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List:       mandoc-discuss
Subject:    Re: mdoc EXIT STATUS (Was: pending open issues)
From:       Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps () bsd ! lv>
Date:       2010-08-06 16:36:47
Message-ID: 4C5C3A1F.8090603 () bsd ! lv
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>>>> the exchange of information and opinions where to best put exit status
>>>> documentation for section 1, 6, and 8 manuals seems unfinished to me;
>>>> if i understand correctly, what FreeBSD and DragonFly want and do is
>>>> plain enough (EXIT STATUS), but in NetBSD and OpenBSD, i find such
>>>> information sometimes in DESCRIPTION, sometimes in DIAGNOSTICS.
> 
>>> Well, NetBSD never went over all the man pages, but the general
>>> consensus for new ones is to use EXIT STATUS. I would make that the
>>> recommendation for new man pages.
> 
>> I'm fine with this patch, given Joerg's note that Nx uses EXIT
>> STATUS along with the others...
> 
> Um, i have dropped this patch, given Joerg's note that Nx uses EXIT
> STATUS along with the others...  ;-)
> 
> Remeber, my abandoned patch said:
> 
>   Others, for example
>   .Nx
>   and
>   .Ox ,
>   show the same information in the
>   .Em DIAGNOSTICS
>   section or near the end of the
>   .Em DESCRIPTION .

I mean by "given Joerg's note" that the `Nx' could be bumped up, in your 
patch, alongside the `Fx' and `Dx' macros and conform to what Joerg said.

> We have not made a final decision yet, but we are seriously
> considering to switch OpenBSD to use EXIT STATUS as well, even
> though that means we will have to adapt a bit more than 1000 manuals,
> and even though a section with a single sentence will not look
> that pretty.  But there are two arguments in favour of EXIT STATUS:
> It makes finding that bit of information really easy, and it's good
> when you don't need to learn different conventions for each system.

That would probably make things best in the long run, I agree.

Thanks,

Kristaps
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