps me to alleviate some of the inconvenience caused by these problematic trends.

by xani_ 4y ago

XorNot 4y ago

Oh thank god I thought I was the only one. This drives me up the wall - you get all the way through a command, go "oh wait, I don't actually remember what I need..." and the only thing `--help` does is print `For help please call command help the command you wanted`.

jvanderbot 4y ago

I agree but I think you misunderstood. Any program installed via Ubuntu Snap does not come with its man page, regardless of whether the authors wrote the best man page ever. If you install via apt like normal, there's the man pages. Snap is canonical competitor with docker, ... Kinda

xani_ 4y ago
Yes. That is the problem. It should. There should be a way to call snap in a way that gives you manual and it should be available via the usual cmdline tools

CannisterFlux 4y ago

I like that git lets you get help either way, or via "man git-subcommand". Maybe it started the subcommand trend (it was the first big mainstream program I recall using it), but at least it keeps kind of faithful to the old skool way of doing things.

xani_ 4y ago
I remember when man couldn't handle man git command and that was eventually added "a b" -> "a-b" translation.

susam 4y ago

> it's annoying to have to back to the middle of the command just to add help there and get the manual While I agree with the larger point of your comment, I work around this particular inconvenience of going back to the middle of the command by using the GNU Readline (or Zsh Line Editor in Zsh) key bindings. The key sequence to go back by one word and enter the new "help" argument is: command subcommand <Alt + b> help <Space> In the Emacs/GNU Readline notation the additional key sequence can be expressed as: M-b help SPC That's 7 extra key presses which is exactly the same number of key presses it would take to type and append " --help" at the end of an existing command.

xani_ 4y ago
Now time it, smartass Now imagine you're 2 subcommands deep, smartass Yes I know how readline works
- susam 4y ago
  Typing M-b to go back by one word to insert a new argument is of course going to be slower. It is going to be even slower when we are two sub-commands deep. The M-b keybinding is merely a workaround, not a fix. I believe the snarky remark was unwarranted. I didn't mean to doubt your knowledge of readline. Like I said, I do agree with the larger point you made in your comment. I too find the non-standard help trends inconvenient. My comment was meant for sharing a workaround that helps me to alleviate some of the inconvenience caused by these problematic trends.