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 threadaburka 🫣Feb 20
@b0rk there's also the aspect that man pages are stored on my system when the tool is installed, whereas websites inevitably disappear over time and can be temporarily inaccessible for any number of reasons
Show threadaburka 🫣Feb 20
@b0rk do we need a --help that starts a local web server hosting a doc page which is way easier to read and navigate than a man page? 🤔
Show threadJulia EvansFeb 20
@aburka that's what fish does! Well it just opens the HTML file in the browser, no need to start a local web server for those docs
Show threadEnno Rehling
@b0rk @aburka this should honestly be the default for non-man docs: open the local HTML documentation from /usr/share if it's been installed there, or on the web if it hasn't. I still prefer to have man pages, but agree they are a hassle to create.
Feb 20 at 9:39pmWeb