Julia EvansFeb 20

when do you usually use the man page for a complex command line tool to answer a question you have? (like git, openssl, rsync, curl, etc)

(edit: no need to say "i use --help then man")

I’d look there first
57.6%
Only after trying other options first
33.2%
Never
6.4%
Other / not sure
2.8%
Poll ended at .
Show threadJulia EvansFeb 20

i'm very curious about everyone who says "I'd look there first", if I want to figure out how to do something new I think I'll usually google how to do it rather than look at the man page, and then maybe later look at the man page to look up the details

(I've gotten enough of these answers:
- "I like that man pages don't require changing context"
- "with the man page I know I have the right version of the docs")

Show threadJulia EvansFeb 20
i think part of the reason I'm feeling interested in man pages right now even though I rarely use them is that search has gotten so much worse, it's frustrating, and it makes it feel more appealing to have trustworthy sources with clear explanations
Show threadJulia EvansFeb 20

also it just occurred to me that the one time I wrote a command line tool (https://rbspy.github.io/) I didn't write a man page for it, I made a documentation website instead. I don't remember even considering writing a man page, probably because I rarely use man pages

(not looking to argue about whether command line tools "should" have man pages or not, just reflecting about how maybe I personally would prefer a good docs website over a man page. Also please no "webpages require internet")

Introduction - rbspy: A Sampling CPU Profiler for Ruby

Show threadednl 🇪🇺Feb 20
@b0rk I very much agree with your consideration: search is worse & frustrating, look for trustworthy sources. For older people (like me..) it's probably easier or more natural to switch back to reading the manual instead of searching as the first option.
I understand how the doc website was more logical to you. But I think a second reason to prefer a man page or readme or whatever, is that websites are so ethereal. They require maintenance that's often not content related, so they get abandoned.
Show threadJulia Evans

@ednl yeah, I think the answer to "will there always be a way to get free and reliable static site for open source projects?" is not obvious

When I made that site it felt like github pages would be there forever, and maybe it still will, but I feel less certain of what the future of that looks like than I did.

Feb 20 at 3:24pmWeb